My favourite type of craft

I am excited about an upcoming exhibition at the University of Toronto Art Centre, Gord Peteran: Furniture Meets Its Maker (September 8 to December 5, 2009). The retrospective will feature non-functional furniture, made both from scratch as well as found objects.

There will always be a market for fine handmade functional furniture but my personal preference is for craft objects like Peteran's that refuse to fade into the background of everyday life.

Peteran's work is described as "quite distinct from craft" but I question the author's definition of craft. Even under the usual definition of "an art, trade, or occupation requiring special skill, especially manual skill," there is nothing to preclude Peteran's work or any other crafted object that is conceptual or non-functional, from being classified as 'craft'

Perhaps I am overly sensitive about the snobbish distinction that is often made between craft and art. With the growing presence of the hand in many contemporary art works, I believe the distinction between craft and art is increasingly blurry.