Interdisciplinary. Community. Advocacy. Humor.
"Each week eight all-around makers, from all walks of life, will take on a series of projects with the hopes of impressing Poehler, Offerman and our expert judges. Over the course of each episode, the contestants must tackle a different theme, hand-making items in different disciplines — the difficulty of which increases with every episode until a winner is crown. Shot in an outdoor setting, the series will also focus on the characters and camaraderie of those who enjoy creating their own crafts, all under the comedic guidance of Poehler and Offerman."
This is going to be a spectacle and that is exactly my concern. I wonder how craft and craftsmanship are going to be presented? I am usually not in love with gimmicky effects that cheapen and dumb down what we do day-to-day. It's way too hard a living as it is to be ridiculed.
On the other hand I am a realist and know that what we do is often hard to translate to people with no first-hand experience. My hope is that the two moderators are intelligent human beings who believe in the importance of craft and will do a decent job of this.
Beware: this is the entertainment industry so stuff will have to be gussied up to some extent...
Crossing my fingers this'll be decent. Thoughts?
Comment
I have a friend who is applying, a superb craftsman in found objects and wood, and I think he is doing it for the challenge. I hope he makes it!
Hey, why not? I wrote to ask if they would consider a 75 year old, and if there are physical challenges? I don't do ladders.
Nick Offerman was featured on a This Old House segment where they toured his large woodworking business. I think he'll do just fine. I'd have to research Amy Poehler's background to add anything about her, though.
More stupid "reality" television which exploits peoples' desire to be "famous" - whatever that means - at the expense of being made to look ridiculous at the hands of people who have no f****** idea whatsoever about what it means to be a maker.
This sort of crap trivialises those of us who dedicate our lives to making and to becoming specialists in our craft practice and it just enhances that awful nonsense that "anyone can do it".
(Sorry, I'm in a foul mood as our idiot government has just consigned the UK to global irrelevance and economic misery. I'd put the above in a more erudite fashion on any other day.)
As someone famous said, "in the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes". Craftspeople, enjoy your 15. Not the first reality show to attack this theme. But the show really isn't about craft; it's about entertainment. As with all shows of this type, they will focus on quirky personalities. The fact that the hosts are comedians (specifically satirists) should give you a clue as to how this is intended to go down.
I'll take what publicity I can get. But as for educating the public or garner greater respect for craft, well, Craft In America this ain't.
I just finished listening to Nick Offerman's "Paddle Your Own Canoe". He has a deep reverence for well made things and I am very optimistic about this. I may even start watching tv again to see it...
© 2024 Created by Brigitte Martin. Powered by
You need to be a member of crafthaus to add comments!
Join crafthaus