Chief Editor’s Note: Who Decides What Counts as Art?

I recently bought myself some air drying clay. You know, the stuff that you might have used at an elementary school art class to make disfigured pencil holders or maybe misshapen little figurines. I’ve never really been into doing crafts so the clay purchase was a random whim and once I had it, I was uncertain what to actually do with it. I googled for inspiration and found all kinds of pretty ideas for grown-ups to do with air drying clay. The examples ranged from succulent planters to key chains. All with clear instructions and steps to follow to make a copy of Pinterest worthy projects. What I ended up making instead was a little clay cat. Just as disfigured and silly as a grade school art class work might look like. And I really loved making it.

I have always been into art. Both making it and admiring it. I paint with watercolours, acrylics and gouache. I can make digital art and I can draw with pencils and with markers. When I paint on a canvas with my acrylics, I can easily categorize it as art. But the clay cat I had created confused me. Was it crafts? Was it art? And why did I even care about what it was? I also used the clay to make a candle holder for an electric candle. That one I would label as a decorative piece rather than art. It’s an item. It’s used for something. The clay cat, on the other hand, could maybe count as a sculpture. Then again that sounds like a very impressive word for a tiny chunk of air drying clay with some acrylic paint splashed on it.

What is it that separates crafts from art? I have an embroidery piece made by a friend on my wall, for example. It’s in frames and it’s displayed up there like a piece of art. Is it different from a gouache painting of mine that I’ve also got framed on a wall? The question of how to define art and who has the right to do so is age old and by this point quite unoriginal, but I keep on thinking about it as I compare my paintings to the clay figurine I made. Is it the materials that count? A sculpture made of stone versus one made of air drying clay. Would it be different if I had used a different type of clay then?

I think the reason why these questions of what counts as art and whether crafts are art has to do with the amount of respect that people have for different types of works. To me, it seems like crafts don’t get enough appreciation these days. Personally, I have a lot of experience with drawing and painting, but I’m a total novice when it comes to crafts. And yet I see them both as an important way for one to express themselves and an outlet to one’s creativity. Knitting a pair of socks can be a very creative process and even if you’re following a pattern made by someone else, it’s still a form of self-expression. I wish people would see the value in it more. Both when they’re the one regarding someone else’s piece of crafts and when people look at their own creations.

Creativity is such a precious skill for us humans to have and inherently tied to self-expression. Whether we are painting or acting on a stage or playing an instrument or sculpting a tiny cat out of air drying clay, we are sharing something of our own inner worlds that otherwise remain hidden from others. We tell stories not only through words but also through tangible things we create. It’s a way to communicate. Some people might have a bigger tendency to creativity and original ideas, but we are all creative in some ways. People just need to recognise that many things that they do are in fact a manifestation of that creativity.

In this issue, we celebrate creativity and self-expression in many forms! Check out Danielle’s article on fanfiction, for example, for a comprehensive lesson on how fans use their creativity to build on stories they love. Meanwhile, Aleksi gives us an interesting lesson on maps and how they can manipulate our views. Seri shares some thoughts on what it’s like to be nonbinary and not fit in. For fans of romantic stories, Emilia has ranked her most hated and most loved romance tropes. Anceliga has a new creative piece about writing, and Robi shares his thoughts on creativity and encourages people to just go for it. And lastly, Annika discusses the challenges of a creative process when people want you to be original but then again not too different from what they’re used to.

Have a great spring and summer, everyone!