Liam's point is a good one, concerning the dominant perspective of craft as
lacking "great employment prospects", etc. I agree that we need new models of
the discipline, but we should be cautious of accepting too much of the
"unemployable goat wool sock wearing potter rearing chickens" stereotype.

Here at Sheffield we have just finished a longtitudinal survey of career
destinations covering over 200 craft graduates from six courses in the UK. We
what find is that unemployment rates, while high initially after graduation,
soon fall to low levels, and the employment patters are highly varied. We
find craft graduates in management and the professions, and many examples of
professional making in the film, fashion and other cultural industries.

We also find craft graduates working in areas of scientific and technical
research, and developing new forms of new product development in industry.
New models are needed, especially those which define and assert the
contemporary cultural and economic relevance of craft. We are hoping to
develop this further at our Design Cultures conference next March in
Sheffield. In the meantime I'm setting up a web site to make the research
report available which I'll post here.

It is encouraging that after a long fallow period this list is developing a
good discussion on some key issues. Let us try to develop it further.

Best wishes

Mike

________________________________________________

Professor Mike Press
Head of Research
Art & Design Research Centre
Sheffield Hallam University
Psalter Lane Campus
Sheffield S11 8UZ - UK
tel: 0114 225 2669
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
http://www.shu.ac.uk/schools/cs/indesign/staff/m-press.htm
________________________________________________


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Hi All

Recently I went back to Northumbria University, formerly Newcastle
Polytechnic, while I was there I had a look at the Craft design course
that I had been on. I found that the course had substantially reduced in
scale and the facilities were being subtley redistrubuted, why?

Craft is not seen as a viable or useful or commercial enterprise for
educators to be involved in. Craft training requires space! UK
polytechnics have been forced to be more commercial, workshop space in
general is expesive compared to say a computer room.

Craft is on the surface vocational and yet does not carry with it great
employment prospects. A jewellry designer, weaver, furniture maker, etc
can either look forward to years trying to get a small buisiness of the
ground in conditions of relative poverty or if they are of the right
mind and quality they might find themselves a position working for a a
large commercial outfit. In general however most craft based designers
find themeselves in a position of having to put aside their design to
pursue some other career, if they are lucky it is slightly associated.

The goal of craft in my experience is to respond sypathetically to users
and like all such areas of our society such caring is assigned a minimal
value. Although I would not choose to make a distiction between art and
craft I would say that art is at the extreme edge of craft where the
vague disquiet at society and the need to improve or change it becomes
increasingly confrontational and angry. Crafts possition in our society
is being undermined there is very little commercial gain to be had by
multinational and global companies. Socalled success such as Ikea and
Habitat where the products have the look of craft have done a great deal
to damage the idea and understanding of craft, they have emphasised
technique and style and have hidden the individuality that is one of
crafts saving graces. A far better model, although for the elite, is
that of Liberty in London, individual buyers, one of items etc. For me
technolgy particularly the internet offers the chance to rejuvinate
craft through creating a kind of global Liberty.

This is a base commercial use of technology my feeling is that this is
not enough as craft designers we need to expand this discipline through
technology. For this to happen we need relevant tools and models of our
subject and we should not be put of by the lack of science in our
discipline.

I'll end this here as i could go on all day. I'll come back to the other
thread later.

Yours Liam



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