Most often than not, you will hear people using the terms art and craft interchangeably. It would not be wrong if you say that most people fail to understand the fundamental difference between the two forms of creativity.
Key Takeaways
- Art refers to the creation of something that is aesthetically pleasing or expresses emotions or ideas.
- Craft refers to creating something functional or practical using skill and manual dexterity.
- While art primarily focuses on aesthetics and expression, craft primarily focuses on functionality and utility.
Art vs Craft
Art is an emotional manifestation while crafts can be more functional. Art is something more unique which cannot be duplicated while crafts are the creative efforts of someone that can be easily reproduced. Art depends on the innate talent of a person, while craft is a skill that can be picked.
When it comes to art, it is a series of expressions without any limitations, like an open-ended or unstructured form of painting. However, a craft has a specific structure that makes it visible with a definite form.
Both art and craft and creativity result from an imaginative mind. Thus, you need to note that creativity can easily be expressed in both forms.
Comparison Table
| Parameter of Comparison | Art | Craft |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | It is a lovely way of expressing a person’s desires and emotions in an artistically visual manner. | It is a creative way of coming up with creative things by hand. |
| Possibility Of Getting Reproduced | It is almost impossible to duplicate or reproduce as it is more personal and unique. | It can easily be duplicated by someone with similar talent and using a similar style of a specific craft. |
| Requirement | A person needs natural or god-gifted talent to make art. | A person with skill and talent, who has been properly groomed and has some experience, can make a craft. |
| Core | The core of art is the expression of various emotions. | The core of a craft is the creative result designed by hand. |
| Value | Art has an emotional value. | A craft has a creative value. |
What is Art?
When you talk about art, it mainly refers to a wide array of human activities that involve the creation of auditory, performing, or visual artefacts that primarily express an artist’s conceptual and imaginative ideas that are mainly intended for appreciation for sheer beauty.
If it sounds a bit gibberish to you, in simple language, art is a type of work that helps express an artist’s expressions and emotions.
Art can be classified into 3 distinct branches: sculpture, painting, and architecture. Indeed, the general definition of art has often proved to be disputed.
This has resulted in multiple changes in the definition over time. Nonetheless, the basic meaning of art remains the same.
It will not be entirely wrong if you say that theatre, dance, film, and music are also types of art. Even works of literature are considered art forms in this modern era.
What is Craft?
Most of you must have heard people referring to particular objects or things as crafts. When you talk about a craft, it means a profession or a pastime requiring a certain degree of knowledge and skill.
You may say that a craft is a type of skilled work. During the good old days, around the Middle Ages, the term craft was mainly used for people who dealt with the production of goods and even their maintenance.
In this modern era, the craft is mainly used to refer to artisans. Craft is used in handicrafts, decorative art, and studio craft, including metalwork, pottery, woodturning, and weaving.
Glass art, woodworking, and glass blowing are other crafts.
Main Differences Between Art and Craft
- Art is a type of work that mainly helps to express the expressions and emotions of an artist. However, when it comes to a craft, it is, more or less, a type of work with a physical form quite similar to carving or moulding.
- It is not possible to quantify art in any manner. On the other hand, it is possible to quantify craft pretty quickly.
- Developing a duplicate form of a given piece of craft is straightforward. When it comes to art, duplicating it is not at all simple.
- A good art form will easily attract the emotional side of people. On the other hand, the craft will attract people generally.
- An artist makes art that comes out straight from his soul and heart. At the same time, the craft results from talent, skill, and proper training. It is more a result of the mind.
- When you look at a form of art carefully, you will understand the inner feelings and emotions that have been going through in the artist’s heart. On the other hand, if you carefully look at a craft, you will not feel such emotions involved.
- Art results from a person’s natural and inborn talent, whereas craft results from skill, experience, and training.
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Emma Smith holds an MA degree in English from Irvine Valley College. She has been a Journalist since 2002, writing articles on the English language, Sports, and Law. Read more about me on her bio page.
