I wanted to spend time this show talking about why I want to be a
filmmaker, really, why I feel compelled to make things. I know I've
covered this ground before, but I'm talking specifically about my
experience as a film maker producing Handmade in America, and what it's taught me.
Unfortunately I got lost talking about the ideas behind the movie and
had to stop in the middle. And I didn't intend to give a review of a The Craftsman,
by Richard Sennett, but that's what I ended up doing. It's a great book
for anyone who struggles with the reasons why we like to making things
with our hands and served as a rudder for my vision while I worked on
the film.
Most of the show is leading to a showdown between the concepts of Craft and Art.. There's a recorded conversation online with Richard Sennett and Eva Hoffman
discussing how the romanticization of Art, and Craft blunts the impact
of these things in our lives. It's a great discussion, but I bring it
up because it refers to John Carey's book,
What Good are the Arts. Although I mention it only in passing, I
promise to elaborate further in the next episode and where I will in
fact bring the dynamic of Craft and Art into harmony.
