Sharing a blog post…

I’ve followed Robin Wood for a while now.

I saw him at work at a country fair one year; that was the first time I saw a pole lathe in action, and then a year later we go to try one at uni.  Also, when we did context studies, he came up in discussion because of his use of, and support for traditional craft practice.

We actually used his work and his blog in one of our presentations, and I was curious and amused by how he lives a fairly traditional lifestyle in some ways, and yet is very active in blogging, he even used to have a picture on the website that looked as though he was camping, and yet had apple laptop on… that made me smile.

He champions traditional craft, and is one of the founding members of the Heritage Craft Association, something that he clearly feels passionate about and works hard for.

I’ve just read this evening’s post about Marcel Duschamp, and I think it makes for really interesting reading; he questions that (some) craft skills are becoming so rare that should they not be as highly valued, if not more so than “art”?  His point  that “fine art” is now taught to thousands in universities by comparison to the small number of skilled craftspeople was particularly resonant, given that the course (Crafts) I completed last year at Derby has seen it’s final year graduate this summer.