Sloppy Craft: Postdisciplinarity and the Crafts [Paperback]

Sloppy Craft: Postdisciplinarity and the Craftsbrings together leading international artists and critics to explore the possibilities and limitations of the idea of 'sloppy craft'  craft that is messy or unfinished looking in its execution or appearance, or both. The contributors address 'sloppiness' in contemporary art and craft practices including painting, weaving, sewing and ceramics, consider the importance of traditional concepts of skill, and the implications of sloppiness for a new 21st century emphasis on inter- and postdisciplinarity, as well as for activist, performance, queer and Aboriginal practices.

In addition to critical essays, the book includes a 'conversation' section in which contemporary artists and practitioners discuss challenges and opportunities of 'sloppy craft' in their practice and teaching, and an afterword by Glenn Adamson.

Elaine Cheasley Paterson isAssociate Professor of Craft History at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.

Susan Suretteis a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Art History and Critical Studies at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University, Halifax, Canada and a professional artist.

Sloppy Craftis edited with precision and wit. It is an important, of the moment, contribution to craft writing. It crosses boundaries of practice with elegance and rigour, definingSloppy Craftin ways that are appealing as well as polemical. There is writing of the first order from some of the most significant authors in the field. Simon Olding Director, Crafts Study Centre, UK

Elaine Cheasley Paterson and Susan Surette have brought together diverse, uniformly thoughtful writings making the case that the concept ofSloppy Craftis not a contradictory one. Much as the artists in this book explore art practices that simultaneously challenge and reassert traditions of art-making disciplines, so do its authors illuminate how sloppy craft similarly cl#)