John James Marshall thesis.pdf - OpenAIR @ RGU - Robert Gordon ...

sort of urban scape art projects. I was asking questions like “There is a lot of
risk there - it could fail or damage your reputation as a designer” and they
didn’t see any distinction between design, art and architecture. They see it as
something bigger or that is not such an issue – they commented on that quite a
lot – I think in Britain (ok, I think it is changing) but people still see themselves
as designer, or architect or artist. Someone like [Thomas] Heatherwick doesn’t
want to be labelled by anything – I think he’s on the other side of the coin. I
think he’s very protective of what he is.
Aoife Ludlow: Someone asked me five or six months ago was I an artist, a
craftsperson or a designer and I kind of looked at her. I don’t know how to
answer that question anymore and I wouldn’t even - from a textiles background
there are textile designers and there are people who use textiles that are
craftspeople – I always feel I’m between the two anyway. I still don’t know what
I’d answer to be quite honest.
Paul Rodgers: For many designers the “Craft” word is almost as bad as the
other “C” word.
Aoife Ludlow: For many craftspeople it is as well, they don’t want to be called
craftspeople they want to be called designer-makers.
Keith Brown: A question for Lionel and Justin – I’ve always thought of a tool
as something that is used skilfully towards a known end – that might be some
sort of loose definition of what a craft is. I think the way that Lionel is using the
technology I see that as more of a medium than a tool although you use tools,
but it becomes a medium and not just a tool. You are exploring possibilities
within it towards unknown ends a lot of the time.
Lionel T. Dean: Yes. You are using tools that the rules are going to work with
but yes you’ve got these rules that are above the tools and yes they are much
more of a medium.
Keith Brown: It somehow transcends that in a way, certainly for me when I’m
using it anyway. The unexpected surprises that come out that you don’t
- 374 -