Customer Reviews

Abstracting Craft: The Practiced Digital Hand

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I was looking for concepts related to digital making, and how these techniques can derive from and be informed by traditional making practices(craft). This book delves into those ideas, though not in an intensely focussed manner. I recommend this for individuals interested in the intellectual/philosophical framing of such concepts, histories, and practices of making(craft).

One fear of digitizing art concerns the loss of craft needed to produce objects in physical media. McCullough may not set this fear to rest, but he does present a persuasive case that craft as we know it remains present in new media. He is able to define tools, tool use and tool systems so as to convince one that the tools of program interfaces are as much tools as their physical kin. The distinction between a tool and a machine and how both are represented in a graphic program's interface is especially intriguing. This book would be of interest to the many sculptors who have adopted digital methods into their work, but it may be of most use for human-computer interaction professionals designing 3D interfaces.

A book which explores many issues around the role of the artist utilising new-media. This re-affirms the fact that in all art forms responsibility is upmost. Great read for artists considering using new technology, especially students.

A very thorough and easy read for beginners to start thinking what lies beyond the computing technology. This book may be similar with Gate's The Road Ahead, but does not intrigue much ecological vision into abstracting the craft.