Field Journal 4
Lecture - Arts & Crafts Movement Review
One of the things that really caught my eye about this lecture was the Industrial Revolution's production of cheap and inferior products for sale on the market and how machines and manufacturing pretty much removed the artist from the production process altogether. Most of it was formed from cheap labor rather then a traditional system of apprenticeship, where people actually learned how to be artists who can put together quality work that they can take pride in.
Now in our modern day era there are a countless number of manufactures that strike a balance between quality and quantity where the artisan actually has input in production. But one of my favorite examples of this comes from a sword manufacture called Hanwei. Formed by Paul Chen, Hanwei is a GIANT in the industry and is my preferred favorite as far as the sword industry goes. In his company, Chen actually supervises a team of 35 skilled smiths who in turn supervise 4 times the number of assistants in the forge. There, everything is done traditionally only with power hammers and modern materials at their disposal. So there, the machine doesn't replace the artisan but instead aids him in production, so he doesn't have to compromise quality for quantity.
Since mass produced items at the time were cheap and crudely made, artists were at odds with the innovators most of the time because of the cheap production value of the products. This eventually led to the Arts and Crafts movement which were composed of a number of societies and guilds with the common goal of promoting the importance of maintaining quality and their craft. in today's society there will always be levels of varying quality. From cheap mass-produced, to middle quality, to the high-end quality products that will of course reflect in the high price tag.
Now in our modern day era there are a countless number of manufactures that strike a balance between quality and quantity where the artisan actually has input in production. But one of my favorite examples of this comes from a sword manufacture called Hanwei. Formed by Paul Chen, Hanwei is a GIANT in the industry and is my preferred favorite as far as the sword industry goes. In his company, Chen actually supervises a team of 35 skilled smiths who in turn supervise 4 times the number of assistants in the forge. There, everything is done traditionally only with power hammers and modern materials at their disposal. So there, the machine doesn't replace the artisan but instead aids him in production, so he doesn't have to compromise quality for quantity.
Since mass produced items at the time were cheap and crudely made, artists were at odds with the innovators most of the time because of the cheap production value of the products. This eventually led to the Arts and Crafts movement which were composed of a number of societies and guilds with the common goal of promoting the importance of maintaining quality and their craft. in today's society there will always be levels of varying quality. From cheap mass-produced, to middle quality, to the high-end quality products that will of course reflect in the high price tag.
By: Kevin Young
References:
No comments:
Post a Comment