The Re-Tooled Object
How do new modes of fabrication, whether digital or analog, expand artistic possibilities?

A conventional definition of craft emphasizes artistic mastery of complicated material practices, typically tied to work done by hand. Yet as much as craft is centered on the hand, it is also centered on the tool. The long history of innovation in craft shows artists continually expanding the physical and conceptual possibilities of a given material through the tools they use and how they use them—including entirely new modes of fabrication. Today, “re-tooling” can be a rich source of inspiration, providing a way to use tools and techniques—both old and new—to shift notions of making and materiality. Greg Payce (Canadian, born in 1956) reconsiders ceramic vessels through photography to create shifting illusory experiences. The photographs Adam and Eve (2014) depict a set of vessels called The Transit of Venus. The change in title suggests a subject that is not immediately apparent in the original objects—a “masculine” blue vessel provides the curvature of Adam’s back, while a “feminine” pink defines Eve. Also in this section, Ikat II (2011) by textile artist Astrid Krogh (Danish, born in 1968) refers to the ikat technique of dyeing, which is traditionally associated with Indonesia, India, East and Central Asia and South America. However, in this work Krogh “re-tools” this traditional technique by using optical fibers—transparent threads of glass that transmit light—to weave a surface with patterns composed from light.