Issues in Contemporary Craft and Design

This course introduces key concepts, methodologies, and debates in contemporary craft and design for students of the humanities and the arts, from their ancient origins and historic development, through the enduring legacies of the modernist canon, to the new materialisms of the twenty-first century. Focusing on the conjoined themes of making and display, we will examine the fundamental points of tension between handmade and mechanised production, the unique and the mass-produced, the studio and the factory, and the intersection of craft and design with digital platforms and technologies, from Instagram to 3D printing. A wide range of contemporary craft and design practices and ideas across Australia, Asia, Europe, and the Americas will be considered in terms of cultural context, social significance, historical inheritance, and systems of value (aesthetic, economic, political, spiritual and individual).