ART BOOKS

Craft Unbound : Make the Common Precious

The history of craft is a battle. The exclusivity of refined taste is pitted against the camaraderie of honest work. Kevin Murray finds in contemporary Australian craft echoes of the English Arts & Craft movement, the colonial tradition of 'make-do' and the Italian Arte Povera movement. He identifies exponents of 'poor craft' who defend the rights of everyone to enjoy the sense of preciousness. Their secret waepon? - whatever is at hand. Kevin Murray discusses the work of alternative craftspeople in Australia - people like Lorraine Connelly-Northey, working with scrap metal. Honor Freeman, a ceramicist in the graffiti sub-culture, Stephen Gallagher, making jewellery of scraps, Anna Phillips, a sculpture in shampoo, Kate Campbell-Pope, making objects from grass, and David Herbert, casting glass forms from Styrofoam debris. The objects themselves are simply beautiful.

Craftsman House, 2005, Craft Unbound : Make the Common Precious / Kevin Murray.

Softcover, 111 pages, ISBN 0 9757305 4 7, $46.95