(Arts and) Crafts

I) Intro

The distinction between arts and crafts (or "art" and "craft") is I'm sure, though I have never formally studied art, a topic of interesting discussion, with numerous scholarly articles weighing in on either side, and many, in this world of "post-," denying or reframing the binary. Though I little to no background in this, I will share my thoughts. If any of you more-educated folks care to share some articles whose points I am rehashing or would find salient, please let me know. I recognize also that there is a particular movement in art known as the "arts and crafts movement." I know very little about this, and it is not what I am writing about.

In a nutshell, I would like to define craft as a matter of control, and art as a matter of... something else. Perhaps "expression" is an appropriate term to use, but I am not set on that. I'm more interested in craft anyway.

II) Craft as Control

It was my practice as a musician that led me to this definition of art v. craft. I was a mediocre percussion student under Chick Sperell for a few semesters at Swarthmore, and he, as he assessed my progress and dealt with my frustration at the seemingly endless rhythm, polyrhythm, tempo, rudiment, etc. exercises, gave me this framework. "These are your tools," he said, "and you need to be skilled enough with your tools to pull out any one at any time you need it. You need choices, and if you're not skilled, you limit your choices musically." This part that he used the word "musically" to indicate is what I will refer to as "art." But first, craft: what Chick was saying about craft is that craft is control. A good musical craftsperson can control exactly what s/he is doing musically. As a drummer, playing alone in a silent room, I can vary tempo, rhythm, playing surface (head, rim, sides), etc. at my will. The more able I am to switch from one basic unit (ie, playing in duple time; 1/8ths, 1/16ths, etc. to playing in triple time; triplets) the more control I have. Thus, pure craft would be an ability to, at any time, make any sound possible from the drums I have.

This is not really a realistic goal. I doubt that even Buddy Rich could always, every time, make some brand new shift while playing, but it is the extreme. To use another example from my own musical experience, the banjo. Bela Fleck, I have no doubt, can, at any moment, make any note that is possible given the physical restrictions of the banjo (ie, absolute low and absolute high notes, as constrained by string lengths and tensions). I, however, cannot. He is therefore a better craftsman than I am.

III) Art and Craft

The art in this example would come out in what music critics refer to as "musicality." Fleck, for instance, sometimes gets accused of making albums that, while technically accomplished (full of craft, for our purposes), are musically repetitive, empty, trippy, etc. This is a misapplication of artistry.

Art, then, is separate from craft. Even the perfect drummer, who can, at any moment, make any sound she chooses (as constrained by the physical realities of drums), must, in a group setting, make choices that are musical. The range of choices she can make are expanded every time she expands her repertoire of rhythms -- every time she broadens her craft -- but if she applies those rhythms wrongly (playing a samba beat during a jazz waltz) she has made bad art.

Art, then, is in/formed by craft. Good art, however, can come from a bad craftsman. Think of the Delta Bluesmen, formally unskilled, only able to play a few chord progressions, yet makers of powerful, powerful music; or of the early Punk rockers, unable to "play" their instruments, yet also responsible for artistically viable creation. They had some level of craft (otherwise they would have been unable to make music, by my definitions of craft and art (by extension, music)), but their shortcomings as craftsmen did not hinder their art. These examples encourage me.

IV) Crafts?

I am still figuring out what to say to those who "make crafts." The traditional distinction between art and craft (as I understand it) is that art is decorative/expressive and craft is functional. The shortcomings of this distinction hit home for me as one who appreciates/makes folk music. Is a sea chanty, a work song, a craft (useful because its rhythm keeps the sailors hauling together) or an art (expressive of the realities of a particular chanteyman or a particular cultural moment)?

What are "crafts," if "craft" is the rudimentary skills that enable artists to create art. Are well-designed and well-made coasters art? Are functional objects merely exercises, a drummer sitting alone in room tapping out paradiddles, or is there some aspect of "craft" that I have overlooked?

To be continued?  
As I demonstrate my lack of blogging craftsmanship, showing neither brevity nor a particular coherence in this post...