Is there a difference between art and craft? - Laura Morelli

Ima li razlike između umetnosti i umešnosti? - Laura Moreli (Laura Morelli)

Prevodilac: Anca Dimovska Lektor: Mile Živković

When you hear the word art,

Kada čujete reč umetnost,

what comes to mind?

na šta pomislite?

A painting, like the Mona Lisa,

Na sliku, kao što je Mona Liza,

or a famous sculpture or a building?

ili na poznatu skulpturu ili zgradu?

What about a vase or a quilt or a violin?

Ili na vazu, na prekrivač ili violinu?

Are those things art, too, or are they craft?

Jesu li i te stvari umetnost ili su umešnost?

And what's the difference anyway?

U čemu je razlika?

It turns out that the answer is not so simple.

Ispada da odgovor nije tako jednostavan.

A spoon or a saddle may be finely wrought,

Kašika ili sedlo mogu da se lepo izrade,

while a monument may be, well, uninspired.

dok spomenik takođe može da bude, neinspirativan.

Just as not every musical instrument is utilitarian,

kao što ni svaki muzički instrument nije koristan,

not every painting or statue is made for its own sake.

niti je svaka slika ili statua stvorena sama za sebe.

But if it's so tricky to separate art from craft,

Ali ako je tako teško odvojiti umetnost od majstorije

then why do we distinguish objects in this way?

zašto onda razdvajati stvari na taj način?

You could say it's the result

Može se reći da je to ishod

of a dramatic historical turn of events.

velikih istorijskih promena.

It might seem obvious to us today

Danas nam izgleda očigledno

to view people, such as da Vinci or Michelangelo,

da ljude kao što su Da Vinči, ili Mikelanđelo smatramo

as legendary artists,

legendarnim umetnicima,

and, of course, they possessed extraordinary talents,

oni su naravno imali izuzetne talente,

but they also happened to live in the right place

ali su takođe živeli na pravom mestu

at the right time,

u pravo vreme,

because shortly before their lifetimes

jer malo pre njihovih života

the concept of artists hardly existed.

koncept umetnika jedva da je postojao.

If you had chanced to step into a medieval European workshop,

Ako biste kojim slučajem ušli u srednjevekovnu evropsku radionicu,

you would have witnessed a similar scene,

videli biste istu scenu,

no matter whether the place belonged to

bez obzira na mesto i da li je radionica

a stonemason, a goldsmith, a hatmaker,

za zidare, kovače, šeširdžije,

or a fresco painter.

ili slikare freski.

The master, following a strict set of guild statutes,

Majstor je imao stroge statute udruženja,

insured that apprentices and journeymen

koji su jemčili da kalfe i šegrti

worked their way up the ranks

zarade svoja zvanja

over many years of practice

tokom mnogo godina zanata

and well-defined stages of accomplishment,

i jasno određenim fazama postignuća

passing established traditions to the next generation.

prenoseći utemeljenu tradiciju na sledeću generaciju.

Patrons regarded these makers

Zaštitnici posmatraju ove zanatlije

collectively rather than individually,

više grupno nego individualno,

and their works from Murano glass goblets,

i njihov rad, od Murano pehara

to Flemish lace,

do flamanske čipke,

were valued as symbols of social status,

cenjen je kao simbol društvenog statusa,

not only for their beauty,

ne samo zbog svoje lepote,

but their adherence to a particular tradition.

već zbog odanosti određenoj tradiciji.

And the customer who commissioned and paid for the work,

Mušterije koje su tražile i platile taj rad,

whether it was a fine chair,

bilo da je to lepa stolica,

a stone sculpture, a gold necklace,

kamena skulptura, zlatna ogrlica

or an entire building,

ili čitava zgrada

was more likely to get credit

su dobijale veće zasluge

than those who designed or constructed it.

od onih koji su ih dizajnirali ili izgradili.

It wasn't until around 1400

Tek oko 1400-ih,

that people began to draw a line

ljudi su počeli da razdvajaju

between art and craft.

umetnost od majstorstva.

In Florence, Italy,

U Firenci, u Italiji,

a new cultural ideal that would later be called

novi kulturni ideal, koji je kasnije nazvan

Renaissance Humanism

humanizam i renesansa,

was beginning to take form.

počeo je da se stvara.

Florentine intellectuals began to spread the idea

Intelektualci iz Firence su širili zamisao

of reformulating classical Greek and Roman works,

da se obnove dela klasičnog Rima i Grčke,

while placing greater value on individual creativity

dok se vrednost stavljala više na kreativnost pojednica

than collective production.

nego na kolektivnu proizvodnju.

A few brave painters,

Nekoliko hrabrih slikara,

who for many centuries,

koji su vekovima

had been paid by the square foot,

plaćani po kvadratnom metru,

successfully petitioned their patrons

uspešno su podneli molbu svojim pokroviteljima

to pay them on the basis of merit instead.

da ih plaćaju na osnovu zasluge.

