The DIY Movement and the Shunning of Perfection

A guest contribution by Hannah Gretscher 

MÌA Magazine ©

As some of you have already noticed, we are in the middle of a larger research project leading to our first print publication. It will span a variety of sociopolitical and cultural issues that are concerning artisanal crafts in general with an emphasis on contemporary ceramics. Our interning editorial assistant Hannah has been conducting intense research on a trending topic - the DIY movement, and how it affects the artisan art community. We will contribute further insights on the topic once our research is completed. Please read her bright observations as an initial output and an open invitation to get in touch with us if you wish to contribute.  - MÌA

Open social media and you’re inundated with the content of DIY projects, from textile to woodwork, ceramics, and everything in between. The trend for DIY arts and crafts has boomed, not least following the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, it’s far from new. It’s origins trace back to the 19th-century Arts and Crafts Movement, which was then the rejection of the machine processes of the industrial revolution. Is that what’s happening today? Are we tired of arriving at a friend’s house to be greeted by the same Ikea rug or vase as we have at home? [1] While part of the growing trend might be the spurning of mass production, the allure of DIY is not only propagated by the consumer. The Maker Movement has an avid following among amateur artists and professional artisans alike. In this article, we will delve deeper into the psychology of DIY and investigate its popularity through the past hundred years, with the question in mind: why, when we can have perfection, do we lust after the uniquely, sometimes deliberately, flawed artwork? Which in turn begs our second question, is it even art?

Humanity’s obsession with perfection was articulated in the work of the Ancient Greeks, whose classical art sought symmetry. The more perfect the pottery, the statue, the building, the more beautiful. Their valued crafts were flawless, and here without the help of uniform machinery. So much so that they embellished, perhaps most notably the human body, to appear as close to ‘Godlike’ as possible. While these themes of perfectionism have appeared and reappeared throughout the history of art, they have also sparked a counter-movement: artisans preoccupied with realism and imperfection, finding the beauty in the uniqueness. These movements seem to co-exist with periods of intense technological innovations. The Arts and Crafts Movement of two centuries ago, to name just one. Today’s Do It Yourself Movement is another prime example. Although, there is a key difference between these trends. In the Arts and Crafts Movement, consumers were still consumers, in the DIY Movement, consumers, or hobbyists, can become the ‘artisans’. We will look more closely at this as the article progresses, but for now, let’s define crafts. Crafts focus on hand-making, as opposed to the division of labour involved in industrial mass production. It celebrates individualism and as William Morris conceptualised the “joy of labour”. [2] Perhaps that is their appeal, the human spirit, that we connect to the craft objects on a level beyond that made by a machine because we know, we can even see, they are made by human beings - flaws and all. Crafting is a popular hobby, it is not simply the joy of labour, but the joy of making something, a bonus if that creation has a function.

Art on the other hand may not have a perceivable function, rather it’s a mode of expression. No less important for our wellbeing and in fact art therapy has been gaining traction since it was first introduced after World War I to treat soldiers with post traumatic stress disorder. [3] However, it would be incorrect to identify the hobbyist painter as an artist per se, but can the hobbyist crafter transcend to the professional simply by selling their work? The internet has been a key resource in this. Platforms such as Etsy provide a ready global market for crafters to tap into and a mechanism to promote themselves and their products. [4] The DIY Movement’s entrepreneurial potential could be another reason for its success, granting people, especially women, self-determination and an independent income. [5] But can we rightly call someone professional without any formal training? Again, the internet has supplied a way for crafters to teach themselves. Whole communities have been established around crafting, allowing a cross-fertilisation of learning from one another. [4] How-to videos, influencers with specialist knowledge, whether self-taught or trained, to ametaur groups combining the social with the practical aspect of learning a craft. The craftsperson no longer has to work alone. A second human connection to the DIY Movement, which might be another explanation of its longevity so far and its growth during the age of COVID-19.

One self-taught hobbyist turned professional is Katherine Moes, who started her business five years ago on Etsy. A ceramicist, she says she found the US in particular welcoming of “new and budding artists”. Although, she often feels compelled to justify her prices against competition from Amazon or Target. She said:  “For me quality is how I justify my prices. And sometimes that means educating a naive audience who don’t understand the process that makes my handmade work different from Amazon or Target… I’m not too worried about Amazon. I think people here really enjoy following an artist, their brand and their unique twist on things.” 

The so-called “slow living”, “low tech” and “back to basics” labels that surround especially ceramic crafts these days, such as those Katherine and many others sell on Etsy, has helped boost the popularity of the medium. And in some ways the internet has taken homemade (or imperfection) mass market. 

