What is craft? How is it different from fine art or design? In
A
Theory of Craft, Howard Risatti examines these issues by
comparing handmade ceramics, glass, metalwork, weaving, and
furniture to painting, sculpture, photography, and machine-made
design from Bauhaus to the Memphis Group. He describes craft as
uniquely blending function with a deeper expression of human values
that transcend culture, time, and space. Craft must articulate a
role for itself in contemporary society, says Risatti; otherwise it
will be absorbed by fine art or design, and its singular approach
to understanding the world will be lost.