When the Arts and Crafts movement began in the 19th century, the founding ideal was a desire to move away from a market glutted with mass-manufactured goods and promote artistry and handmade creation. John Ruskin, a celebrated writer and artist of the era, "pointed toward the union of art and labor in service to society," and believed that artistry didn't necessarily have to serve a specific purpose, as "beautiful things were valuable and useful precisely because they were beautiful" (Meggs, p177). Although the original movement ended approximately 100 years ago, it continues to have a lasting impact. Thanks to modern technology like the internet, the world is experiencing a return to some of the beliefs espoused by its founder William Morris and proponents like Ruskin.
William Morris' work in the pursuit of his beliefs that founded the Arts and Crafts movement led to a revival in the creation of a book as an artistic pursuit instead of just a commercial one. When he found himself dissatisfied with the output of printers and the decline of design, he followed an entrepreneurial instinct and struck out to make his own press to create and distribute works of quality. His efforts gave consumers choices beyond the mass-produced items that had supplanted works created with care. Today, it is even easier for an artist to reach an audience and distribute their work. Through sites like Etsy, which describes itself as "the world's most vibrant handmade marketplace," artists can post their creations online for anyone in the world to see and purchase. Before the advent of sites like these, handmade items could only be purchased at fairs and festivals, or small shops who chose to include the work of local artists. The majority of goods available for purchase at chain stores were of the mass-produced kind. Online merchandising allows people to connect to a wider range of goods and artists, and increases the possibility of buying handmade items at a fair rice with limited hassle.
Morris would likely approve of Etsy, a company that once declared that its "mission is to enable people to make a living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers. Our vision is to build a new economy and present a better choice: buy, sell and live handmade" (McRae, 2010). Many people who have found themselves unemployed in a difficult economy have turned to selling handmade goods as a way to make ends meet when in financial difficulty (Bassett, 2010). This would have pleased Morris and Ruskin, who were also strong proponents of social justice, wanting to see fair labor conditions and greater benefits to workers (Harvey &Press, 1991; Meggs, 2012). Sites like Etsy enable anyone to have an entrepreneurial spirit and benefit from their creations. Mass-manufactured items will always be more easily available and often have cheaper prices, but the site can allow an artist to open a "shop" with little to no overhead and a wide potential audience. Although the leaders of the Arts and Crafts movement did not like the modern technology of their era (The Economist, 2014), artists of this era have harnessed it to expound on Morris' ideals and pursue a world with a greater appreciation and creation of handmade items.
Sources:
Bassett, L. (2010) Jobless turning to Etsy to make their hobbies lucrative. Retrieved from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/06/etsy-online-craft-store-m_n_752791.html
Economist. (2014) The art and craft of business. Retrieved from
http://www.economist.com/news/business/21592656-etsy-starting-show-how-maker-movement-can-make-money-art-and-craft-business
Luckman, S. (2013). The aura of the analogue in a digital age: Women's crafts, creative markets and home-based labour after Etsy. Cultural Studies Review, 19(1). Retrieved from http://www.questia.com/library/journal/1P3-2984190971/the-aura-of-the-analogue-in-a-digital-age-women-s
McRae, P.S. (2010). Etsy: 21st century arts and crafts. Retrieved from
http://blackfishart.blogspot.com/2010/10/etsy-21st-century-arts-and-crafts.html
Meggs, P.B., Purvis, A.W. (2006). Meggs' history of graphic design. Hoboken, N.J.: J. Wiley &Sons.
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