C R I T I C ’ S C O R N E R
The tensions w ithin craft have to do with allegiances
and historical conditions established by d iff erent
political generations.
DIY:
Revolution
3.0-Beta
E S S A Y B Y
Dennis Stevens
FIGURE
1
Knitta, a Houston-
based crew of knitters,
wrapped a bus in Mexico
City in November 2008
with knitted and cro-
cheted blankets. The
interior is hollowed out
and used for community
art workshops.
FIGURE
2
Lisa Anne Auerbach’s
banner (shawl)
fh u ig m ire,
2005, is typical
of her machine-knitted
garments that carry po-
litical commentary.
1. Nancy Whittier,
“Turning it Over:
Personal Change in
the Columbus, Ohio
Women’s Movement,”
1984, in
F em in ist
O rganizations: H arvest
o f th e N e w W om en 's
M o vem en t
, ed. Myra
Marx and Patricia
Yancey Martin,
Philadelphia: Temple
University Press,
■
995
-P-180-
Craft in the 21st century is a nebulous and slippery topic. As the confluence
of several different generational interpretations of a single term, “craft”
presents us with a series of distinct yet connected sets of knowledge and
values. Although each meaning refers to the production of objects by
hand, a common definition for craft remains elusive.
Today studio craft is recognized as valuing skill, connoisseurship and
tradition, and its social structure seems to generate the need for educa-
tional and professional hierarchies. In contrast,
D IY
craft emerges from
a culture that does not seek professional validation within traditional
art methodology but rather is motivated by joining with others socially
in shared, creative activity
[f i g u r e 1 ]
. Further,
D IY
often relies upon an
ironic or satirical approach to forms of domestic creativity that the femi-
nists of the 1970s (otherwise termed second-wave feminists) strictly
sought to reject
[f i g u r e a].
These differences, combined with the fact that DIY craft places little
value upon hierarchical structure and tradition, often set the two forms
of craft at odds with one another. In recognition of this tension, I aim
here to place the
D i y
craft movement within the larger cultural context
of generational movements, as these craft practitioners comprise groups
whose values and aims need to be acknowledged and understood.
Let me first make clear that I am not making a simple series of general-
izations about generations, social movements and the experience of
groups of people. Rather, I am applying the concept of “political genera-
tions” to the concept of craft. According to feminist scholar Nancy
Whittier,1
a political generation is “a group of people (not necessarily
050 american craft oct/novoç
www.freedowns.net & www.journal-plaiza.net
Knitta bus photo/Cesar Ortega.
