The Art of the Maker by Peter Dormer

NOTABLE POINTS/IDEAS  OF INTEREST IN BOOK BY PETER DORMER

Click for reflections/response to book

A lot of Dormer's argument in this book centers around his definition of 'tacit knowledge' which I have supplied below. 

Tacit knowledge refers to a body of knowledge which we have gained through experience - both through the experience of our senses and through the experience of doing work of various kinds. Tacit knowledge differs from propositional knowledge in that it cannot easily be articulated or described in words. Nor can tacit knowledge be described mathematically. This inability to describe the core of a craft becomes more and more acute the closer the craft comes to being an 'art'. The particular 'touch' of a violinist, pianist[...] or vet cannot be described, but it can be demonstrated and, to a degree, be imitated or even learned wholly by someone else. PAGE 14

He returns on several occasions throughout the book to how tacit knowledge is passed between teacher and student, and the ways in which this indescribable nature informs and effects the very basis of how art movements grow and shift.

 Public scrutiny is a key element in the development of tacit knowledge. It is not enough for the craftworker to say 'I know how to do this'. The knowledge has to be demonstrated and it will be assessed by peers against what is held to be good current practice. PAGE 18

Dormer also then went on to describe the partner aspect to public scrutiny, a private aspect where the craft is taken in as part of the self and a dialogue is opened between the maker, his 'expertise' and his final goal wherein a give and take experience of learning, adaptation and acquisition is set in motion. Through aligning the maker, their tacit knowledge and creative goals, confidence and proficiency, a craftsperson can build up an expertise which defies quantifiable language and is instead of the realm of sense, intuition and feeling. This was very interesting for me to read, as it is this percieved sense of 'rightness' and visual integrity which I aim for in my own work, however I had never heard this composed into a formally written sentence before.

It is arguable that the diminuation of craft knowledge and it's status in the plastic arts is merely a part of a widespread phenomenon. After all, fragmentation of craft knowledge in the plastic arts appears to have a parallel in industry and modern technology, where different skills are held by induvidual people and 'atomised'. PAGE 30

Dormer then goes further to describe an incredible detailed scenario (as is apparently typical of his idiosyncratic writing style) of a scientific pipetting machine to measure exact drops of scientific fluid, meaning skilled technicians no longer need the skill and new student are not taught the obselete method. When an entire factory and it's workers have dedicated their skills to the creation of the pipetting machine, yet scientists themselves no longer attain the skill of hand pipetting, does this mean ultimately less or more knowlege has been gained? This way of thinking was very expansive, and led my mind on to further questions about how the definitive markers of what is and isn't an 'art' outcome are forever moving, and the validity of such changes. Just because a readymade doesn't show craft based skill, does part of it's credence lie in the fact it is bourne of the efforts of a mechanised society, instead of the acts of an induvidual?

Skill in industry is distributed systematically across a network of people, hardware and software. This system exists for the completion of a shared goal, such as the manufacture of cars. The plastic arts, on the contrary, are individualistic, competitive and not characterised by shared goals. There is no technology, no hard- or software for capturing and distributing the craft of art. If it is not acquired in substantial 'lumps' and passed on from person to person in a system of apprenticeship then it is lost. The rate of this loss increases the more emphasis is put on the acquisition of mere segments of skill. PAGE 30

I also found this point very thought provoking, as it compares two types of skill which differ based on their application. The contrasting systems of maintaining and sharing knowledge in the two different industries was something I had not considered before, and definitely made me realise the ephemeral nature of tacit knowledge. So much of our existence and human abilities are now uploaded onto databases or coded into algorithms for ease of use, but tacit knowledge, a craftsman's expertise, cannot be captured and certainly never replicated in such a way. This made me feel even more strongly that a craft based approach is something I wish to maintain in my work, much of which is meant to critique our negative human impact on the planet. After thinking about this I feel that a traditional/skills based approach ratifies this creative direction.

Dormer went on to describe the many creative inspirations and acknowledgements taken by Henry Matisse on his journey to becoming the finalised artist we visualise when thinking of his work, between 1869 and 1954 which surpassed a variety of themes, styles and movements of the time. The point he came to at the end of this lengthy analysis was one that I also found very thought provoking and relevant to myself as a current student of the arts.

