Taking from Ruskinkian Arts & Crafts, Izaskun Chinchilla’s New Seven Lamps of Artisanal Beauty present the new conception of craftsmanship: “it has gone from being appreciated for individual attributes, such as those that could be associated with a person, to being esteemed for collective ones.”
The design of the exhibition ‘The New Seven Lamps of Artisanal Beauty’ takes from the fundamental book of Arts &Crafts England: The Seven Lamps of Architecture, by John Ruskin. Published in 1849, it is a reflection on the crafts and their applications in the architectural context.
In the exhibition, seven lamps are each presided by two words. The first of every pair is one of the seven used by Ruskin: sacrifice, truth, power, beauty, life, memory, and obedience. Its partner is a more contemporary concept that replaces or gives nuance to his positions: sustainability, transparency, equity, culture, ecology, identity, and innovation.
The contrasts illustrate the curatorial idea of the show: the crafts are now appreciated for their collective, rather than for their individual, attributes.
© Héctor Santos-Díez
