On Making Art vs Crafts

Art can be defined as the conscious use of skill and creative imagination, especially in the production of aesthetic objects. So art is about form over function, whereas crafts are about function over form.

Obviously there are issues of aesthetics and diversity of personal preference, and while many crafted pieces are often artistically done, can the inverse be said about art? Or is art, as Christo essentially put it, something created that has no function, except maybe to make pleasure?

I’m not actually waxing philosophical on art vs. craft here. It is more an exploration of why I feel different when I make art than when I make crafts.

For me, making art is a private, introverted, introspective experience. I can talk about it with others, but I find that is limited to *specific* others. It can take a lot of time and effort to explain either the significance or the meaning of something I have created, or what I consider to be aesthetically pleasing - because those are not necessarily shared experiences. Some art is more commonly experienced than others, but even within that category it isn’t always so.

Making crafts, on the other hand, to me is a much more social and extroverted experience. Crafts are made deliberately to share with others, designed specifically to appeal to a large, common group of people.

When I make art, I am often quiet, thoughtful, and pensive. Sometimes making my art makes me feel more lonely as a result. When I get lonely, I tend to want to make more crafts. Although there isn’t any change to my physical space (I’m still alone in my studio), the mindset is different when I’m making crafts than art.

Crafts tend to also be quicker for me, so I can make more of then in a shorter amount of time - which appeals to my impatience and makes more feel more productive, and thus less lonely.

Art, on the other hand, takes longer to make, takes more introspection and communing, which sometimes adds to the sense of loneliness because it is a slower process and a solo experience.

I go back and forth on whether I want to make art or crafts. I bounce around, I think base on if I’m in an introverted or extroverted mood (although as a personality trait I am introverted, but that’s different from a “mood”), or if I am feeling lonely or socially sated.