Discover how William Morris and his friends started the Arts and Crafts movement in response to mechanization
Learn how English designer William Morris and his friends started the Arts and Crafts movement as a response to what they saw as falling standards of style, craftsmanship, and taste resulting from mechanized mass production.
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Transcript
Arts and crafts isn't just about glitter, glue, and garish bobble hats. Arts and crafts, the Movement, was actually one of the most influential periods in design history.
About 150 years ago, people had become totally fed up with machines. Not that kind of machine-- this kind. The steam engine brought mechanization to industry, agriculture, and transportation, which changed everything. People had gone nuts for technology. Manufacturers could now make loads of stuff for loads of people without really thinking too much about the final product.
Before the Industrial Revolution, a craftsman would spend a lifetime perfecting his skill, and it showed. But when mass production came along, the art of making things-- crafting them-- kind of faded away. The arts and crafts movement was a rebellion-- a reaction to the negative impact of industry.
And this Beardie led the charge-- William Morris was a poet and artist. He believed industrial production was making us less creative and removing skill from the manufacturing process. Morris said, "We do not reject the machine. We welcome it. But we would desire to see it mastered." His influential company Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Co. provided everything the 19th century homeowner needed-- from wallpaper to furnishings, stained glass to carpeting.
Arts and crafts purists like Morris liked to see, well, craftsmanship in the things they made and sold. Hammer marks were left visible in metal work, joints exposed in furniture. The movement promoted economic and social reform, while championing ordinary workers and underappreciated craftspeople. Arts and crafts had global appeal.
You could say arts and crafts never actually ended. Its morals, ethics, and political aims are still evident today. We love knowing where our stuff is made, and whether it was made well or not. Even though we know rely upon technology more than at any point in human history, we also still care about how and why something is made. You can thank the arts and crafts movement for that.
Have you mastered your machines?
About 150 years ago, people had become totally fed up with machines. Not that kind of machine-- this kind. The steam engine brought mechanization to industry, agriculture, and transportation, which changed everything. People had gone nuts for technology. Manufacturers could now make loads of stuff for loads of people without really thinking too much about the final product.
Before the Industrial Revolution, a craftsman would spend a lifetime perfecting his skill, and it showed. But when mass production came along, the art of making things-- crafting them-- kind of faded away. The arts and crafts movement was a rebellion-- a reaction to the negative impact of industry.
And this Beardie led the charge-- William Morris was a poet and artist. He believed industrial production was making us less creative and removing skill from the manufacturing process. Morris said, "We do not reject the machine. We welcome it. But we would desire to see it mastered." His influential company Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Co. provided everything the 19th century homeowner needed-- from wallpaper to furnishings, stained glass to carpeting.
Arts and crafts purists like Morris liked to see, well, craftsmanship in the things they made and sold. Hammer marks were left visible in metal work, joints exposed in furniture. The movement promoted economic and social reform, while championing ordinary workers and underappreciated craftspeople. Arts and crafts had global appeal.
You could say arts and crafts never actually ended. Its morals, ethics, and political aims are still evident today. We love knowing where our stuff is made, and whether it was made well or not. Even though we know rely upon technology more than at any point in human history, we also still care about how and why something is made. You can thank the arts and crafts movement for that.
Have you mastered your machines?