Few of
us in the practice of contemporary craft theory would argue with the assertion
that Glenn Adamson has been the reigning high priest…with a string of
influential books, a solid presence as an international lecturer, a position at
the Victoria and Albert Museum, and last but not least being at the editorial
helm (along with Tanya Harrod and Ned Cooke) of the Journal of Modern Craft. The U.K. has always been at the
forefront of craft scholarship, I recall that when I was working on the history
of knitting in Newfoundland I was interested in charting the path of the
trigger mitten and had no trouble finding "knitting" historians, and
even a group of scholars that specialized in medieval knits, while I was in the
U.K. Anyhow, let it suffice to
say, that when American Glenn Adamson turned up at the V&A I wasn't
surprised.
Adamson
first made his mark in the publishing craft world with his book Thinking
Through Craft. While it is
essentially a reworking of his Phd thesis, and may not be entirely
representative of his current thinking the book stood out for me for the energy
and rigour that it brought to the subject of craft. His second book, The Craft Reader, is a weighty tome that is
essentially a textbook for anyone teaching the growing but still new subject of
craft theory. It is a combination
of old and newer writings on the topic by a variety of scholars, including some
Canadians.
Naturally,
there was considerable interest in the Adamson title that was released in
February 2013, The Invention of Craft.
But rumour had it that Adamson was not going to tour in support of it
and that he might be stepping away from the altar of craft. Curiosity got the better of me and I
finally decided to e-mail Glenn Adamson and ask if it were true. His generous and prompt response was
that,
"Yes
it’s true, more or less – in that I am concentrating on new projects (mainly a
show on the concept of the future in design, which will be at the V&A in
2016). Still doing some craft related things like the journal, and supervising
students.. But felt it was time to move on at least for now.
Thanks
for the nice words and hope you like the new book!
Glenn"
This is
what Sandra Alfoldy, Nova Scotia College of Art & Design, had to say about
The Invention of Craft
“Once again, Glenn Adamson has proven
adept at pinpointing the hot-button issues in modern craft. The Invention of
Craft takes historical ideas about craft that have been canonized in craft
scholarship and turns them on their head. His controversial assertions and
excellent examples will have scholars and makers buzzing for years.”
If you
are interested in learning more about the book here's the link:
http://
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