The invention of craft - Glenn Adamson

Glenn Adamson's last book, Thinking Through Craft, offered an influential account of craft's position within modern and contemporary art. Now, in his engaging sequel, The Invention of Craft, his theoretical discussion of skilled work is extended back in time and across numerous disciplines.Adamson
searches out the origins of modern craft, locating its emergence in the
period of the industrial revolution. He demonstrates how craft was
invented as industry's "other", a necessary counterpart to ideas of
progress and upheaval. In the process, the magical and secretive culture
of artisans was gradually dominated through division and explication.
This left craft with an oppositional stance, a traditional or
anti-modern position. The Invention of Craft ranges widely across media, from lock-making, wood-carving and iron-casting to
fashion, architecture and design. It also moves back and forth between
periods, from the 18th century to the present day, demonstrating how
contemporary practice can be informed through the study of modern craft
in its moment of invention.