Craft Indutrialism | Lamberts Yard
I attended the private viewing on Saturday with my Fiancé Dom, who isn’t arty in the slightest but loved the whole concept of what we saw. I thought the exhibition was thought provoking, minimalist in it’s design and socially engaging to a whole other level.
The exhibition is in Lamberts Yard, Leeds (http://www.lambertsyard.com), Lower Briggate to be exact in a beautifully designed historical building. It opened its door’s in Winter 2013, as an independent concept store and creative event space. The design-led space is nothing like you have seen before, and I would urge anybody to visit.
The Craft Industrialism exhibition focuses on different types of makers and how they produce their work from start to finish. It allow’s the public to be engaged with the maker, and honestly, you suddenly feel more aware about the time and effort that is put into design and craft.
The space and layout of the maker’s work was carefully thought out. With delicate tools laid across the table’s and sketch books that you could flick through.
When reading about the craftsmanship it allowed me to gain a wider understanding of the product that was made. I saw their thought’s and passion right there in front of me, I felt like hugging the maker and saying ‘well done’!
If the product was on a shop floor, without the detail’s about how it was produced, I think I would buy it with not as much appreciation or in some cases, not at all. As we all know independent products tend to be more pricy than the department stores, because the maker spends hours of work, therefore this reflects on the price. With me being a student and not with much money I would tend to stay away from the independents. But this exhibition has changed all my thought’s towards buying from them. You know the saying ‘quality not quantity’, well this is so true for this subject.
Seeing people engage with the different makers and their products was interesting to see. I think we were all thinking the same things, WOW, did they really use that tool to make this bag? Well yes they did, and not only could we look at these things but we could also watch!
A nice film was created, showing the makers at work. It was really quite beautiful to see and watching the craftsmanship was an art in itself. The precision, concentration and attention to detail was beaming out of the projection.
This exhibition certainly bridges the gap between the maker and the public. I would recommend anybody who is or ins’t in Leeds to visit it and experience it for yourself.
