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It is approximately ten years since the Australia Council amalgamated the Visual Arts Board and the Crafts Board, and despite the passing of time, there still seems to be a worry that somehow the two areas of activity are not getting along quite as happily as they should. While much of the discussion of the differences between visual art and craft practice seems to operate at the level of vague impressions, with particular perceptions of a hierarchy between the two areas and with the visual arts usually placed higher up the ladder, explaining exactly what the differences are hasn't always been easy.
Earlier this year the Visual Arts/Craft Fund released a report, prepared by Claire Bardez and David Throsby, that set out to explore some of the similarities and differences between Australia's visual artists and craftspeople. Similarity and Difference: Craftspeople and Visual Artists in Australia is based on the data from the 1993 Individual Artist Survey, and more recent successful and unsuccessful applicants for Australia Council grants. While this report provides a lot of very useful information, it also raises more than a few questions. In many instances, these questions are not answered by the analysis of the statistics, but seem to need a more qualitative study. Of particular interest would be some developed understanding of how visual artists and craftspeople deal with working to a market. For example, are visual artists' lower levels of income from their creative work the result of not producing work with a particular market in mind? Or is it just that the "markets" are defined by cultural rather than economic criteria?
Once again, we learn that most artists earn very little from... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline