Craft in America - Season II: A Maker's Perspective

Last Wednesday I was fortunate enough to attend a preview screening of Craft in America Season II hosted by Channel 8 PBS Houston, The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, and Carol Sauvion - the creator and co-executive producer of the series. Also in the audience were Anna Walker, curatorial fellow at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, and Mike Morris, a freelance journalist. This post will be the first in a series of three, which will review the new series from three different perspectives; that of a maker, a curator, and a layperson (through an established and skilled writer). These unsanctioned reviews should all be available to peruse on conceptualmetalsmithing.com before you sit down to watch the premier this Wednesday, October 7 at 8pm EST, on PBS. Check your local listings and don't be afraid to share your thoughts as well.

A Maker's Perspective

Amidst a hail of beautiful a cappela harmonics that ring in the title screen of each episode of Craft in America, are the lyrics, "'Tis a gift to be simple, 'tis a gift to be free, 'tis a gift to come down to where you ought to be." This small and perhaps often overlooked detail is the best characterization of the series as it continues into its second season. The opening sequence is arresting in its production value, but the message, which is overshadowed by the filmography, is troublesome, tired, and incomplete. The series is definitely worth while, but the depiction of craft artists today as simple and romantic - struggling to share their creativity - is a characterization that hurts contemporary craft as much as it helps it.

The forth and fifth episodes to date constitute the second season. While I am not sure how two hours of programming constitute a season, that is hardly something to take issue with, all things considered. Entitled Origins and Process, Carol Sauvion revealed at the Wednesday preview that there was a change of tack in the new episodes due to the overwhelming number of inquiries the first season produced into how one can actually become a maker. Process, while not a full blown "how to" delved deeper into technical explanation than any segment of the previous season. A profile of woodcut printmaker Tom Killion was the best example. Killion walked us through one of his Hokusai-esque prints (see below). Throughout the episode there was a subtext of outreach to fledgeling makers, with many of the segments offering explicit advice about how to be successful as a craft artist. Notably, Killion relayed that one can not rely on galleries for sustenance, advising that the development of a mailing list and a collector base was the key to his success.

Tom Killion, West Point, Mt. Tamalpais, 2008

One of the highlights of the new season for me personally was the focus that jewelry received. While the depth and breadth of contemporary jewelry was hardly conveyed in the first season it was exciting to see David and Roberta Williamson and the jewelry program at the 92nd Street Y (in New York) lead off the preview. The segments of the new season focus more on people than work, with fewer shots of finished craft objects. The Williamson's had a nice sequence talking to their students, and another sharing their formula for making a living off their work, a combination of commissions, high-end fairs, and galleries with long standing personal relationships. Its strange that even though they were shown in the classroom in the very same segment, there was no mention of being educators contributing to their financial stability. Does practicality not interface with the pure and simple message of craft? Sadly, we were not spared a heaping dose of sentimentality either as Roberta Williamson (almost in tears) gushed about her move as a child from the city to the suburbs, and the discovery of nature. Talk about reinforcing stereo types. Genuine or not, the refrain came streaming in my head as I watched. "'Tis a gift to simple, 'tis a gift to be free..." I can hardly blame the Williamson's, they are palpably open and honest. The way the series is cut, it just makes them look like saps.

A segment at the 92nd Street Y followed. Klaus Burgel talked about how much students enjoyed advanced technical instruction as he demonstrated a Tiffany's style prong setting. Also profiled was Tiffany's Silversmith and 92nd Street Y instructor, Han Beak. I felt a little bit like there was some covert advertising happening. None of Burgel or Beak's work was shown. The 92nd Street Y's ceramics program was also shown. This segment represented a non-collegiate center for craft education.

Another stop took us to the Kansas City Art Institute's Ceramics Program. With the Ceramics program turning 125 in 2010 a nostalgic montage set the scene. Interview's with students were numerous, as well as some alums. The title of the episode was Process, but the amount of coverage given to teaching institutions and educators really outshone the explanation and examination of process. It also seemed that technical education was emphasized over communicative or conceptual artistic development. One student at the Kansas City Art Institute was making work which explored death rituals, another soldiers in the war. The treatment of these themes was eclipsed by the technical discussion of how to physically make them. I guess that is process, but it seemed to reinforce the simpleness of craft and craftspeople. Refrain.

I feel like I have spent a good amount time bashing the show, but I should reveal that I do like it. I can't help but respect the unabashed vision of craft as a simple and pure pursuit. I understand why the series is narrow in focus, and how this may help to engage an uninitiated audience. I get that. The unfortunate thing is that when Craft in America is Craft's only public ad campaign it must withstand unjust scrutiny. When there is only one depiction, it stands as an archetype. While I do not agree with everything I see in the series, or how it is presented, I am very glad it exists. Again, the production value is so incredibly high, it helps to paint craft as a serious and worthy pursuit. That is both a good thing and a bad thing. As I have said before, the seriousness with which many craft advocates of the 20th century approached their charge (some say the result of an inferiority complex brought on by modernism) has resulted in an inability to see craft as potentially inclusive or humorous. Craft in America is undoubtedly stratified in that way. It's a plea for legitimacy on some level. It panders to collectors, reassuring those who own a Tom Killion, Kit Carson, or David Gurney (all represented by Sauvion's Freehand Gallery and featured in the series) that it was a solid investment. I am hardly surprised, after all this is how the world works, but my idealistic laurels prevent me from letting this go unmentioned.

The clear relationship between motivation for investors/ producers and content of the show promises that we will never see an episode about DIY, craftivism, extreme craft, or blue collar craft. In my reality craft is much more unwieldy than what we see in Craft in America. The show could be more aptly titled A Certain Kind of Craft in America. Still, the future of the show has promise with episodes in the third season planned on the intersection of craft and technology, conceptual craft, and quilts and wearables (this last one seems like the odd one out). I wait with baited breath to see what gets featured in the conceptual craft episode.

In the end, for anyone interested in craft, the new season is a must see, and dare I say for those people that we should all be the champions of the show. It is the only filmic document that attempts the question of who and what we are. I would rather have Craft in America, warts and all, than another, perhaps more balanced documentary of lower production value. Be sure to tune in this Wednesday and decide for yourself.

Comments welcome,

-Gabriel