Making Special

The following is a brief excerpt from the piece by Susan Crowell, writer, and
ceramics instructor at U. Michigan, Ann Arbor:

"Craftsmanship is the central, qualitative element of craft, and it is at the
heart of one maker's response to the work of another. ............. and in
seeking a unified theory of craft, not a unified aesthetic, we need to focus
on the act of making, not the object itself."

She discusses the writing of anthropologist Ellen Dissanayake's in her book
"Homo Aestheticus", who describes "ART" as the task of "making special".
Susan goes on to say.......

"For craftspeople, this making special emphasizes both the making and the
special. Reversing the terms - special making- rings even truer when speaking
of craft, for which the process of handwork is an essential component. As our
perception of time becomes more precious and the time-intensive nature of
craft increases its value, craft may even come to represent the preciousness
of time itself, embodied in an object."