Draft:Post-DigitalCraft

Post-Digital Crafts

Introduction

Post-Digital Crafts refers to contemporary creative practices that merge traditional craft techniques with digital technologies and post-digital aesthetics. Emerging in the early 21st century, the movement reflects a critical engagement with the handmade in an era dominated by digital production. Post-Digital Crafts artists and makers frequently combine computational techniques like digital modelling, algorithmic design, and 3D printing with traditional crafts like weaving, pottery, carpentry, and embroidery. The movement overlaps conceptually with Post-Internet Art and the Maker Movement, but remains distinct in its emphasis on the tactile, the cultural, and the artisanal within post-digital contexts.

Origins

Post-digital crafts originated from the gradual entanglement of digital tools, networked culture, and embodied creative practices. The origins of post-digital crafts are a result of the growing interconnection between digital technologies along with education, creative expression, and daily life. As digital tools, including smartphones, 3D printers, and software, were seamlessly integrated into daily routines, the distinction between traditional craft and digital practice began to blur. This transition was not abrupt; rather, it occurred gradually as a result of the convergence of technological, social, and material processes. Post-digital crafts were the result of the influence of posthumanist and actor-network theory perspectives, which recognized the co-agency of humans, tools, materials, and networks. Within this framework, craft is redefined as a hybrid, adaptive, and critical practice that reflects the intricate realities of a digitally saturated world, rather than as a form of resistance to digital culture. These advancements have been further influenced by educational movements that prioritize collaborative making, open-source platforms, and the reevaluation of embodiment and tactility in virtual environments.

Characteristics

Post-digital crafts are marked by the integration of digital technologies with traditional craft values, emphasizing the legibility of human labor within technologically mediated production. The movement critically engages with the digital, upholding socio-political concerns inherited from historical craft movements such as the Arts and Crafts movement. Rather than rejecting technology, post-digital craft practitioners employ it in ways that support creative autonomy and resist alienation caused by industrial automation.

Techniques

Techniques used in post-digital crafts include a blend of digital fabrication (such as CNC milling and 3D printing) with tactile digital tools like drawing tablets. These practices maintain an emphasis on materiality and the embodied role of the maker. Tools such as iPads and styluses are used to craft detailed, expressive digital drawings that reflect individual craftsmanship. Other methods include parametric modeling, digital collage, and hybrid manual-digital workflows that retain human authorship in the design and fabrication processes.

Notable Artists

Artists associated with Post-Digital Crafts include Stephanie Syjuco, Morehshin Allahyari, Faith Holland, Annie Bissett, Kirsty Whitlock, Nick Cave, and Caroline Woolard. Their work merges traditional craft practices such as sewing, embroidery, printmaking, and woodworking with digital technologies like 3D printing, algorithmic design, and augmented reality. Stephanie Syjuco uses sewing, textiles, and digital fabrication to explore themes of colonialism, identity, and authorship. Morehshin Allahyari incorporates 3D printing with Middle Eastern artifacts and mythology, reimagining cultural heritage through digital restoration. Faith Holland employs digital embroidery and feminist internet art to critique gender representation in digital spaces..]</ref> Annie Bissett combines traditional Japanese woodblock printmaking with digital editing to explore identity and spirituality. Kirsty Whitlock integrates embroidery with digital imaging to comment on consumer culture. Nick Cave merges sewing, beading, and digital performance technologies in his Soundsuits and installations. Caroline Woolard blends woodworking and furniture-making with augmented reality overlays to critique economic systems in art.

Exhibitions

Major exhibitions such as those held at the International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA) and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) highlight the role of post-digital crafts in contemporary art. These exhibitions showcase works that blend digital technology with traditional craft, emphasizing themes of human agency, cultural context, and material engagement.