The Art of Making It (2016/2017)

This body of work primarily examines craftsmanship in contemporary art production. An exploration into the artistic production processes of selected contemporary artists’ work, revealed a tendency of physical non-involvement on the part of the artist, who takes up the role of art director.

Contemporary art, for the most part, and specifically with regard to the selected artists, is a collaborative process. All parties involved in a collaboration benefit in their own specific ways, and the artist’s primary role within the collaborative process is to provide the artistic idea. It is ultimately the artist’s technical abilities, workload and artist-identity or brand that will determine the extent to which he or she will contribute to the collaboration, whether that be a simple idea, a sketch, a maquette or a large-scale sculpture ready for installation. I examined the artist’s role in collaborative art production, and how it has changed from the classical to the contemporary. The idea is what distinguishes the artist from the craftsman, and an artist’s idea to leave the making to the craftsman has great financial benefits to both parties. However, in a rapidly advancing technological society, where the artist can easily get machines or other people to produce his/her work, it is the idea of the artist as craftsman, both thinker and maker, that demands more respect.

Photos courtesy of Monalia Colditz