Mark Hancock
Established Member
Having just completed a reply to a letter in the last issue of the magazine Woodturning it struck me that it would be interesting to try and get some response or reaction from this forum. I don't know if my letter will be published as I'd submitted it or if it will be edited or published at all, so I've copied my original submission below. I'd be interested in any comments whatever your view. My apologies for the length of the letter. All I've tried to do is state my thoughts and opinions as clearly as possible without ambiguity. It's not my intention to provoke slanging matches but to initiate and/or continue a constructive discusion/debate about the craft of woodturning today.
I would really be gratetful for any feedback of whatever nature.
Start of the letter:
I’ve been following the recent correspondence in this magazine and elsewhere regarding the development and future of woodturning and my initial reaction to David Thomas (Letters, Issue 183) was one of disappointment to put it mildly. Upon reflection, I realised that because woodturning has developed into such a rich and diverse craft ranging from the traditional through to the embellished and sculptural we as turners are all approaching and discussing the subject from different directions and with different agendas. With that in mind, I realised that Mr Thomas’ letter did not merit a direct response, but rather a few thoughts about the craft of woodturning today.
We have a situation where we are struggling to try to define what woodturning is whilst at the same time wanting to get woodturning accepted as an art form. At the one extreme, the craft of woodturning is seen as a traditional craft and at the other we have the embellished turned work so eloquently referred to by Mr Thomas as the arty stuff. Sir Terence Conran commented on this in his introduction to the Craft Galleries Guide 2002. “The problem that the craft industry faced in the past was the belief that you could simply continue to produce the same traditional products, with no reference to the huge changes in taste or style of life that have occurred throughout the world in the last fifty years.” He goes on to say that whilst tradition and craftsmanship are still relevant and important there is an understanding that individuality and modern technology can be used and combined as well. His comments still seem to apply to woodturning in 2008. Do we want the craft of woodturning to remain unchanged or to develop and progress?
The art verses craft issue has been around for years in all craft disciplines and to date has never been resolved. So, why as woodturners, who cannot even define our own craft, can we ever hope to define art as opposed to craft? I personally see this as a fruitless path to follow. My own view is that many confuse the idea of what is art with what is collectable. To have one’s work valued by a collector does not automatically make it art. To me craft is the work of skilled hands whereas art comes from within. Art expresses a thought, concept, or reaction about or to something. It does not necessarily have to be pleasing to view. I know of only a handful of turned pieces that, in my opinion, one could truly define as art. Having said that you could also argue that art may be an object rather than an idea. Therefore, the argument goes on.
The need to pigeonhole everything and if something does not fulfil ones’ preconceived ideas dismiss and/or ridicule it serves no purpose. Not all turned work may be to everyone’s liking. So why not forget the art versus craft debate and the pigeonholes and say there is a place for everything regardless of what you want to call it? What we need to do is celebrate the diversity and see it as a strength of woodturning.
Woodturning in the UK does have a problem with regard to the public’s perception of it. After nineteen years of turning professionally, I still have to refer to stair spindles and salad bowls to explain what I do for a living. There are the many local craft fairs, numerous craft gift shops, a number of more up market craft shows, and a relative few number of contemporary galleries exhibiting turned work. So why don’t they know what woodturning is?
I hate making over-generalizations, but the majority of the public only encounters woodturning at local craft fairs and in craft gift shops. These venues give very little opportunity for the public to see the range, quality and diversity of turning that we know as turners is possible. There is not enough variety and quality in the work for the public to gain any appreciation of what woodturning today is about and can offer.
I know the problems with this sector of the market having begun my turning career there. You have craft fair organisers who concentrate on maximising the number of stalls, selling the pitch spaces, and ignoring the quality and origin of the work exhibited. These are similar to the commercial considerations taken by craft gift shops. The aspirations of those turners selling through these outlets can be covering the stall fee or shop commission, recouping the cost of the wood used, earning a bit of pocket money, off loading excess turnings from the home and trying to make a living. I’ve heard all of these reasons and many more. In addition, you may get the part time or hobby turner under valuing their work. This may sell the work but it undervalues the skills of that turner but more importantly, it undervalues the skills of all turners and devalues the craft in the eyes of the public. The attitude that “purely ornamental work doesn’t sell because glass and ceramics beats it hands down” only adds to the situation. Why should we expect the public to be more appreciative about woodturning?
