Elissa Auther And The Hierarchy Of Art And Craft

438 Words1 Page

Elissa Auther is, states in the reading that “Elissa Auther is Associate Professor of Contemporary Art at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs and Adjunct Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver. Her book, String, Felt, Thread and the Hierarchy of Art and Craft (University of Minnesota Press, 2010), examines the innovative use of fiber in American art and the impact of its elevation on the conceptual boundaries distinguishing “art” from “craft” in the post-war era.” Auther starts by comparing two works of rope and wire. She points out that these two pieces could have been made by the same artist but there were received very differently when exhibited. “Fiber art in this period (1960s & 70s) was typically viewed as neither art not craft, but as between the two categories, thwarting the works’s potential to undermine the hierarchy of media responsible for fiber’s low aesthetic status.” …show more content…

Tawney’s work exists in a limbo that is endemic to much contemporary craft; it has departed from craft and function without quite arriving at

Open Document