Added Value ? is a British Crafts Council Touring Exhibition.
The key thing about this exhibition is the question mark. The exhibition poses a series of thought provoking questions and asks precisely what adds value to items we choose to buy. Taken from the catalogue the essential queries are:
...is craft a new language for luxury?Does bespoke offer greater value than off-the-peg?What is the relationship between skill and value?Does the skill of the maker's hand have greater worth than the cogs of a machine?What is the relationship between craft, value and experience?What makes an items valuable?Does craft give back to luxury brands what mass production and replication take away?
These questions make the "is craft art?" debate look easy!
In his introduction to the catalogue Bruce Montgomery, Professor in Design Craftsmanship at Northumbria University, says
If we are to avoid drowning in an endless stream of bland products, a new approach is required. We must add value, create luxury, and engage the consumer through skills, materials and experiences that produce higher value goods with cutting edge appeal.
He suggests that in order to distinguish oneself from the high street one has to go up market to the designer brands and therein lies value, taste and style. In this context designers make great efforts to be associated with craftsmanship in order to enhance the brand validity.
Montgomery goes on to say
Craft skills and crafted products are increasingly crucial to our understanding of what is luxurious. Unique, irreplaceable crafted products allow us to see that taste is about more than money.
What I don't quite understand is how individually crafted items can be so blithely dissociated from monetary cost.
For me the artists who were involved in this exhibition were somewhat overshadowed by the philosophical side of things. However the work shown was unusual and interesting.
carreducker "create custom made shoes for men, traditionally made and designed with a contemporary aesthetic to suit each clients individual style"
Oliver Ruuger is an Estonian born designer working in London. He produces highly innovative accessories which have their basis in a traditional function, for example umbrellas or briefcases.
Bompas and Parr were founded in 2007 and have developed a business in food art. Their creations are all gelatin based and can be quite spectacular:
Theu use cutting edge technology including 3D printing to create their moulds.
Zoe Arnold mixes recycled and precious materials to create a variety of art objects.
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| http://carreducker.com/bespoke-shoes |
Oliver Ruuger is an Estonian born designer working in London. He produces highly innovative accessories which have their basis in a traditional function, for example umbrellas or briefcases.
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| http://www.notjustalabel.com/oliver_ruuger |
Bompas and Parr were founded in 2007 and have developed a business in food art. Their creations are all gelatin based and can be quite spectacular:
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| sweet-station.com |
Theu use cutting edge technology including 3D printing to create their moulds.
Zoe Arnold mixes recycled and precious materials to create a variety of art objects.
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| http://zoearnold.com silver, coral and lava beads |
Simon Hasan has reinvigorated the ancient tradition of boiling leather to create a hard material to make furniture and other unique objects.
Tracey Kendall is a maker of bespoke wallpapers which are both inventive and eccentric. The one featured in the exhibition is made of sequins:
The exhibition has been successful as far as I'm concerned because it has raised questions I didn't know existed and provoked debate at home. As for answers to the questions - well some are pretty uncomfortable for someone who wasn't born with a silver spoon in her mouth.
The website has much more information and I can promise it will make you think.
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| www.dezeen.co. |
Tracey Kendall is a maker of bespoke wallpapers which are both inventive and eccentric. The one featured in the exhibition is made of sequins:
 |
| http://www.tracykendall.com |
The exhibition has been successful as far as I'm concerned because it has raised questions I didn't know existed and provoked debate at home. As for answers to the questions - well some are pretty uncomfortable for someone who wasn't born with a silver spoon in her mouth.
The website has much more information and I can promise it will make you think.
http://addedvalue.org.uk/guide
Fascinating. I've just been reading the gallery guide and it certainly does provide food for thought. As for sequin wallpaper - the spiders in my house would have a field day with that!
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