The Craft Spirit
Counting blessings is kind of like counting fish; quantity is never really a qualifier for meaning, expertise, or experience. I feel very lucky to have mingled and worked alongside the few men and women who have led me down an adventurous and sometimes tumultuous path since I was very young. These were all people who exercised keen restraint in guiding and inspiring me. Using one's hands in a spirited way to make a living in this day and age is fairly daunting and is often overlooked in present-day academia. Passing on craft knowledge takes a light touch on a young person's heart; it takes access to tools and media, and inevitably it takes time, patience, and courage.
Using one's hands is a kind of flattery to the Gods; by this I mean that we are all gifted with opposable thumbs, a sense of reason and causality, and the ability to visualize something before it comes to fruition. If we choose to embody these traits and put them into action, we need to surround ourselves with others who inspire us more deeply so we can further ignite an insatiable desire to use our hands in a spirited way. The very act of doing and making is exponentially becoming an extinct ritual, ethos, and requisite in our educational institutions.
The art of doing and making, be it a yo-yo, a guitar, a braided leader, a landscape painting, a leather bag, a gunstock, or even a bamboo fly rod, can be pursued with such tenacity and drive that, regardless of what it is, it delivers a powerful message. Defining the characteristics of art and craft is much like comparing the intellects of dolphins and primates; it’s a slippery slope. A much debated topic among gunsmiths, painters, potters, leathersmiths, graphic designers, bow and arrow makers, blacksmiths, and yes, even bamboo rod makers. The divisions between “art” and “craft” occurred after the Renaissance Period and well into the 19th century. Unfortunately, they are most embraced currently in Western culture.
“Art” from the Renaissance to the modern day has been described as a free and unadulterated activity, unique and unrestrained, which lends it an obscure soul. “Craft” has been evaluated as a very physical realm, functional, traditional, repetitive, and a much more constrained activity.
This description has granted “craft” a lower status not only from the 1400s to the 1600s but to the present day in Western culture. Yet in Asian culture, there is the notion that the “crafts” actually keep culture, spiritual and otherwise, intact, thus making craft a constant priority and of utmost importance. Crafts are treated more as rituals that exercise our sense of meaning, existence, and spirituality. I repeatedly understood this craft spirit growing up in Hawaii in a primarily Asian world. I was exposed to the meaning of the Shoji screen, the landscape paintings licked with the sumi-e brush, and even the often violent but lesson-filled Japanese storytelling. Distinctions between “art” and “craft” and even the chosen mediums were much more abstract in my upbringing.
Using our hands in a spirited way ultimately should be a non-judgmental or highly categorized activity. Today we are surrounded by outstanding craftsmen and women thoughtfully and tenaciously moving forward with great momentum in pursuit of their given calling. Tomorrow, we can only hope they inspire others to advance the craft. I have earned a wage for most of my life using my hands and will continue to do so. The most meaningful way I can live my life is to be a “spirited craftsman”; call it what you will, I am driven by the insatiable need to make something from nothing and then do it again and again. A simple mantra for a passionate existence. It is meant to be a giving existence. I can only hope to help pass it on to the next generation and then some. ~Clint Bova
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