Seeing the photogram/bilayered portion of our class film caused me to ruminate on the line that is often drawn between craft and content. I do not really think it exists. We may be trained, culturally, to read films within the parameters of a specific vernacular, but humans have been engaging similar themes for millenia. The poignance of a work is not so much rooted in the evocation of these unanswerable, perrennially re-treadable themes, but in their presentation. Craft renders content more or less accessible, striking; our vernaculars revolve around content, rather than catalyzing its evolution.
As was pointed out to me regarding my collage, an interesting idea in a work only goes so far without proper presentation. Which is why I dug that photogram/bilayered portion of our class film... the technique used formally pointed to buried qualities in our found footage.
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As you commented on the importance of craft, it behooves me to comment on your skillful use of the English language. You have developed your skills in this craft so well that I am compelled to label your use of the craft as art, something more elite and mysterious than mere craftsmanship.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm trying to make my English all fancy-like and proper too!
This harkens back to our reading on The Workmanship fo Risk, where Polly Ulrich traces historically where these cultural ideas around the separation of art and craft come from!
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