Craft and Design in the USA, 1945 to the Present
This seminar examines the shifting
boundaries of craft and design in the United
States from World War II to the present. In
the postwar era’s expanding consumer
economy, studio craft and industrial design
flourished, and the terms ‘craft’ and ‘design’
were materially and rhetorically interwoven
within academic, museum, and commercial
settings. But their meanings increasingly
diverged during the 1960s and 1970s, as
craftspeople seeking cultural authority and
economic viability sought to position
themselves as artists. During the 1980s, in
turn, design practitioners re-engaged with
craft as commodity via high design. These
fluctuating professional parameters
coincided with widespread amateur
engagement in aesthetic production, often
absent from design history. Contemporary
makers continue to grapple with these
issues. Topics include modes of production,
consumerism, modernism and
postmodernism, popular culture, social
movements, political discourse, disability
studies, and sustainability vis-à-vis craft
and design. Interpretive frameworks include
feminism and intersectionality. Individual
designers, craftspeople, firms, and groups
will be discussed, along with thematic case
studies. Sources considered include objects,
exhibition catalogues, period writings, and
recent criticism. The course’s final
assignment is to conduct an interview with a
maker for the Bard Graduate Center Craft,
Art, and Design Oral History Project
(
https://www.bgccraftartdesign.org/). 3
credits.