The Nature and Art of Workmanship

The Nature and Art of Workmanship PDF Author: David Pye
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN:
Category : Design
Languages : en
Pages : 148

Book Description
Arguing that the aesthetic quality of our environment depends as much on its workmanship as on its design, and that workmanship has been largely ignored, David Pye develops a new theory of the aesthetics of workmanship which can be applied to architecture, to the products of industry and to craft-work. The author shows how and why we are conscious of finish and workmanship, goes on to ask why so much of our environment is impoverished and asks what can be done about it.

The Nature of Design

The Nature of Design PDF Author: David Pye
Publisher: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
ISBN: 9781350004467
Category : Design
Languages : en
Pages : 160

Book Description
In his classic work, first published in 1964, David Pye considers the varied elements that go towards good design, and investigates the scientific nature of function and its tenuous relationship to form. He explores the priority of economy, physical components, and manufacturing technique, and he clarifies the relative utilitarian and aesthetic roles of design. In his introduction to this second edition, craft scholar Ezra Shales revisits Pye's brilliant refutation of “form follows function” and functionalism – battles that he dropped in 1978 because they seemed settled. Today's enduring interest in Modernism makes Pye's 1964 text seem more prescient and even postmodern, because in it he questions industrialization and positivism. The second edition is illustrated with new images, including several of Pye's own work as a maker, and of artists and makers who have been influenced by Pye's practice.

The Craftsman

The Craftsman PDF Author: Richard Sennett
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141919418
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 345

Book Description
Why do people work hard, and take pride in what they do? This book, a philosophically-minded enquiry into practical activity of many different kinds past and present, is about what happens when people try to do a good job. It asks us to think about the true meaning of skill in the 'skills society' and argues that pure competition is a poor way to achieve quality work. Sennett suggests, instead, that there is a craftsman in every human being, which can sometimes be enormously motivating and inspiring - and can also in other circumstances make individuals obsessive and frustrated. The Craftsman shows how history has drawn fault-lines between craftsman and artist, maker and user, technique and expression, practice and theory, and that individuals' pride in their work, as well as modern society in general, suffers from these historical divisions. But the past lives of crafts and craftsmen show us ways of working (using tools, acquiring skills, thinking about materials) which provide rewarding alternative ways for people to utilise their talents. We need to recognise this if motivations are to be understood and lives made as fulfilling as possible.

Abstracting Craft

Abstracting Craft PDF Author: Malcolm McCullough
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262631891
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Book Description
In this investigation of the possibility of craft in the digital realm, the author discusses the emergence of computation as a medium, rather than just a set of tools, suggesting a growing correspondence between digital work and traditional craft.

Thinking Through Craft

Thinking Through Craft PDF Author: Glenn Adamson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350092630
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 236

Book Description
This book is an introduction to the way that artists working in all media think about craft. Workmanship is key to today's visual arts, when high 'production values' are becoming increasingly commonplace. Yet craft's centrality to contemporary art has received little serious attention from critics and historians. Dispensing with clichéd arguments that craft is art, Adamson persuasively makes a case for defining craft in a more nuanced fashion. The interesting thing about craft, he argues, is that it is perceived to be 'inferior' to art. The book consists of an overview of various aspects of this second-class identity - supplementarity, sensuality, skill, the pastoral, and the amateur. It also provides historical case studies analysing craft's role in a variety of disciplines, including architecture, design, contemporary art, and the crafts themselves.

The Nature and Aesthetics of Design

The Nature and Aesthetics of Design PDF Author: David Pye
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 9780713652864
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 112

Book Description
This is David Pye's classic book on the theory of design. In it, he explores the many facets of good design, including the relationship of aesthetics with function.

A Theory of Craft

A Theory of Craft PDF Author: Howard Risatti
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
ISBN: 1458762009
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 586

Book Description
What is craft? How is it different from fine art or design? In A Theory of Craft, Howard Risatti examines these issues by comparing handmade ceramics, glass, metalwork, weaving, and furniture to painting, sculpture, photography, and machine-made design from Bauhaus to the Memphis Group. He describes craft's unique qualities as functionality combined with an ability to express human values that transcend temporal, spatial, and social boundaries. Modern design today has taken over from craft the making of functional objects of daily use by employing machines to do work once done by hand. Understanding the aesthetic and social implications of this transformation forces us to see craft as well as design and fine art in a new perspective, Risatti argues. Without a way of understanding and valuing craft on its own terms, the field languishes aesthetically, being judged by fine art criteria that automatically deny art status to craft objects. Craft must articulate a role for itself in contemporary society, says Risatti; otherwise it will be absorbed by fine art or design and its singular approach to understanding the world will be lost. A Theory of Craft is a signal contribution to establishing a craft theory that recognizes, defines, and celebrates the unique blend of function and human aesthetic values embodied in the craft object.
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