Another factor is the lack of woodturning within the educational system. Woodturning is no longer part of the school curriculum so there is little opportunity to educate future generations. There are the youth initiatives encouraged and supported by the AWGB and WCT but these are a drop in the ocean. This may be why few woodturners graduate in a craft discipline. I do not believe there was any suggestion by Ms Wright that one has to have a degree to produce worthwhile turned work, but rather the observation, with which I agree, that a graduate of a craft discipline does have two major advantages over those without a degree. Firstly, they will have a better understanding of the creative design process and of aesthetics. Secondly, and this is where it affects public awareness, their graduation shows give them exposure to proprietors of contemporary craft galleries and arts and crafts organisations who are looking for the up and coming makers of the future. If this sector of the craft industry is not introduced to woodturning at these shows, it is hardly surprising that they have so little knowledge about turning and that this is reflected in the limited amount of turned work in contemporary galleries and at shows like Origin. I know there have been direct approaches and invitations to the Crafts Council and Arts Council for various exhibitions and events but with little response.
So, where does that leave us and what should we do? Over the last nineteen years, I’ve seen a great number of positive changes but it has been frustratingly slow. The woodturning community is very insular but the majority are open and willing to share information through club meetings, demonstrations, seminars, and internet forums. We have to look outside of woodturning, and there engage the public, and educate them. This is happening to a limited extent with events such as Coombe Abbey Woodturners’ opening a new workshop centre at Coombe Abbey Country Park and the exhibitions at the Sarah Myerscough Gallery. Contemporary galleries who do not exhibit turned work are open to approach but it is hard work on an individual basis. I still have to agree with Ms Wright’s closing remark. We do need ‘outsiders’ to help us and the only relevant body that comes to mind is the Crafts Council. After considering their past support or lack of it to approaches made, I do not know how we get that help. After all, I’m only a woodturner.
PS. I don’t envy the editorial team of this magazine when it comes to deciding what to publish. I’ve been subscribing since the first issue back in 1989(?) and have lost count of the number of times comments along the lines of too much/not enough basic/arty stuff have appeared. Just compare the two letters in Issue 183. You can’t satisfy everyone all the time. For my part thank you.
End of letter.
A Happy New Year to all
I would really be gratetful for any feedback of whatever nature.
Start of the letter:
I’ve been following the recent correspondence in this magazine and elsewhere regarding the development and future of woodturning and my initial reaction to David Thomas (Letters, Issue 183) was one of disappointment to put it mildly. Upon reflection, I realised that because woodturning has developed into such a rich and diverse craft ranging from the traditional through to the embellished and sculptural we as turners are all approaching and discussing the subject from different directions and with different agendas. With that in mind, I realised that Mr Thomas’ letter did not merit a direct response, but rather a few thoughts about the craft of woodturning today.
We have a situation where we are struggling to try to define what woodturning is whilst at the same time wanting to get woodturning accepted as an art form. At the one extreme, the craft of woodturning is seen as a traditional craft and at the other we have the embellished turned work so eloquently referred to by Mr Thomas as the arty stuff. Sir Terence Conran commented on this in his introduction to the Craft Galleries Guide 2002. “The problem that the craft industry faced in the past was the belief that you could simply continue to produce the same traditional products, with no reference to the huge changes in taste or style of life that have occurred throughout the world in the last fifty years.” He goes on to say that whilst tradition and craftsmanship are still relevant and important there is an understanding that individuality and modern technology can be used and combined as well. His comments still seem to apply to woodturning in 2008. Do we want the craft of woodturning to remain unchanged or to develop and progress?
The art verses craft issue has been around for years in all craft disciplines and to date has never been resolved. So, why as woodturners, who cannot even define our own craft, can we ever hope to define art as opposed to craft? I personally see this as a fruitless path to follow. My own view is that many confuse the idea of what is art with what is collectable. To have one’s work valued by a collector does not automatically make it art. To me craft is the work of skilled hands whereas art comes from within. Art expresses a thought, concept, or reaction about or to something. It does not necessarily have to be pleasing to view. I know of only a handful of turned pieces that, in my opinion, one could truly define as art. Having said that you could also argue that art may be an object rather than an idea. Therefore, the argument goes on.
