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Collaboration Through Craft

Stemming from the cross-institutional Pairings Project initiated by Kettle/MMU and the eponymous conference, this research constitutes the first book-length, practice led intervention into current theoretical debates about the collaborative/social power of craft (e.g. Gauntlett 2008; Sennett 2008; Adamson 2008). The projects reported share a concern with the impact of the collaborative turn in craft on questions of craft identities, materials, processes, expertise and pedagogies. Organised into four cognate sections the research addresses the elisions and frictions of the collaborative process; new technological potentials of fertilizations between craft and industry, craft and science; the implications of cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural collaborations for issues such as authority and ownership; dispersed models of creativity; and the impact of crafted collaborations on institutions where we archive, learn and teach. The collection argues for craft as a field of knowledge and a socio-cultural concept poised between two models of expertise, possessive individualism and collaborative labour. Questions raised include whether collaboration strengthens or endangers studio craft’s present values and future prospects; how collaboration affects issues of e.g. authorship, authority, responsibility, transmissibility and adaptability; the challenge to virtuosic performance presented by the move towards a relational craft aesthetic; and ways to approach the institutional and political agendas driving the current collaborative turn. The book contains chapters by internationally respected figures

Kettle led the Pairings conference and exhibitions from which the book originated, initiating negotiations with Bloomsbury. Ravetz drafted the book proposal with input from Kettle. All editors commented on draft chapters, with Ravetz acting as overall academic editor and Kettle as artistic editor. Ravetz wrote the first drafts of the main introduction and Kettle drafted the section introductions, after which all editors commented on portions of each draft. Ravetz was responsible for communicating with contributors, Felcey for coordinating visual materials and Kettle for communicating with Bloomsbury. Ravetz and Kettle each wrote chapters with colleagues. Ravetz 40%, Kettle 40%, Felcey 20%.