The Hands of the Artist

I've been thinking about this for a while... and a lot lately because my hands are killing me from carving the plaster.

Why do so many artists today seem hell-bent on removing the craft from art? It's like no body wants to get their hands dirty anymore... and in my opinion, that's the best part. You get to play with paint and clay and paper and glue. When did taking the time to use your hands become uncool?

I mean, jewelers have computer programs like CAD/CAM that do a lot of the design work... THEN, based on CAD/CAM images, there are machines (like lathes for wood) that will actually cut the mold out of jewelers' wax for casting... Human hands are not involved in the process at all except for the fingers that use the keyboard and mouse.

There are so many artist studios around the country where artists just take the time to make a sketch or mockette, then he or she hands the drawing/mockette over to an art director, design team, fabrication house, or apprentice for fabrication. I know that as part of the Post-Modernist movement, a lot of artists were working against the idea that you needed to have skill to create an impressive work of art... but come on, where's the fun in that?

I mean, you walk into any Kay's or Zales around the country and get a mass-produced bracelet or ring or pendant than any number or women or men can own... and those pieces aren't considered art. But that's my point. They aren't considered art because no one had to think very hard about the design (movement, flow, negative space, etc.) or how to fabricate them, they're basically a bunch of settings jammed together and set with as many gemstones as possible. These are things that machines created with the help of humans.

Without the hands, all art will eventually look the same... there will be no connection between the creation and the mind, no physical link at all. The computer can only show you so much before it all becomes a blur of grey, unsubstantiated and uncreative. A computer is a tool... but our minds are the greatest computers and our hands are our greatest tools. Take them out of the picture and what have we left? And if art is supposed to be a labor of love, then where's the love in that?