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Tactile: Reviving The Old

 

In this final project, I endeavoured to build from my previous documentary, and further explore the broader cultural framework in which creative fields reside, and the societal shifts that occur when new technologies arise. To do this, I looked towards the industry of the traditional, the analogue, and the handmade. This is a creative sector that has undergone a recent revival due to a resurgence in demand for the handmade, and the commercial popularisation of its particular aesthetics. I created a documentary to explore this revival, interviewing its participants about what drew them to their field, why their particular craft is experiencing a comeback, and importantly, why now?

 

Throughout my research, particular themes began to emerge, which established the conditions under which society will seemingly turn back to old ways of doing. Previous craft revivals – post Industrial Revolution, and throughout the 1970s – suggest that resurgences appear in response to periods of significant social, economic, and technological change (Peach, 2013). The 1990s and early 2000s marked a period of great economic upheaval, with a push towards commercialism as its consequence. This combined with milestone technological advancements, and fundamental changes in the composition of the job market, comprise some of the most prominent driving forces behind the current trade resurgence; reactions against mass manufacturing, with its alienation of the workforce, and the knowledge economy that was a product of the period.

 

The trend towards manual crafts can be explained partially by recent technological advancements, which have facilitated the mass production of goods. Global mass production has created an over-saturation of products, as it pushes commerciality upon consumers, and promotes the ‘throw away’ culture that many of this documentary’s subjects disparaged. The myriad of ethical, human, and environmental violations that large-scale production demands is a prominent reason behind the return to traditional crafts, which occur within a local model, on an ethical scale. 

 

This push for production has also created a diametrically oppositional, creative movement. As academic Susan Luckman asserts, the mechanisation of production alienates the labour force, inciting such backlash as was seen following the Industrial Revolution. (Luckman, 2013). The unprecedented increase in mechanised production with the onset of the digital realm has drastically changed the way products are developed and interacted with, as the hand is replaced by capital, disengaging the craftsperson from the process of creation. As noted by Shane Kent from the School of Clay and Art, when crafting with your hands, the tools used, and the work created becomes an extension of the body, and of the individual. A ‘bodily resonance’ is achieved when intimately interacting with a craft. In this way, the maker directly inscribes their individual cultural heritage and social surrounds onto the product, and the purchase of handmade goods is an attempt to similarly manifest these human qualities (Campbell, 2005). Unlike mass-manufactured objects, the individual craftsperson’s work is unique in its production. The separation between the human and the craft caused by commercially-driven mechanisation is thus one reason for consumers’ retreat towards older ways of making, which permit physical connection.

 

This disengagement with the physical was only heightened by the expectation of the knowledge economy which such technological advancements produced. Following the developments of the 1990s, educators prepared students for a job market grounded in an information economy. Based around the digital and the dissemination of data, this was the predicted product of the great technological advancements that were occurring at the time (Crawford, 2009). Emphasis was shifted from physically engaged, interactive learning, to programs intended to prepare students to become ‘knowledge workers,’ who would graduate from university to jobs in the information economy (Crawford, 2009). While this economy has yet to become a true reality, the outcome of perpetually non-physical learning was to steer many of this generation’s graduates to return to more haptic, tactile professions and experiences, despite inhabiting an increasingly digital world (Peach, 2013). In this way, the digital age has simultaneously facilitated a divergence from traditional crafts, and a redirection back to them.

 

More broadly, within the cultural psyche, there has been a shift away from the homogeny of the mass produced. This is manifest within the craft revival, the resurgence of the unique product (e.g. pottery, polaroid, film, analogue recordings), and the popularisation of DIY, handmade, and traditional aesthetics. Fuelled by concerns over a loss of creative autonomy subliminally caused by haptic disengagement, this resurgence is propelled by technological advancement and the mechanisation of creation (Peach, 2013). It is ultimately the combination of technology and the push of commercialism, with a disengagement from tactile learning, which drives the return to the physical, to traditional crafts and older ways of doing; and so, in the newly formed digital era, there emerges an evidently human desire for physical connection. Unlike the resurgences of craft in the past however, this time, new technologies such as social media are working together with older processes to find a potentially sustainable future. Moving beyond nostalgia for simpler times, this movement is drawing from the past to create for the future, finding an even medium between the online and the physical (Peach, 2013).

