Can you imagine how the world would function without the arts? As art offers joy and rainbows, there will be emptiness and grief. Fine art, according to John Ruskin in 'The Cestus of Aglaia, the Queen of the Air,' 1870, is that in which man's hand, intellect, and heart all work together. This demonstrates how vital art is in our daily lives. Its ideas and products produce beauty that satisfies men while also assisting the economy to expand and flourish through the usage of its inventiveness. To offer you a more precise perspective on the arts, consider what and how the arts and crafts movement began.
Arts and crafts are a wide range of activities that include both children and adults using their abilities and skills to create or manufacture things with their own hands. Some crafts and arts have been performed for centuries, while others are newer inventions. William Morris, John Ruskin, and others fostered a movement in the nineteenth century that popularized the phrase "arts and crafts," which was the beginning of a change in the significance society placed on how things were manufactured. This protest was intended to be directed not just at the low standing of the ornamental arts, but also against the impacts of industrialization. Since roughly 1840, the negative impacts of industrialization, which entails the use of machines in manufacturing, on both socioeconomic conditions and the quality of manufactured items have been noted. This Industrial Revolution, also known as the First Industrial Revolution, occurred in Europe and the United States from roughly 1760 and sometime between 1820 and 1840. The switch from hand to machine methods resulted in an extraordinary increase in the rate of population expansion. Its transformation also contributes to negative externalities such as pollution, and the separation of capital and labor produces an economic inequality between laborers and those who control capital resources. The growing awareness of society resurrected the Arts and Crafts movement in the United Kingdom. This movement encouraged society to begin accepting its ideas for producing and manufacturing a product in a less inhumane manner.
In the year 1888, the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society displayed several samples of work such as pottery, textiles, metal works, and furniture in the hope of raising both the social and intellectual stature of crafts. This exhibition was the only public stage for the decorative arts at the time, and it was essential in influencing people's perceptions of manufactured things. The work of designer William Morris, who became a globally famous and financially successful designer and producer in 1880, impacted many interested with the movement.
William Morris was a British textile designer, poet, novelist, translator, and socialist activist who was a member of the British Arts and Crafts Movement. His ideas had a tremendous impact on the generation of decorative artists whose work he helped to market. The most essential thing, he believed, was to create attractive, well-made products that could be utilized in everyday life and that were produced in a way that allowed their makers to remain connected both with their products and with other people. Morris called for a return to a manufacturing system based on small-scale workshops, but he was not wholly opposed to the use of machines; he simply felt and knew that a production based on people with poor relationships would result in a low labor yield and a shift in the wrong direction.
Some characteristics of the Arts and Crafts Movement aided in the development of a belief in the importance of designing objects for a 'total' interior: a space in which architecture, furniture, wall decoration, and so on are blended into a harmonious whole, resulting in designers working across disciplines. The Arts and Crafts movement had a huge impact on architecture as well. Figures such as Philip Webb, Edwin Lutyens, Charles Voysey, and William Lethaby quietly changed domestic space with structures that drew on both regional and historical traditions.
Although the Arts and Crafts movement developed in the city, it was rooted in yearning for rural traditions and 'the simple life,' which meant that living and working in the countryside was the ideal to which many of its artists aspired. Craftspeople situated in rural regions both revitalized craft traditions and produced jobs for locals. Significantly, the Arts and Crafts community was welcoming of non-professional efforts, encouraging amateurs and students to participate through groups such as the Home Arts and Industries Association. It also established an environment in which women and men could, for the first time, take an active role in inventing new forms of design, both as producers and consumers.
The Arts and Crafts movement believes that its existence will have the greatest impact on how the world works today. It will always serve as a warning to everyone that transitioning to industrialization will only end up damaging our careers in the future, since people will rely solely on technology, making it easier for them to complete tasks without exporting some abilities. This will result in a paralyzed planet devoid of the ability to create arts and crafts.
References:
Bagadiong, A. S. (2020). Arts and Crafts Movement- History, Influence and Important Figures. An e-module retrieved from google classroom.
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Arts and crafts really involves making things with ones own hand. So, I think the movement is a great one.