Research Project Plan (First Year TI)

Is it a Craft or is it an Art or is it both?

Research Project Plan
Quint Welters
30.11.09


In my past experience I have been confused thinking about my glassblowing craft and the conceptual art I have created. I feel they are different, but come from one place. I look at glass purely technically, but my art work comes from another place. I want to bring up and discuss these two perspectives and see if there are other creative people who have a similar problem and come up with some kind of a conclusion to clarify what is going on with these two creative practices.

I want to show that there is a distinction between art and craft. I want to talk about the area where art and craft meet, which confuses and distorts the understanding within and outside the creative community.

Why were the fields of 'arts' and 'crafts' separated, and can this be sustained in a contemporary setting?

The paper discusses specifically this issue in the context of glass art and glass craft practices.

Since I am not much of a writer I will create a video. This video will show the interviews and conversations I will have with various individuals in the creative community and address my research question. From this video I will create an edited transcript which I will submit as my research paper along with the video itself.

In the execution of this research paper I will follow this basic outline;

-Make a detailed video story board, based on the research paper guidelines
-Write up interview questions and conversation topics
-Find suitable individuals to interview
-Gather up sound and video recordings
-Have interviews and conversations with individuals
-Edit video and sound material

Aside from the conversations and interviews, sources that I will also be using to produce this paper are:

The Craftsman, by Richard Sennett

What is Art?: Conversations with Joseph Beuys by Joseph Beuys and Volker Harlan

Wikipedia and other online sources

http://www.denisdutton.com/rnz_craft.htm