Every thing turns into Art. I observe that as old technology is replaced with new technology, the old technology becomes an art form. Horse and buggy used to be utilitarian. Now it is an experience that is special. Bride and Groom rent a horse and buggy to be driven to their wedding.
Doing something by hand is superseded by production by machine. Those who "do" by hand, are practicing a craft or an art. Think quilts, wood working, gardening, welding, cooking from scratch...especially raising the food in one's own back yard and then cooking or canning it. (Does any one know how to can food these days?) Weaving? Dying cloth? Those who understand and program early computers are now relegated to the area of interesting historical craft persons.
Horses used to be utilitarian. Now they are the domain of the very rich. The best horses are so expensive that one person can't own the beast. He or she is owned by a corporation or group of owners...on the stock plan?
I found my husband's grandparent's wedding certificate. In those days, the certificate was framed and hung in the parlor. The certificate is huge and ornate. Mine is a half page in a folder...nothing to look at....just good to prove I married the man.
Before photography or video, the only way to record a person's likeness, was to have a portrait painted. Today We take snapshots or use our telephone to take pictures. Having one's portrait painted today is very expensive. It is now art.
As for me, I like my life style. I like making things by hand and wish I had the time and concentration to live entirely a life of art. When time runs out, I am forced to buy the usual mass produced goods.
Doing something by hand is superseded by production by machine. Those who "do" by hand, are practicing a craft or an art. Think quilts, wood working, gardening, welding, cooking from scratch...especially raising the food in one's own back yard and then cooking or canning it. (Does any one know how to can food these days?) Weaving? Dying cloth? Those who understand and program early computers are now relegated to the area of interesting historical craft persons.
Horses used to be utilitarian. Now they are the domain of the very rich. The best horses are so expensive that one person can't own the beast. He or she is owned by a corporation or group of owners...on the stock plan?
I found my husband's grandparent's wedding certificate. In those days, the certificate was framed and hung in the parlor. The certificate is huge and ornate. Mine is a half page in a folder...nothing to look at....just good to prove I married the man.
Before photography or video, the only way to record a person's likeness, was to have a portrait painted. Today We take snapshots or use our telephone to take pictures. Having one's portrait painted today is very expensive. It is now art.
As for me, I like my life style. I like making things by hand and wish I had the time and concentration to live entirely a life of art. When time runs out, I am forced to buy the usual mass produced goods.
Labels: every thing turns into art
posted by gardenbug at Saturday, August 25, 2007
2 Comments:
This is so true! I often wonder what skills and arts we are losing over time because we're so dependent on technology. Specifically, I think of chair caning, soap making, slaughtering and dressing your own livestock, communicating without anything powered by petroleum products, heating with coal, etc. When fewer and fewer people know how to do these things, it becomes an "art." They used to be necessities.
If there is a national emergency some time in the future, ...an emergency where channels of production and distribution are broken, those wonderful craftsmen will finally get some respect. We will be dependent upon them to show us how to survive. God bless the family farm.
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