The need to pigeonhole everything and if something does not fulfil ones’ preconceived ideas dismiss and/or ridicule it serves no purpose. Not all turned work may be to everyone’s liking. So why not forget the art versus craft debate and the pigeonholes and say there is a place for everything regardless of what you want to call it? What we need to do is celebrate the diversity and see it as a strength of woodturning.
Woodturning in the UK does have a problem with regard to the public’s perception of it. After nineteen years of turning professionally, I still have to refer to stair spindles and salad bowls to explain what I do for a living. There are the many local craft fairs, numerous craft gift shops, a number of more up market craft shows, and a relative few number of contemporary galleries exhibiting turned work. So why don’t they know what woodturning is?
I hate making over-generalizations, but the majority of the public only encounters woodturning at local craft fairs and in craft gift shops. These venues give very little opportunity for the public to see the range, quality and diversity of turning that we know as turners is possible. There is not enough variety and quality in the work for the public to gain any appreciation of what woodturning today is about and can offer.
I know the problems with this sector of the market having begun my turning career there. You have craft fair organisers who concentrate on maximising the number of stalls, selling the pitch spaces, and ignoring the quality and origin of the work exhibited. These are similar to the commercial considerations taken by craft gift shops. The aspirations of those turners selling through these outlets can be covering the stall fee or shop commission, recouping the cost of the wood used, earning a bit of pocket money, off loading excess turnings from the home and trying to make a living. I’ve heard all of these reasons and many more. In addition, you may get the part time or hobby turner under valuing their work. This may sell the work but it undervalues the skills of that turner but more importantly, it undervalues the skills of all turners and devalues the craft in the eyes of the public. The attitude that “purely ornamental work doesn’t sell because glass and ceramics beats it hands down” only adds to the situation. Why should we expect the public to be more appreciative about woodturning?
Another factor is the lack of woodturning within the educational system. Woodturning is no longer part of the school curriculum so there is little opportunity to educate future generations. There are the youth initiatives encouraged and supported by the AWGB and WCT but these are a drop in the ocean. This may be why few woodturners graduate in a craft discipline. I do not believe there was any suggestion by Ms Wright that one has to have a degree to produce worthwhile turned work, but rather the observation, with which I agree, that a graduate of a craft discipline does have two major advantages over those without a degree. Firstly, they will have a better understanding of the creative design process and of aesthetics. Secondly, and this is where it affects public awareness, their graduation shows give them exposure to proprietors of contemporary craft galleries and arts and crafts organisations who are looking for the up and coming makers of the future. If this sector of the craft industry is not introduced to woodturning at these shows, it is hardly surprising that they have so little knowledge about turning and that this is reflected in the limited amount of turned work in contemporary galleries and at shows like Origin. I know there have been direct approaches and invitations to the Crafts Council and Arts Council for various exhibitions and events but with little response.
So, where does that leave us and what should we do? Over the last nineteen years, I’ve seen a great number of positive changes but it has been frustratingly slow. The woodturning community is very insular but the majority are open and willing to share information through club meetings, demonstrations, seminars, and internet forums. We have to look outside of woodturning, and there engage the public, and educate them. This is happening to a limited extent with events such as Coombe Abbey Woodturners’ opening a new workshop centre at Coombe Abbey Country Park and the exhibitions at the Sarah Myerscough Gallery. Contemporary galleries who do not exhibit turned work are open to approach but it is hard work on an individual basis. I still have to agree with Ms Wright’s closing remark. We do need ‘outsiders’ to help us and the only relevant body that comes to mind is the Crafts Council. After considering their past support or lack of it to approaches made, I do not know how we get that help. After all, I’m only a woodturner.
PS. I don’t envy the editorial team of this magazine when it comes to deciding what to publish. I’ve been subscribing since the first issue back in 1989(?) and have lost count of the number of times comments along the lines of too much/not enough basic/arty stuff have appeared. Just compare the two letters in Issue 183. You can’t satisfy everyone all the time. For my part thank you.
End of letter.
A Happy New Year to all
