Sloppy Craft Postdisciplinarity and the Crafts

Sloppy Craft: Postdisciplinarity and the Crafts brings together leading international artists and critics to explore the possibilities and limitations of the idea of 'sloppy craft' – craft that is messy or unfinished looking in its execution or appearance, or both. The contributors address 'sloppiness' in contemporary art and craft practices including painting, weaving, sewing and ceramics, consider the importance of traditional concepts of skill, and the implications of sloppiness for a new 21st century emphasis on inter- and postdisciplinarity, as well as for activist, performance, queer and Aboriginal practices.

In addition to critical essays, the book includes a 'conversation' section in which contemporary artists and practitioners discuss challenges and opportunities of 'sloppy craft' in their practice and teaching, and an afterword by Glenn Adamson.

: <b>Foreword: </b>Anne Wilson, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA : <b>Introduction: </b>Elaine C. Paterson and Susan Surette, Concordia University, Canada : <b>Section One – Explorations of Post-Disciplinarity through 'Sloppy Craft' : </b>Introduction : 'Male Trouble': Sewing, Amateurism and Gender, Joseph McBrinn, University of Ulster, Ireland : Sloppy Craft as Temporal Drag, Elissa Auther and Elyse Speaks, University of Colorado, USA : An Impression of Déjà vu: Craft, the Visual Arts and the Need to get Sloppy, Denis Longchamps, Concordia University, Canada : <b>Section Two – The Implications of 'Sloppy Craft'</b> : Introduction : Doomed to Failure, Sandra Alfoldy, NSCAD University, USA : The Value of 'Sloppy Craft': Creativity and Community, Juliette MacDonald, Edinburgh College of Art, UK : Why is Sloppy and Postdisciplinary Craft Significant and What are its Historical Precedents?, Gloria Hickey, curator and writer, USA : From Maria Martinez to Kent Monkman: Performing Sloppy Craft in Native America, Elizabeth Kalbfleisch, Concordia University, Canada : <b></b><b>Section Three – 'Sloppy Craft' in Practice and Pedagogy: A Conversation : </b>Introduction : Eliza Au, Ceramist, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, British Columbia, Canada : Jean Pierre Larocque, Ceramist, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada : Kelly Thompson, Fibres, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada : Conor Wilson, Ceramist, Royal College of Art, London, UK : Peter Wilson, Ceramist, Charles Sturt University in Bathurst, Australia : <b></b><b>Postscript - </b>Reprint of Glenn Adamson's text 'When Craft gets Sloppy,' from <i>Crafts </i>No 211 (March/April, 2008), 36-40 : Index