Added Value?
Is craft a new language for luxury?

Source: Photo: Nick Moss/Crafts Council
White Sequins, Tracy Kendall, 2012
This is the question posed by the forthcoming Crafts Council exhibition Added Value?, looking at how the desire for authenticity and craftsmanship has turned the idea of craft into a desirable luxury.
Featuring work from makers including fine artist and jeweller Zoe Arnold, food artists Bompas & Parr, shoe-makers carréducker, product designer Simon Hasan, wallpaper designer Tracy Kendall and fashion accessory designer Oliver Ruuger, the show aims to examine how and why we value certain objects.

Source: Photo: Nick Moss/Crafts Council
Thinking Earrings, set of three, Zoe Arnold, 2011
Arnold creates jewellery installations that focus on the materials of the works and how they are used, while Ruuger looks at the idea of traditional skills in his work, which includes a project that has seen him take familiar items, such as briefcases, and look to increase their value through traditional processes such as leather working.

Source: Photo: Nick Moss/Crafts Council
Night at the house of Epicurus, 2012, Studio Oliver Ruuger
Jelly-mongers Bompas & Parr are looking at the idea of ‘experience’ for the exhibition, showing how the marriage of food and art can be used to create a sensory, experiential environment.

Source: Photo: Nick Moss/Crafts Council
St. Pauls Cathedral Jelly Mould, Bompas and Parr, 2009
The ‘brands’ strand of the show is represented by a collaboration between product designer Simon Hasan and luxury fashion house Fendi. In 2011, Hasan was commissioned to create bespoke mannequins, made using traditional craft methods, showing the increasing importance of craft to high-end brands.

Source: Photo: Nick Moss/Crafts Council
Mannequin for Fendi, Simon Hasan, 2011.
Added Value? runs from 31 January – 24 March at The Civic, Hanson Street, Barnsley S70
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