The Queue: L Autumn Gnadinger

In “Craft and Its Writing as Collectivized Outsider” in the Winter 2023 issue of American Craft, you write, “The risk here, of art fully absorbing craft, is that tangible, practical knowledge of craft skill and history will be lost over time because the art world really only cares about the idea of, and reference to, craft, not its actual knowledge.” Tell us more about what you see at risk.

The art and craft worlds have related but distinct goals. In my experience, the craft world is guided by an interest in the teaching of certain skills and the building of a shared literacy of those skills. By contrast, the art world is a much larger structure steered by international market forces, with a particular interest in the ways that objects, ideas, and celebrities can stand in as assets for the super-wealthy. Increasingly, it seems there is a temptation to make craft as artlike as possible through our language, exhibition models, and a fixation on individual practitioners. I think it is incredibly important for those of us involved in either art or craft to remember the ways these spheres overlap but are fundamentally different. By continuing to encourage the craft world to play by the rules of the art world, it will steadily trade away its resources for not much in return.

Tell us about your favorite writing and research on craft.

My preferred craft writings have less to do with what we now call craft—as there is still so little actionable writing published on this subject anyway—and much more to do with basic issues and strategies of class struggle, which I feel is central to craft’s past and future identity—if it is to have one at all.

If today you could have any craft artist’s work for your home or studio, whose would it be and why?

When I am in the unusual position of having enough money and space to afford new work, I must admit I really just like to buy stuff from my friends. The work of Kento Saisho, Katherine Toler, and Amy Shindo all come to mind as people whose things I desperately want more of but who are also fascinating and intelligent people that I have the luxury of speaking with often about craft, food, video games, and life.

Shivaun Watchorn is the associate editor of American Craft.