 

Regarding the film that I created; I was satisfied with the interviews conducted, and the insight the subjects were able to provide. I would however have liked to gather more, and provide a more rounded perspective from the industry of craft and old media. Furthermore, although I am proud to have organised and shot the interviews alone, in future I would prefer to work in a team, as, unfortunately, as a young woman I would be more comfortable in this environment. This became evident as not all of the people I approached for this project were respectful. As I was interviewing people alone, I limited my equipment, taking a tripod, camera and mic, while shooting minimal B-roll with the intention to use found footage – an attempt to take up as little of my subject’s time as possible. The decision to use black and white colour grading was made to blend the old, found footage with the new, and by doing so, highlight the parallels between the old and new, despite their historical gaps. It was also used strategically to equalise the interview footage. Shooting alone, I carried no supplementary lighting with me, and while most of the interviews were beautifully lit, some were only okay. The decision to make the film black and white was to allow an integrated, and unified aesthetic within the piece. This project also presented my first time combining multiple interviews, and this presented a real challenge when it came to editing. Ultimately, I decided to treat the separate interviews as one voice, and tell a story with them in this way. For a first effort, I am quite pleased with the results.

 

 

Reference List

Barton, R 2011, Maker’s Mark: a new generation of artisans are reviving arts and crafts, The Independent, web, accessed 9 June 2017,

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/makers-mark-a-new-generation-of-artisans-are-reviving-arts-and-crafts-2279607.html

 

Campbell, C 2005, The Craft Consumer: Culture, craft and consumption in a postmodern society, Journal of Consumer Culture, vol. 5, no. 1, p. 23-42, SAGE Publications, London.

 

Crawford, M 2009, The Case for Working With Your Hands, The New York Times Magazine, USA.

 

Giuffrida, A 2017, How the return of traditional skills is boosting Italy’s economy, The Guardian, web, accessed 9 June 2017,

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/01/brioni-traditional-skills-italy-small-business

 

Hunt, M 2013, Traditional skills are being lost by designers relying on computers, New Statesman, web, accessed 9 June 2017,

http://www.newstatesman.com/art-and-design/2013/11/traditional-skills-are-being-lost-designers-relying-computers

 

Kimmel, M 1987, The Arts and Crafts Movement: Handmade Socialism or Elite Consumerism?, Contemporary Sociology, vol. 16, no. 3, p. 388-390, American Sociological Association, USA.

 

 

Kokko, S; Dillon, P 2011, Crafts and craft education as expressions of cultural heritage: individual experiences and collective values among an international group of women university students, International Journal of Technology and Design Education, vol. 21, no. 4, p. 487-503, Springer Verlag, Germany. 

 

Leach, A 2014, Why careers in traditional trades are on the rise among young Britons, The Guardian, web, accessed 9 June 2017,

https://www.theguardian.com/careers/careers-blog/why-careers-in-traditional-trades-on-rise-young-britons

 

Luckman, S 2013, The Aura Of The Analogue In A Digital Age: Women’s Crafts, Creative Markets And Home-Based Labour After Etsy, Cultural Studies Review, vol. 19, no. 1, p. 249-270, Melbourne University Publishing.

 

Peach, A 2013, What goes around comes around? Craft revival, the 1970s and today, Craft Research, vol. 4, no. 2, p. 161-179, Intellect, UK.

 

Poser, J 2015, Contemporary Craft: The Look of Labor, Art Education, vol. 61, no. 2, p. 80-86, Taylor & Francis, USA.

 

Traditional Craftsmanship, Intangible Cultural Heritage: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, web, accessed 9 June 2017,

https://ich.unesco.org/en/traditional-craftsmanship-00057

 

Wong, M, Escapism Through Crafts: The Underlying Benefits of Returning to Handiwork, University of Oregon, web, accessed 9 June, 2017,

http://blogs.uoregon.edu/mwong7/files/2013/10/Escapism-Through-Crafts-The-Underlying-Benefits-of-Returning-to-Handiwork-1qpskeo.pdf