Within a single generation,

U čitavoj generaciji,

people's attitudes about objects and their makers

stav o predmetima i njihovim stvaraocima

would shift dramatically,

se značajno promenio,

such that in 1550,

toliko da je 1550,

Giorgio Vasari,

Đorđo Vasari,

not incidentally a friend of Michelangelo,

nije slučajno da je bio Mikelanđelov prijatelj,

published an influential book called,

objavio je uticajnu knjigu pod nazivom

"Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects,"

"Životi najboljih slikara, skulptora i arhitekti",

elevating these types of creators

podižući ove stvaraoce

to rock star status by sharing juicy biographical details.

u status rok zvezdi tako što je širio sočne biografske podatke.

In the mind of the public,

U javnosti,

painting, sculpture and architecture

slikanje, vajarstvo i arhitektura

were now considered art,

su sada smatrani umetnošću

and their makers creative masterminds: artists.

a njihovi stvaraoci kreativni geniji - umetnici.

Meanwhile, those who maintained

U međuvremenu, oni koji su zadržali tradiciju

guild traditions and faithfully produced

i verno proizvodili

candelsticks, ceramic vessels,

svećnjake, posude od keramike,

gold jewelery or wrought iron gates,

zlatni nakit ili kapije od kovanog gvožđa,

would be known communally as artisans,

bi u zajednici bili poznati kao zanatlije,

and their works considered minor or decorative arts,

a njihov rad je smatran manje vrednim ili dekorativnom umetnošću

connoting an inferior status

i bio je označen nižim statusom

and solidifying the distinction

i tako se učvrstila razlika

between art and craft that still persists

između umetnosti i umešnosti koja i dalje opstaje

in the Western world.

u Zapadnom svetu.

So, if we consider a painting

Tako da, ako smatramo da je slika

by Rembrandt or Picasso art,

Rembranta ili Pikasa umetnost,

then where does that leave an African mask?

gde je onda u odnosu na to afrička maska?

A Chinese porclein vase?

Kineska porcelanska vaza?

A Navajo rug?

Navaho tepih?

It turns out that in the history of art,

Ispostavlja se da je u istoriji umetnosti

the value placed on innovation

vrednost inovacije

is the exception rather than the rule.

više odstupanje nego što je pravilo.

In many cultures of the world,

U mnogo kultura u svetu,

the distinction between art and craft

razlika između umetnosti i majstorstva

has never existed.

nikad nije postojala.

In fact, some works that might be considered craft,

U stvari, neka dela koja mogu da se smatraju majstorstvom,

a Peruvian rug,

peruanski tepih,

a Ming Dynasty vase,

vaza iz dinastije Ming,

a totem pole,

totem,

are considered the cultures' preeminent visual forms.

smatraju se važnim vizuelnim formama jedne kulture.

When art historians of the 19th Century

Kada su istoričari umetnosti 19. veka videli

saw that the art of some non-Western cultures

da se umetnost nekih nezapadnih kultura

did not change for thousands of years,

nije menjala hiljadama godina,

they classified the works as primitive,

oni su ovu umetnost klasifikovali kao primitivnu,

suggesting that their makers were incapable of innovating

smatrajući da njeni stvaraoci nisu bili sposobni za inovacije

and therefore were not really artists.

i zato nisu bili pravi umetnici.

What they didn't realize was that

Oni nisu shvatali

these makers were not seeking to innovate at all.

da ovi stvaraoci nisu uopšte tragali za novinama.

The value of their works lay precisely

Vrednost njihovih dela je upravo

in preserving visual traditions,

u očuvanju njihove vizuelne tradicije,

rather than in changing them.

a ne menjanje iste.

In the last few decades, works such as

U poslednjih nekoliko decenija, dela kao što su

quilts, ceramics and wood carvings

prekrivači, keramika i duborez

have become more prominently included

se malo više uključuju

in art history textbooks

u udžbenike istorije umetnosti

and displayed in museums

i postavljaju u muzejima

alongside paintings and sculpture.

zajedno sa slikama i skulpturama.

So maybe it's time to dispense with vague terms

Tako da je možda vreme da se rasture nejasni termini

like art and craft

kao što su umetnost i umešnost

in favor of a word like visual arts

u korist reči kao što je vizuelna umetnost

that encompasses a wider array of aesthetic production.

koja obuhvata šire polje estetske produkcije.

After all, if our appreciation of objects

Uostalom, ako je vaše razumevanje predmeta

and their makers is so conditioned

i njihovih stvaralaca uslovljeno

by our culture and history,

našom istorjom i kulturom,

then art and its definition

onda su umetnost i njena definicija

are truly in the eye of the beholder.

zaista u oku posmatrača.