Today, however, in the spirit of specialization, and with art regarded in terms of linear progress, the modern student is most likely to eschew all of the work that preceded Matisse's last works, and to begin his or her own career of 'studying' the art of creating semi-abstract paper cutouts, and thereafter trying to extend his or her own art from that small base. Moreover, the contemporary student will do this without the broader framework of craft knowledge that Matisse himself acquired as a student. PAGE 32

This interested me, and it is something I know as an art student it is easy to succumb to. It is easy to study an artist and only pick out the finalised parts you like or find interesting, however to fully understand the artist as a whole, as is required to understand their creative motives based on this concept of tacit knowledge coming forth as part of a person's entire self, you must also take into account the aspects of their work you don't like, and still recognise why they decided to create it. It also reminds me of why it is important to study and understand the work of a wide variety of creatives from all time periods, as it is only through having a diverse range of sources that one can become a well rounded finished article. I also think this is a very good argument for why so much of art has become sensationalised or reliant on shock or novelty factors for viral, facebook generation accountablitiy. As generations upon generations of artists only reference the finished article professionals and their highly developed, induvidually stylised work, without accounting for the slow, methodical development of talent and patience which has had to happen in the first instance, leading to only superficial development upon the work of predicessors.

  Any meaning that a Matisse painting or sculpture has is a result of craft knowledge: the thinking and making are soluble one with the other. With the transfer of art from a craft-based to theory-based discipline, the objects of contemporary art stand as cyphers for theory: instead of being an expression, the contemporary art object is a representation of an idea. PAGE 33

I think this short paragraph perfectly summarises the difference between the art I align myself with and much of modern contemporary art. My creativity is an expression and something I find therapy and pleasure in, the gratification from expressing my idea in a fluent, articulate and wholly appealing way is what I continually strive for, and the idea of producing something which doesn't leave me feeling creatively consumed and then ultimately exerted is not the experience I wish to undertake. To solely represent a concept and not organically 'express' it would I think inhibit me from adding that unquantifiable aspect of 'soul' to my work.

He also put forward a contrasting opinion of skill based working from an essay by Alison Britton as part of a book "Beyond the Dovetail". I would like to visit the library and find this book as further reading on this subject, with an opposing viewpoint to balance my investigation. Dormer provides a thorough breakdown of her points, however to truly understand both sides of the argument I think it would be best for me to read it, unbiased, and make my own conclusions. As she was a ceramicist and craftsperson herself I think her viewpoint could be very interesting.

 Craft knowledge is genuine knowledge. To possess it in any form is to see the world in an enriched way compared with someone who does not possess it. There is nothing magical about this. If you are a dentist, for example, you cannot help noticing the shape of people's mouths and cheeks and making inferences about the state and number of their teeth.

The way Dormer interweaves references from outside artistic culture into his essays is of the upmost effectiveness, as art is so directly influenced by the people and culture which inspire and surround it that to take an example from everyday life is also to take an example which is relative creatively. It demonstrates his complete belief in his rationale, that it can be expanded upon and applied to all walks of life, and shows him to be highly contextually aware. It is something I too have experienced, as often when visiting a gallery it is the minute details such as brush stroke and paint thickness which can only be seen in the flesh, and tell the story of how the artist has realised their idea, really imparting the human aspect of creation onto a piece.

He then spoke of The Modern Movement in Art;

 It is a clear-sighted explanation and defense of the modern movement. He argued that for the last five-hundred years in Western art, since religion ceased to be the focus of the artist's work, all intelligent artists have been tormented by a search for justification  for their work. [...] An interesting history of Western art could be written tracking the politics of each rise and fall of the many theories and movements which have been hailed as the 'real' justification and purpose for art.

This is also true, as over the ages so many 'isms' have risen and fallen, that it is almost now expected or art to conform to one or another area of justification. Although I do not condemn these movements, it does often seem as though artists consign themselves to one 'ism' or another as a way of mitigating the 'tormented search for justification' that Dormer describes, and not because they wholeheartedly believe identify with the movement. A counter argument for this however is that in relating to the writing of Dormer, I am also consigning myself to a similar fate, by justifying my own work off the back of another's ideas, and so the paradox unfolds.

The discovery of an artist, especially one as idiosyncratic as Wallis, is an interesting phenomenon in itself. Today there are hundreds and thousands of fans of Wallis worldwide but I wonder how many of us would have seen the quality in Wallis' work if it had not been taken and placed in galleries and books? I doubt if I would have recognized the quality unaided if I had come across his work, unknown and unregarded in a junk shop. PAGE 77

Dormer also touches on another interesting point in this paragraph, that the professional appraisal of a work adds to its mettle. Some abstract expressionist pieces of today bare no defining features between the work of one artist or another, it is only their gallery context which marks them apart, and the perceived worth of the artist creating it which gives them their value. In this sense galleries are given unparallelled power in discerning what is and isn't of 'value', much in the way mainstream media decides which news stories are and are not worthy, however it is interesting to note that although major news networks are often decried for this, major galleries rarely are. Perhaps one reason for this is because as soon as a piece is placed in a gallery it is seen as knowing and purposeful, regardless of whether this is actually the case. In a high end gallery all art is seen as professional and highly conscientious, and is rarely judged or doubted no matter how much tangible ability is actually demonstrated.

