Craft and the Counterculture

This seminar focuses on craft in the American Counterculture of the 1960s and 70s as well as its legacy in contemporary creative practice. In the heady and hallucinogenic days of the 1960s and 70s, a diverse range of artists and creative individuals based in the American West broke the barriers between art and lifestyle and embraced the new hybrid sensibilities of the countercultural movement. Craft—as an ideology, a material practice, and a lifestyle—played a major role in this revolutionary cultural and political moment. The course will also include an examination of the recent revival of interest in countercultural artistic practice of the 1960s and 70s and its connection to the contemporary DIY movement, “craftivism,” and the rise of artisanal culture. Course readings will be drawn from a range of primary and scholarly sources, and the seminar will incorporate discussions of current and past exhibitions that explore the counterculture and its legacy. 3 credits.