In today’s mass produced consumerist society in which our clothes come from China or India, our flat-pack furniture is quickly and simply erected, and our language is increasingly confined to abbreviations and word counts, is craft still relevant to our everyday lives?
Craft can be described as an activity involving skill in the making of things by hand and as Amanda Game (curator of applied arts at RCA) describes it, it is the ‘expressive possibility’ that it unleashes that gives it extra vitality. Michaelangelo used the hammer and chisel to construct, an evidently traditional practice of craft, however today, as the computer becomes the norm, can the notion of craft be unearthed from the newly laid digital foundation on which society presents and orchestrates itself? Are they extensions of analogue means, involving equal measures of effort and endeavour?
We’re calling for your thoughts. Written, drawn, constructed or objects of collection that display notions, however varied, of craft. As part of our pursuit in harbouring a rich environment for students and professionals, we are striving to better understand a contemporary way of interrogating, what is considered by many, an old trade.
We want to know what and where craft exists for you within today’s society.
We seek articles, opinions, interviews, essays, critiques, manifestos, how-to’s, drawings, diaries, poems, fiction, projects, buildings, reviews, photo essays, travel diaries, details, contracts, infographics, collages, videos, reflections and anything else that you can think of.
Please send us your entry to submissions@osa.ink no later than the 29th February, along with the submission form which can be downloaded from here. Any questions please email us at osazine@gmail.com