The Art of Repetition

Sometimes when people like our works, they tell us it is a piece of art. Implied is a distinction between art and manufacturing. One is singular and unique; the other is faceless and repetitive. One done for actualisation; the other to fulfil basic needs. It surprises them then, that we also pride ourselves in repetitive manufacturing.

Most good artists I know repeat. They make draft after draft of a form / a feeling / an idea. In mirror image, most good trade/skilled workers I know are far from automatons, and create each work with intent, aspiration, and sensitivity. Perhaps it is through repeated sensitivity that we become human and we become objects.

So we propose the word “crafts” as neutral terminology, to express this intersection of unique yet repeated, personal yet alienating work.

Now that we have ideologically released ourselves from Maslow’s classist tyranny of sacred over profane, we may see the maker and object are evolving by a pendulum process. One creating the other. The other creating one. Hence why repetition is so key. The art is still ongoing. We are still ongoing.