Building Craft and Creativity Through the Virtual World for Design Education

Abstract

Visual art has undergone significant changes during the last century in terms of material and technique, so much so that the new media also play a major role in the purpose of art making. It is not only the visuals that have changed, but the ideas that an artist wants to communicate and share the manner in which the idea is propagated. Art and art objects have become an important medium of exchanging ideas between people and technology, where changes in art are the reflection of changes in society. Both of these changes have influenced art education, as well society, as both serve an almost serviceable, consumercentric purpose.

An artwork is a cumulative outcome of concept, skill, craft, and visual metaphors it produces. These four aspects are equally important in shaping the outcome from these processes. However, they take precedence over each other depending on the nature of the message that the artist wants to communicate. All of these aspects have their own challenges that need to be resolved to produce the artwork. Skill and craft play an important role in art making, in how it allows the concept to come through, and how it informs and discovers the visuals. This paper aims to explore how the changes in learning methods and teaching pedagogies have influenced the process of art making and vice versa, and how this lack of hands-on engagement has affected the craft-based art making practices and where it is accustomed and where it defines the boundary between the digital technology in the art world. This is in no way a critique of modern technology and advancement of digital gadgets, but of the manner in which it is used in art education.