We have been living in a digital world for some time now, and the influence of technology is firmly ingrained in every aspect of society and culture. We increasingly see the world via computer screens rather than through glass windows, and the fields of art and design have assimilated this change into both the creative process and the finished work.
Now it is time for the rise of the postdigital creators — those who embrace the influence of the digital world but yearn for a return to the tactile craftsmanship which has fallen out of favour in recent times.
This new generation of creators who embrace manual craft and material over screen-based design and automated production is celebrated by Jonathan Openshaw in his new book Postdigital Artisans – Craftmanship with a New Aesthetic in Fashion, Art, Design and Architecture. Organised into six thematic chapters, each profiling 10 figures in such fields as visual art and design, architecture and urban planning, the edition presents their work with exceptional photography, augmented by texts on and by the likes of Hans Ulrich Oberst, Nathan Jurgenson, Glenn Adamson and Liam Young, and superb handwritten touches by calligrapher Sarah Blais. Get your hands on a copy from publishers Frame.
Jonathan Zawada, Third Person (2013).
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Zawada.
Troika, Small Bangs (2013),
40 x 27 cm.
Photo courtesy of Troika.
Henrique Oliveira, Ursulinens Prolapse (2012),
3.75 x 9.07 x 15.27 m.
Photo Otto Saxinger
Rachel de Joode, Folded Skins (2013).
Photo courtesy of Rachel de Joode.
Joseph Walsh, Enignum III Chair (2011),
77 x 65 x 90 cm.
Photo courtesy of Joseph Walsh Studio.