Katherine further clarifies:

“​​I think Amazon and the cheap convenient compulsive purchasing that often happens there is worrisome on an economic and environmental level. But as a maker I am less concerned with it because I know there is an audience that values quick and cheap and there is also an audience that values slow and handmade. Sometimes those audiences overlap and sometimes not. Buying with intention is something people decide to do and then have to practice regardless of which commercial entity is around. I am concerned with companies like Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters who very overtly copy the work of small business owners, like myself, in order to catch part of the “trend” for their clients. I know of a few examples of this from peers in the industry and find it a shame.“

For small Makers it is almost impossible to compete with commercial brands, who never miss a trend and are fast in catching up. Amazon Homemade, for instance, or the innovations from Westwing and Zara Home, which are now producing ceramics that are intentionally slightly deformed or irregular in appearance, clearly imitating the homemade products.

As these objects are mass manufactured, this points to the imperfect result being of value above its human connotations as discussed above. That it is aesthetically pleasing in and of itself. And indeed, the DIY Movement is not restricted to self-taught craftspeople, but artisans are also developing it. Here, we are seeing imperfection as a deliberate choice of style - moving away from crafts and taking the aesthetic into an art form. Especially but not exclusively in ceramics, there are objects with childlike-looking quality without any aim to perfection and playful colors and shapes. One can not always be sure whether the maker is a master of their craft and thus achieved this design intentionally, or whether it stems from a lack of experience. But there are also those ceramics that obviously require a high degree of skill and experience, and the hand-formed and rustic design was used very purposefully.

Angelika Steinhilper, an art teacher and professional ceramic artist, recognises that the DIY trend for hobbyists, professionals, artisans and consumers alike represents a longing to “stop the fast pace of our times and to eliminate the constant simultaneity of so many things”. Yet, she notes: “What I observe with regret, however, is the need to always publish and present everything immediately. Because it takes more study than learning a technique in a night class, to find a form and succeed in a meaningful functionality.'' So on the one hand, there seems to be a desire for less mass and more for quality. At the same time, according to another professional maker, Domile Ragauskaite, there is a need to share one's own creative power with many people and to inspire and exchange ideas with each other in an unfiltered and open way. 

So although art can be found in the DIY Movement, the popularity of the trend and the general informal skill level of many of the crafters involved in it leaves a lot of room for non-artistic activity. Whether or not these crafters are striving for perfection and missing the mark, consumers are lapping up these one-of-a-kind works. The mentality is reminiscent of the Punk Movement, where perhaps the discussion surrounding its iconic “fanzines” or DIY magazines provides something of an answer: “...make your own culture and stop consuming that which is made for you.” [6] Anne of the feminist ceramic duo Villa Vulva even refers to themselves as “ceramic punks”. Mainly because of their self-taught approach to the craft, but also in combination with their politically activist designs. In a world where perfection is so easily attainable, suddenly the imperfect becomes desirable as a statement of anti-culture, or more precisely, an individual culture. With relation to the DIY trend, Paul Atkinson articulated the notion of a DIY democracy, which we can apply to the consumer as well as the maker. He noted that artisans must work in the confines of form and colour, whereas DIY gives the maker one of the most sought after ideals - freedom.

He described a DIY crafter as the perfect job, stating: “Workers enjoy jobs that allow them to create something, permit them to use a skill, give them the opportunity to work wholeheartedly, and let them exercise initiative and responsibility. In this respect, any DIY activity can be seen as a democratization of the work process, allowing decision-making and freedom from supervision at levels unlikely to be available at work itself.” [7] 

In conclusion, professional DIY crafters like Katherine Moes might well be living the dream work life.

In terms of the vast majority, the DIY Movement is not an arts movement per se but this does not mean it is without value - both for the individual and society. The current and historical mass appeal of the imperfect, however, is both artistic and inartistic. Either as a deliberate aesthetic choice, or as a happy accident through imperfect skills. The imperfect is seen as unique, a chance to propagate an individual culture, as opposed to industrialised processes that churn out millions of the exact same product. Consumers own a one-of-a-kind, handmade item that they can clearly connect with a human being. Perfection, on the other hand, is now associated with machine made processing. Although, established brands are tapping into the movement producing deliberately deformed artefacts. Still, thanks to the internet, individual crafters have their own way to be entrepreneurial with platforms such as Etsy, and to better their craft through cross-fertilisation learning. Indeed, there is an argument to be made that imperfection is now mass market. For self-taught professionals, the DIY democracy offers the ultimate freedom yet they face criticism from the art world for bad taste or imitation. As Katherine puts it: “I also think there is a world of master’s level artists. And they are in the gallery world and they probably are less excited about the self-taught folk.” 

Opinions on this topic differ. While some insist on the need to protect artisan crafts as a concept and profession through defined quality criteria, others welcome the democratic freedom of the Makers Movement. In any case, it seems that there exists a certain longing for the human touch. Some of us rather seek out something that is more tailored to their needs, opposed to the impersonal reproduction of the uniform. Even though a true master potter is absolutely capable of transforming a piece of clay into a perfectly shaped vase, do we still prefer the imperfections that allow us to still feel the personal connection between maker and consumer?