emiko-o reware

Creating a New Craft Culture SAT 8:45 AM
Morning Keynote: Handmade 2.0 with Rob Walker

Rob Walker brooch by Harriete Berman

Another major reason why I plunked down serious $$$ to come to this conference: to meet Rob Walker, author of Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are (2008), and a contributing writer and columnist of Consumed for The New York Times Magazine. I had imagined him to be a hearty, super forthcoming older New York type man, but boy was I way off course. A wiry, quiet guy, much more Portland Oregon. He and Harriete Estel Berman have been in discourse (he interviewed her for his murketing.com blog–check the post; she also made his nametag in the image above), so we had the pleasure of sitting with him in the back of the room for the Friday morning presentations.

Harriete Berman & Rob Walker

His lecture was introduced as being about How Craft fit into this New Marketplace and the Broader Consumer Culture. His first remark was “I’m not sure there is a SINGLE craft culture, but craft CULTURES…the broad idea of craft is up for grabs, which is not a bad thing, it’s a good thing.” He went on to talk about his interest in the tensions of the marketplace and contradictions in consumers, like how people want to feel unique yet be a part of something bigger, and that the consumer demands the very best when they really demand the cheapest. What it really boils down to is “Am I getting my money’s worth?”

Again the issue of Quality, except in this economy quality has been trumped by Thrift and Frugality, as stated by the trend industry. Rob is quite the comedian and the mediator, as he knew from the Friday talks that we can be a touchy crowd, he often put up the slide of his super cute dog since “dogs put people in better moods” (strangely enough, this move was done by a few other presenters later on). Really though, speaking to his mediator role, his talk was perfect to start us all on the right foot for the day, as he presented a solution: it’s “good to avoid hard and fast definitions of craft, because otherwise it moves toward Exclusivity. Thus it’s a Good Time to be INCLUSIVE.” Insert ripple of applause.

ON NEW WAVE 2.0
I like this term for Indie Craft, New Wave 2.0 (reminds me of my favorite rock bands)–Rob brought to light a great observation of how supportive the indie community is towards each other, breaking the tension of Urge to Compete and Urge to Cooperate. This is something that has always struck me as well, the general open arms welcome of the makers I meet at MakerFaire and Renegade Craft Fair. But I don’t see that much of a difference in the metals community in the terms of inclusivity and sharing of information. I have remarked to students and emerging artists of how lucky we are to be a part of a creative community that helps each other for greater good of the field. It’s not cut-throat like advertising or high fashion.

THE IDEA OF STORY
Turns out that while Friday’s theme was Quality, Saturday’s theme is Story. Story is what differentiates mass produced products from craft. People value the story of the maker, the process, the concept of a piece and that’s why they shell out a little extra dough and energy to own craft. However, Rob gives it a new spin by saying, “the mistake people [i.e. makers] make is thinking the most important story is their own story but it isn’t…best when your story is relevant to others’ lives“, the story of the person you’re selling to. True, as artists we get a little tunneled visioned in our making and thinking it’s all about us, but I’ve found that my most successful pieces, whether it’s production work or exhibition pieces are the ones in which springboarded peoples’ personal experiences and nostaglia. And it’s this engaged feedback from people that motivates me to continue to make with this idea of story in mind.

Rob urges us to consider accepting multiple versions of Craft, and in doing so, become a bigger voice in the marketplace. To strive to understand each other and find common ground, and not expect the public to accept a “proper” definition of craft. Insert loud applause.

See Rob’s follow-up post here.
See what Harriete had to say here.

LEGO blog pin for conference

Well, almost Live from Minneapolis; heads up reware fans, it’s time for me to blog another amazing craft conference for SNAG starting this Friday for the American Craft Council’s “Creating a New Craft Culture.” A much shorter, but still as intensely packed line-up of speakers from Oct 16-17, culminating in a Saturday night banquet (we’ll see if the  ACC attendees are as fun as the SNAG conference folks….).

SNAG home page

Check out the SNAG home page and on the right hand column in “Announcements” is a link to the ACC Bloggers, meaning me and Harriete Estel Berman. We’ll try to keep it as live as possible, so stay tuned!

So what’s the big deal about the ACC conference, you ask? Well here’s just a few names in the lineup and see for yourself:
Garth Clark (craft critic and curator), Rob Walker (NY Times columnist & author of “Buying In”), Faythe Levine (director of “A Handmade Nation”), Panel discussion led by Namita Gupta Wiggers (Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland) on internet marketing, featuring CEOs Lisa Bayne of Artful Home and Maria Thomas of Etsy. Plus many more, but those are the ones that convinced me that flying to MN at the start of winter was a good idea. And this from a gal who’s sworn off snow…. Read more about the speakers, program and blog articles related to on the ACC site.

Just finished unpacking and repacking, having returned from a whirlwind month in NYC, London, and Greece. More next week about the cool UK jewelers, London exhibitions, as well as my talks at Syracuse University (my Top Ten Tips for Post Grad Success will be expanded upon here soon, promise) and at Museum of Arts & Design, NYC. I’m such a tease, I know.

Must go and pack my face mask for today’s many airplanes, and maybe nap….