Less is More: Seven Forms in One

What is beauty if the details were empty? What is craft if the pride of a craftsman is not present in the piece of art? Art is perceived in many principles and colors, different elements building structures and stories encrypted in every art form. But nonetheless, is art design really valued compared to its performance and function?

Arts and crafts are present and plays an essential role in our daily living. Economically, arts and crafts have a great impact in our social status. Moreover, art is a continuous evolution of ideas, creativity and innovation of everything that we utilize in this world. Looking back to history, the British arts and crafts movement of the late 19th century grew out of the great artistic and social activism of John Ruskin and William Morris, who are advocates of the arts and craft that exposed the disadvantageous effects of poor-quality design in the Industrial Revolution on both art and the lives of workers.Industrial revolution was basically the festivity of the birth of the latest technologies but John and William, criticized effective productions as machines replaced workers. They believed that the growth of the industry destroyed traditional skills and removed the pride of craftsman confined in his work. Machine-based crafts offers poor quality pieces, losing the relationship between the craftsmen and the craft.

The arts and crafts movement were solely dedicated to encourage high standarddesign and provide a supportive working vironment. One guild based medieval exampleis the Gothic Revival that had a strong impact on the arts and crafts style and the use of strong forms and colors appeal to artists, as well as straight forward use of material, structure and functions were promoted. This was evidently a protest to the introduction of mass production through industrial revolution. The central figure in the movement was the British designer, William Morris, who produced a wide range of decorative objects including furniture, fabrics, wallpaper and stained glass that influenced other artists and craftsmen. Morris was also known as poet and writer and in 1890 setting up the Kelmscottpress, he produced about fifty-three books and inspired the revival of other private presses. The movement promoted that the “high standards of the past could be repeated and even surpassed”. Morris combined his artistic design with strong political beliefs dedicating his life that art should improve the lives of ordinary people. He firmly believed that machines degrade both the creators and consumers and that arts and crafts design must be characterized by simplicity of form, function and decoration, normalizing “less is more” in every form of art was one of main objectives of the movement.

Nature being the number one source of inspiration for the arts and crafts motifsproducing crafts with no excessive or extra decoration and the actual construction of the object was naturally exposed. Promoting different principles of art, such as balance, emphasis, contrast, pattern, unity and harmony, variety and proportion in one form.Unfortunately, expensive market pricing affected craftsmanship resulting to decorative pieces that could only be afford by the wealthy consequently the idea of art for the peoplewas buried and relatively affected the number of craftsmen employed. The opposition to modern methods of production and to the medieval based works rather than forward to a more advanced area of mechanization was what eventually overpowered the arts and crafts movement. The socialist idea of producing affordable quality handcrafted design for the masses failed as the production cost of their designs were so high that they could only be purchased by the wealthy.

William Morris had already shared his visions to the world of wanting a real revolution, a real change in society: society of a great organic mass of well-regulated forces used for the bringing-about a happy life for all. He never did stop raising his voice and doing art for the world for he does not want art for a few; any more than education for a few; or freedom for a few. Arts and crafts movement was directed to the goal ofchanging the system of competition in the production and exchange of the means of life for as long as it goes on, the degradation of the arts will go on. Morris, as the acknowledged father of the arts and crafts had already made his movement to elevate art from the mud and now it is the task of the new generation to save art from being doomed, so civilization will not die. The vision has been set, it is now on our hands of whether the mission to make arts and crafts reign or to let art degradation continue.