윌리엄 모리스의 예술관과 문화융합으로서의 공예

William Morris’ View of Art and the Craft as Cultural Convergence - Focused on the Idea of the Craft as Free and Creative Human Activity -

It seems that the craft has been considered as being confined to the narrow frame of handiwork or traditional handcraft in Asia more than in West. In the West, the craft has come to include both artistic and industrial values, as first arts and then design had derived from it. On the other hand, in spite of the long tradition of this field, the Asian people imported, as far as its conceptual dimension is concerned, the Western modern view of the craft which was restricted to‘ handiwork.’ As a result, they now seems to be confused about what the craft is and understand that contemporary crafts are also a mere fixed area. To overcome this prejudice and realize the more diverse and substantial meanings and values of the craft in the present time, it should be clarified more that such aspects as‘ functionality’ or‘ handiwork’ are neither inherent attributes nor natural characteristic of the craft but its concept or role was formed in‘ modern’ era when the division of genres or fields was being pursued. However, in terms of historical and social contexts, in contemporary society in postmodernism, it is being witnessed more and more that consilience or convergence is being occurred in almost all areas including politics, economy, society, culture, and academy. Therefore, this paper suggests a discussion about the new convergence between arts and crafts, and by extension, between arts and design in the post-industrial society in the twenty-first century, by showing that the concept and category of crafts, that had been established and passed since the 19th century, have imposed restrictions on its social role. To this end, it is argued that the thoughts of William Morris and his arts and crafts movement in the 19th century meant more than the germinal form of modern design and a mere artistic movement and pursued‘ the craft as total art’ as his vision of changing society through art. Furthermore, by demonstrating that his view of art and artistic practices are in line with what the craft should be in the twenty-first century, the age of cultural convergence, this paper provides the desirable status of the craft as a new type of total art which are in convergence with art and design.