Janet Kardon 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 - PRINTER VERSION
>> RB: Why aren't they interesting?
JK: Because they've been asked so many times.
RB: The reason they keep getting asked is because no one's answered them yet.
JK: Some questions are unanswerable; that's the way the world is. Even answering them is not interesting, it doesn't produce anything or add anything to our understanding of craft or art. I think what is interesting to me, as I have said, is: what are the materials, what is the process, what is the maker's intent, how close has he come to achieving this, what does it have to do with the continuum of objects that have been made in history, how does it relate to that history, how does it break away from that history, how does it redefine the future? These are the things that interest me. I'm as interested in what is on the borderline as I am in what is in that main channel. I think that in those intersections a lot of interesting work is being done. I think that, historically, if artists stick to a certain definition and don't ever attempt to break out of that definition, I don't know if we would think that they were very good artists. So while your questions are really valid and are the traditional questions, they really don't interest me because tradition as such is not particularly of interest to me.
RB: One of the reasons for these questions about what defines craft is that there has been an uproar over some of the National Endowment for the Arts [NEA] grants this year. People are complaining that a lot of the objects submitted in the crafts category were in fact sculpture and they feel that the reason they were submitted in the crafts category was because the makers had a better chance in that category than in the visual arts category. These artists' intentions for claiming that their work is craft may have had more to do with getting a grant than making what you refer to in the history of continuum of objects, things that are recognized as craft objects. That is one of the things that is troubling lots of craftspeople right now. What is the definition of craft? Craftspeople who make cups, tables, or brooches are beginning to feel that they are not part of the "craft world" anymore as it is represented by the American Craft Museum and the National Endowment. Do you see this as a problem? Isn't funding for a constituency an interesting question?
JK: It's a question I can't comment on because I don't have any information about it.
RB: Well, as the new director of the American Crafts Museum do you have an opinion?
JK: I don't have any information about it so I can't comment.
RB: What kind of exhibitions are you thinking of doing? What do you think has been missing in the crafts field in terms of exhibitions that you would like to see done?
JK: I have the feeling that a number of things have been missing; I don't even know if they're missing, but they're the sorts of things that interest me. What interests me is establishing a good history of the
>>
© 1980 - 2025 Rob Barnard . All Rights Reserved. Site design: eismontdesign
>> RB: Why aren't they interesting?
JK: Because they've been asked so many times.
RB: The reason they keep getting asked is because no one's answered them yet.
JK: Some questions are unanswerable; that's the way the world is. Even answering them is not interesting, it doesn't produce anything or add anything to our understanding of craft or art. I think what is interesting to me, as I have said, is: what are the materials, what is the process, what is the maker's intent, how close has he come to achieving this, what does it have to do with the continuum of objects that have been made in history, how does it relate to that history, how does it break away from that history, how does it redefine the future? These are the things that interest me. I'm as interested in what is on the borderline as I am in what is in that main channel. I think that in those intersections a lot of interesting work is being done. I think that, historically, if artists stick to a certain definition and don't ever attempt to break out of that definition, I don't know if we would think that they were very good artists. So while your questions are really valid and are the traditional questions, they really don't interest me because tradition as such is not particularly of interest to me.
RB: One of the reasons for these questions about what defines craft is that there has been an uproar over some of the National Endowment for the Arts [NEA] grants this year. People are complaining that a lot of the objects submitted in the crafts category were in fact sculpture and they feel that the reason they were submitted in the crafts category was because the makers had a better chance in that category than in the visual arts category. These artists' intentions for claiming that their work is craft may have had more to do with getting a grant than making what you refer to in the history of continuum of objects, things that are recognized as craft objects. That is one of the things that is troubling lots of craftspeople right now. What is the definition of craft? Craftspeople who make cups, tables, or brooches are beginning to feel that they are not part of the "craft world" anymore as it is represented by the American Craft Museum and the National Endowment. Do you see this as a problem? Isn't funding for a constituency an interesting question?
JK: It's a question I can't comment on because I don't have any information about it.
RB: Well, as the new director of the American Crafts Museum do you have an opinion?
JK: I don't have any information about it so I can't comment.
RB: What kind of exhibitions are you thinking of doing? What do you think has been missing in the crafts field in terms of exhibitions that you would like to see done?
JK: I have the feeling that a number of things have been missing; I don't even know if they're missing, but they're the sorts of things that interest me. What interests me is establishing a good history of the
>>
© 1980 - 2025 Rob Barnard . All Rights Reserved. Site design: eismontdesign