What Makes a Knife a Work of Art?

[Mecha]

Can't you find art in simplicity also? Something so simple and basic that it becomes art? I see some knife designs that are so face palm why didn't I think of that elegant! I'm a minimalist so that's where I'm coming from. I'm also sort of a Bauhaus form and function fan.

Oh definitely. I like the simple stuff the best. Although the simple stuff that's artful usually has a lot more going on with it than it may seem at first.

What was that saying? "Good art doesn't come from what you add, but what you omit." Something like that. It's often true.

For me, the blades are foremost made with the idea of good performance as a tool, and especially obsessed with attempting perfection of balance-in-hand, effortless motion and control. But during the process of making them, ideas and visions sometimes arise and the excitement builds. I try to make the thing I saw become real, and those spontaneous changes are the "art" part. I get the most delight, in an art sense, from curve and proportion rather than embellishment.

 

[deadzonepatrol]

I believe art is what the viewer wants. ...
I also believe that a craftman knows when he/she is making, or trying, to make art. Even i sometimes attempt to make something "more special", that i know at least one person will considder it as art.

Best regars.

I agree with this completely. There's nothing definitive that can be said about something so subjective as art. ("One man's garbage is another man's treasure" is a quote that comes to mind.) After the maker no longer has possession of the piece, whether he sold it or threw it away, the next user or owner determines whether it be art or not.

I once saw a PBS documentary showing a mouse in a rural or mountainous area. He had found a round piece of bright polished metal slightly larger than his face. This mouse brought it into his home underground and put it up against a wall. I think he intended to use it as a mirror, but I also think he liked it as art. Also, the bowerbird collects things that shine or sparkle and uses them to decorate his house. These animals are interior decorators, artists! They might use things that were not intended as art, but these things are obviously art to their eyes. Even the act of arranging stuff can be an art form.

In the same way, a knife that was made in a factory, with a million other specimans that are basically the exact copies, can still be art in someone else's eyes. And yeah, even a bridge that looks post modern that might not have had any artistic intent by the builder can still be considered art by a viewer. Obviously, the more decoration or special materials put into a knife, the more people will consider that knife as art.

 

[justjed]

Einstein said that everything should be as simple as possible, but no simpler. As far as cutlery goes: ANYONE can make a knife. Not everyone can make a GOOD knife.
Unfortunately, not everyone agrees on what makes a good knife, or when it becomes art. If it's a real knife that's just too pretty to use, it's art. If it won't cut, it's not a knife. It's just a paperweight.