Saturday, September 01, 2012

Artists have a tremendous soft spot for handmade things, don't we?

Jennifer Larew, who writes The Blackwing Diaries, wrote about what drives her to create in Para-nimation.
When I was launched on the Aardman/Dreamworks production "Flushed Away" in 2008 I went into the conference room to hear a pitch of the film and get my first assignment. Before they began the directors, David Bowers and Sam Fell, put a puppet of a character from "Chicken Run"-Fetcher the rat-into my hands. At that point it was going to be a stop motion, not CG, film. Looking at this little plasticine figure in his miniscule tatty clothes, charming, completely solid and three dimensional, was an inspiration; I just wanted to see him move-to act. Artists have a tremendous soft spot for handmade things, don't we?
I'm a scientist, but I have a soft spot for handmade things, too.

What about you? How do you characterize yourself and do you have a soft spot for handmade things?

BTW, have you read the Sri Threads blog, which showcases Japanese Boro handcrafted goods?  The objects and photography are inspirational.  What kind of lives did their makers live?  It must have been hard, but how did they find the time and energy to create, and to create so painstakingly beautiful everyday objects?
Detail of a mended Mojiri-oji.

3 comments:

  1. I'm a complete sucker for handmade goods, and old handmade goods just jump nto my hands and have to be forcibly pried out of my fingers by my long-sffering husband, who gently reminds me that I already have a ton of stuff.

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  2. Old, mended handmade things really tug at the heartstrings, don't they? They can be evocative of a whole culture, of centuries of experiences -- they can really set the imagination flowing.

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  3. I am neither an artist or a scientist and I have a great fondness for handmade things, and also for worn, mended and well preserved things.

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