Industrial design and manufacture finds it both difficult and uneconomic to generate finesse, especially the finesse of complexity. It is true that there is refinement in the edges and profiles of a plastic moulding or in the curves of a carefully built car, but such refinement is generally bland. However few artists have stepped in to supply the exquisite work that industry cannot provide. [...] Yet the display of craft knowledge, the creation of exquisitely executed, elaborate designs can, in itself, be a way of communicating values; care, love, a desire to serve, an intention to delight, a desire to honour a patron, a client or some other, more abstract metaphysical entity such as 'my country' or 'my God'. PAGES 88-9

I think this is one of the strongest arguments for a skills focused approach presented in the book so far. Although 'skill for skills sake' is often seen as a dirty phrase in the contemporary art world, I feel that perhaps the wrong approach is being taken. Instead of seeing it as 'skill for skills sake' perhaps we should consider it as the application of skill in celebration of a certain subject, and that by rendering a subject in a highly skilled way, we immortalise and exalt it to a higher status. This was very much the attitude during the Renaissance, before the dawn of photography, wherein the only way to preserve and honour an impermenant moment or concept was to capture it with skill in a craft based form, but this idea has for the most part been departed from now that machinery can achieve this in our stead.

[...]It is also a refreshing twist on the contemporary art world orthodoxy of 'risk taking' in which the only risk taken by the artist is that they may offend the spectator. 'Risk Taking' is a popular orthodoxy of contemporary art, especially art education. [...] But the one noble attitude of risk-taking has become associated with either the rejection of tradition (a stale attitude) or the embrace of novelty (what is there left to try?) The obverse of the contemporary attitude, which encourages risk-taking is hostility towards craft knowledge and skill, which are seen as 'safe'. PAGE 92

I do not wholly agree with this statement, as I would not like to condemn the work of anyone for rejection tradition or embracing novelty, as I think both have their place when used effectively, and the rejection of tradition has been the sparking factor to almost every great revolution or progression the world over. However I would also completely reject the idea that a craft and skill based approach to art is 'safe' and is not 'risk taking' enough, as for me one of the greatest risks you can take is to try to represent something realistically, or honestly, as your failures will be ever more apparent should you not succeed. Whereas in comparison, to return to the work of the abstract expressionists as an example, should any area of their work not turned out as they had hoped, this mistake could be easily masked by suggesting that was how the painter intended it all along. As Dormer said, the main risk that such artists take is that their audience will not approve of their outcome.

If industry offers blandness, art offers dramatic gesture - but it is frequently crude, lacking nuance and subtlety. [...] For example, a feature of twentieth-century industrial culture is to be seen in the way of art, advertising, design, craft and fashion has become super eclectic. We raid other cultures for ideas. [...] Twentieth-centry studio craftspeople, searching for examples of spontaneity, rawness and freedom in handmade artefacs have understandably been drawn to cultures where handiwork is still central: it may be in Japan or Africa or in the neglected working-class communities in older established industrial cultures. PAGES 94-5

In another cutting analysis of the problematic nature of contemporary art, Dormer strips away the culture of artist research and burrows down to the bare bones of the issue. As so much of our modern lives is either incredibly sensationalised or radically dumbed down and simplified for our highly consumerist society, art follows suit, becoming either oversimplified or incredibly induvidualised. Western culture is now so androgenous that in a search for 'spontaneity, rawness and freedom' people are forced to look further and further afield to work out what the next gesture of uniquness will be.

Artists and critics currently shy away from the word 'beauty', but physicists embrace it. [...] The sense of an internal logic, a rightness, and an overwhelming sense that things have come out 'just so' seems to be a common description of many people's appreciation for what makes a work of art pleasurable for them. [...] This sensation of informed spontaneity, fleuncy or 'rightness' is harder to achieve in more complex works, but when the complex work does achieve this goal then the aesthetic satisfaction it offers is often greater than minimalist objects. PAGE 97

To conclude my study into this topic I finally did a bit of research on Peter Dormer himself. Although some of his opinions came through with pangs of bitterness, it was hard not to see why when as a child he was abandoned in post war utilitarian austerity as an infant living in first a post WW2 repurposed army hut, and then in a industrialised council estate aged just 6. Perhaps this is why he developed to reject aesthetic minimalism and modernism in favour of the working class hero, what he called "middle-brow, middle taste" England. He studied at the Impington Village College in Camebridgeshire, led by E. Maxwell Fry and the renowned Walter Gropius, both of whom were prominent Modernist designers. This leads me to believe his opinion is a well balanced and educated one, and that he has lots of genuine experience in the movements he repudiates. I also read an interesting essay which referenced both this book and Harry Rand's 'Hundertwasser' and displayed a similar opinion to mine, written in 2009 by a student at Aalton University named Adhi Nugraha. I have attached it below for additional reading.

 "Does Art Benefit From Craft Knowledge?"