Amateur Craft - by Stephen Knott (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Amateur Craft provides an illuminating and historically-grounded account of amateur craft in the modern era, from 19th century Sunday painters and amateur carpenters to present day railway modellers and yarnbombers. Stephen Knott's fascinating study explores the curious and unexpected attributes of things made outside standardised models of mass production, arguing that amateur craft practice is 'differential' - a temporary moment of control over work that both departs from and informs our productive engagement with the world.

Knott's discussion of the theoretical aspects of amateur craft practice is substantiated by historical case studies that cluster around the period 1850-1950. Looking back to the emergence of the modern amateur, he makes reference to contemporary art and design practice that harnesses or exploits amateur conditions of making. From Andy Warhol to Simon Starling, such artistic interest elucidates the mercurial qualities of amateur craft.

Invaluable for students and researchers in art and design, contemporary craft, material culture and social history, Amateur Craft counters both the marginalisation and the glorification of amateur craft practice. It is richly illustrated with 41 images, 14 in colour, including 19th century ephemera and works of contemporary art.

Review Quotes

"Amateur Craft is one of several craft-related titles published by Bloomsbury. Knott (independent scholar) strives to show how amateur and professional crafters can thrive in the same space and how their work can feed off the thoughts and processes of each other. Specifically, Amateur Craft is written to demonstrate that amateur need not indicate 'inadequacy or shoddy work.' The book is organized into three well-illustrated chapters. Chapter 1, "Surface," discusses the agents needed for amateur surface intervention-'bases, carriers, and arbiters.' Bases are the objects that provide the blank surface. Carriers are the goods that make intervention-or the craft making-possible. Finally, arbiters, e.g., handbooks and encyclopedias, provide guidance. Chapter 2, "Space," focuses on the role of space in everyday life, the organization of space, and aesthetics. The design and organization of space is essential for crafting of any type. Chapter 3, "Time," looks at amateur time, or free time, and its uses and benefits. Some amateur craft is derived from workplace time; at other times, it comes about because of nostalgia, desire, and sociability. Extensive endnotes and a detailed index support the text. Overall, this is a worthy resource for historians, artists, or amateur hobbyists interested in studying the development and breadth of amateur crafting. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above; general readers." --CHOICE

"Knott (who is undoubtedly an important up-and-coming voice in the world of craft criticism) does produce some fascinating stuff. He makes a number of salient points about the often-neglected value of amateur making while at the same time investigating arcane subjects ... Ultimately what Knott proves, in this politely disruptive book, is that the amateur and professional don't exist in separate silos. Instead, their practices bleeds into one another - one couldn't survive without the other ... Knott's book is a timely reminder of craft's breadth and everyday importance." --Grant Gibson, Crafts Magazine

"This book is a very interesting 'take' on amateur craft and the model railway hobby ... [and] potentially a standard reference for future social history students and researchers." --Grahame Hedges, N Gauge Society Journal

"Amateur Craft is an erudite and entertaining account of the foundations of craft practice. It tackles a subject too often ignored as lowbrow. Stephen Knott's clear, resonant voice marks him out at the forefront of new craft writing. He makes us look at craft in the round. It is a fine, lucid study." --Simon Olding, Director, Crafts Study Centre, University for the Creative Arts, UK

"Stephen Knott casts his net wide for examples of the intelligence, wildness and, yes, professionalism possible in the realm of amateur making. His thorough, thoughtful history and analyses make the case for the significance of "the amateur" in modern cultural history." --Maria Elena Buszek, University of Colorado Denver, USA

"Thoughtful, sustained and multifaceted... a welcome addition to existing academic literature on the topic. Rarely has craft practice been considered with the same intellectual weight as either fine art or design, and Amateur Craft demonstrates that its namesake practices are deserving of the rigorous analysis it delivers." --Anya Kurennaya, part-time art and design lecturer at Parsons School of Design, USA

About the Author

Stephen Knott is Director of the Crafts Study Centre in Farnham, a museum and research centre that is part of the University of the Creative Arts, UK. As a writer, researcher and lecturer in craft theory, design history and material culture, he has taught at Kingston University, UK and the Royal College of Art, UK and is one of the editors of The Journal of Modern Craft. He is author of Amateur Craft: History and Theory (Bloomsbury, 2015), and has written articles and reviews for Design and Culture, Performance Research, West 86th, Crafts and Craft Research. In 2018 he curated Tendenser at Galleri F15 in Moss, Norway, a showcase of contemporary craft and edited the accompanying catalogue, and was co-curator for Presence and Absence at the Crafts Study Centre (2021-22), an exhibition which responds to the lack of diversity within the Centre's collections.