Fine Art V.S Craft

After watching a documentary on Grayson Perry's new exhibition at college, we got into a discussion about what distinguishes fine art from craft.
Ai Wei Wei is an interesting artist to look at on this topic. Much of his most iconic work centres around ideas of Chinese traditions and the effect of capitalism on Chinese heritage, like the sunflower seeds in my previous post. More generally however, he looks at the way in which we value objects and our history and how the two are interlinked.

2006

These real ancient vases have been dipped in ready made, cheap paint, vandalising their image and their worth as ancient artefacts. He also makes his own ceramics; I remember seeing a video clip of him making huge urns, then when finished, he toppled them over and watched them shatter. He uses craft skills as a way to present ideas, the end product isn't the the most important aspect but the process.



Vase from ancient China 403-221 BC