Handmade: the New Labour

Handmade: the New Labour

Vol 25 no 1, 2005


What place remains in a fast, digital world for the slow, painstaking work of making things? Many artists still spend long hours working by hand on unique objects whether sculpture, furniture, drawing, fibre, even photography. In the light of increasing use of hands-off production the work of Ricky Swallow, Patrick Hall, Jan Nelson, David Trubridge, Christian Capurro, Bernhard Sachs, Robert Foster, Rosemary O'Rourke and many others take on a special significance. Writers Robert Cook and Mark Thomson give us their take on the consumer heaven of ever-newer digital and power tools and the purgatory of obsolete junk. Exhibition reviews, columns and obituaries. Guest Editor Kevin Murray.


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NAVA - National Association for the Visual Arts













You are here » Artlink » Vol 25 no 1, 2005 » Unpacking 'Il Cretino Veloci' or 'The Fast Idiot'

Unpacking 'Il Cretino Veloci' or 'The Fast Idiot'

Author & Artist: Mr Mark Thomson, feature

Thomson pays tribute to an increasing minority of Australians devalued for getting their hands in the 'mucky stuff''. As he proclaims '...people who make things with their hands for a living are seen as a hopeless anachronism rooted to the ground'. In an age where the majority of the Australian population now work in what are termed the service industries, the ability to apply ones motor skills are making for a society who rarely needs to use those 'funny slabs of flesh at the end of our arms'.



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