I was walking around the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC in April just going "wow!!" at everything. Folks used to MAKE stuff. Intricate stuff, amazing craftsmanship - like now you would just get a machine to make it, but people used to painstakingly embroider, sculpt, forge, weave STUFF! Clothes, ornaments, buttons (!), household items, murals, tombs etc Stuff made 1000s of years before Christ - awesome!

We just don't MAKE stuff any more

My friend believes it's because shops are now open on Sundays, an orger suggests it might be the introduction of a television into every home, the master says it's the internet, perhaps we can also blame the death of handicrafts on texting? (might as well!)

In 200 years time, what will be representing this century at the museum? What do we have that isn't a mass produced innovation? A selection from etsy.com?

maybe it doesn't help your questions specifically, but here are two perspectives.
check out ted.com if you haven't already

When you say we I'm guessing you mean the "West" (US, UK, Europe etc).

In general we are still innovators, the developing world (let's call it the "East") then makes.
[Edited 6/18/09 3:55am]

another perspective:

KeithyT said:

I don't know, they are doing an awful lot of mass producing in the east too!

ZombieKitten said:

sorry, yes what you said (now that I read it again properly )

what i can offer to the conversation (for now) is that creativity is energy, and energy doesn't die, but change forms...

you can't kill creativity, you just have to have an eye for the subtle changes.
it will always exist, and people will create in any form they see fit, whether that be by machine or by hand, one doesn't devalue the other - or at least one shouldn't, if you abide by creativity changing forms.

what i believe you say is dying is not so much the creativity itself, but the appreciation for a specific type or form of creativity...

...i'll stop at that, for now.

i think television and the internet have contributed to cultural and artistic lethargy. people are more content to be spectators these days.

When I went to the museum in NY they called a pink light, a piece of string and a smashed up car art
Sorry but all I could think was what a talented artist my 12 year old is

ocean said:

Conceptual art is different than fine art, there's more attention payed to the concept rather than the final product - again, creativity taking different form.
There is still talent within that.

sammij said:

perhaps not the generation of ideas, but the execution? who has the patience these days to see a painstaking piece of detailed work through to finish?

ZombieKitten said:

Many. But they're not getting the shine, and the audience that desires it needs to work a little bit harder to find it.
It's still there...

sammij said:

I don't think the average crafter was getting so much shine back in the day either, it was out of necessity people made stuff. Perhaps there is my answer? People USED to make stuff cause they have to, now they just don't have to?

First thing that popped into my head was: laziness.

I make stuff.

Genesia said:

See?
It's always there. Even if it's in a form that you're not accustomed to.

ZombieKitten said:

You can make the decision to start making stuff based on necessity if you want to.
All that technology still exists, yes, it's cluttered with new do-it-for-you types of technologies, but it's still there and if you want, seek it, work with it, create with it.

sammij said:

Each to their own...all I can say hell I could be an artist too

ocean said:

Well, you could be.

I would make stuff, but I have such little patience. My paid work is creative, but what I do for a living also has little perceived meaning - people think they can live without it, it's not a necessity "I could do that myself!" and so it's a struggle. I do struggle with it.

ZombieKitten said:

You're not alone in the struggle, believe me.
Patience is a huge part of being an artist, probably the basis of the most success.

Yeah, anyone can proclaim to be an artist, but it's whether or not they have the patience for it is what should be looked at...

That's a whole other conversation I think though...
[Edited 6/18/09 4:41am]

My brother in law's mother told me once, "mothers now have it so much harder than it ever used to be". Things used to be simpler, you accepted what was not possible, you didn't try to be everything to all people and DO everything. You did what you had to, and perhaps that left you with more patience and quiet and urge to make something?

sammij said:

our attention spans are so much shorter now, I feel my day in 5 minute bursts

ZombieKitten said:

Are you focusing on "art" or "craft"?

ZombieKitten said:

You have to remember, what exists for you may not exist for everyone
We're just realizing this now, which is why everything seems so fragmented and different than it used to be.
And rightfully so.

Actually, I know a lot of people who make stuff. One of my friends is working to open an artisanal bakery and makes furniture and picture frames in the Arts and Crafts style. Another friend makes very creative and cool music t-shirts that he sells at shows. His wife beads. My sister has a business selling her handmade jewelry. Another of my sisters paints glassware. I sew a pretty fair percentage of my own clothing, make small-batch ice cream and work in a creative profession (writing).

Creativity is out there. But I agree - fewer people are engaged in such pursuits.

purplesweat said:

That is one component, and that's on the part of both the creator and the audience.

Genesia said:

sammij said:

I don't know if I want to make a differentiation here. I know art is somehow more highbrow, but who is to say that things made by folks at home that served a function AREN'T art? I mean they are beautiful things

ZombieKitten said:

That valid and that's true
I myself don't know where that line lies, it's all creativity