Table of Contents

Introduction Chapter 1: Supplemental "Homage to Brancusi" Wearable Sculptures: Modern Jewelry and the Problem of Autonomy Reframing the Pattern and Decoration Movement Props Chapter 2: Sensual Ceramic Presence: Peter Voulkos The Essence of Clay: Yagi Kazuo The Materialization of the Art Object, 1966-72 Breath Chapter 3. Skilled Learning by Doing: Teaching Modern Craft Thinking in Situations: Josef Albers Learning Architecture: Charles Jencks and Kenneth Frampton Chapter 4: Pastoral Regions Apart Two Versions of Pastoral North, South, East, West Chapter 5: Amateur "The World's Most Fascinating Hobby": Robert Arneson Feminism and the Politics of Amateurism Abject Craft: Mike Kelley and Tracey Emin Conclusion

Promotional Information

Thinking Through Craft provides a critical re-thinking of craft's position and significance in modern culture, arguing its importance as a discipline in its own right and its influence on art, architecture, design and technology.

About the Author

Glenn Adamson is Deputy Head of Research and Head of Graduate Studies at the Victoria and Albert Museum, where he leads a graduate program in the History of Design. He holds degrees in Art History from Cornell University (BA) and from Yale University (PhD). Dr. Adamson was previously curator at the Chipstone Foundation, and in that capacity prepared exhibitions at the Milwaukee Art Museum and taught Art History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the co-editor (with Tanya Harrod and Edward S. Cooke, Jr.) of the Journal of Modern Craft, the only academic journal in the subject area, which will launch in March 2008.

Reviews

'At a time when technical skill has been widely dismissed or outsourced in the production of art, Glenn Adamson crucially adds an entire spectrum of hand-crafted objects to the creative history of the post-war era. And at a time when theoretical frameworks have stagnated, these objects, in his hands, bring with them a fresh and sophisticated set of interpretive perspectives.' Thomas Crow, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University 'Adamson asks provocative questions about the marginalization of craft within the discourse of modernism. Best of all, he writes with a lucidity, energy and engagement that takes the reader with him all the way.' Pennina Barnett, Goldsmiths College, University of London 'A highly original contribution, Thinking through Craft is both thoughtful and exacting about crafted objects and the lessons provided by the artists' time, labor and material inventiveness.' Modern Painters 'A pathbreaking book' Elissa Auther, University of Colorado