手工艺的价值

手工艺提高了人们的生活品质，能够让人们不仅仅是物理的肉体得到满足，而且精神层面也能够得到满足。尤其是手工艺的日用品，能够让人们在日常生活中感受到美的价值，在解决生理需求的同时享受“生活”，而不仅仅是“生存”。

很多人会觉得艺术是一种奢侈品，但对我来说不是这样。无论是手工艺还是手艺，它们的价值就在于告诉我们人活着是有目的或者意义的，而不仅仅是一个偶然的或者毫无意义的物理的存在。

The value of craft

Handicrafts improve people’s quality of life, which can make people not only meet the physical body, but also meet the spiritual level. In particular, the daily necessities of handicrafts can make people feel the value of beauty in their daily life, and enjoy “life” while solving their physiological needs, rather than just “survival”.

Many people think that art is a luxury, but it’s not so for me. Whether it’s craftsmanship or craft, their value lies in telling us that living is purposeful or meaningful, not just an accidental or meaningless physical existence.

在坚持手工艺的过程中面临的最大的挑战

最大的挑战是如何帮助艺术家卖掉他们的作品、解决温饱问题。我认为艺术家应该认清自己的两种角色，作为艺术家创作的时候不需要考虑市场，越纯粹越好，主观地、真诚地表达自己的想法；而作为设计师面对市场进行设计的时候，一定要考虑用户的需求，在满足自己对艺术的追求的同时满足客户需求。

我不反对做商业化的东西，先生存、先吃饱饭才有精力搞艺术。这一直是我对艺术家的建议，鼓励他们一方面保持艺术创作的热情和理想，另一方面也要想想怎么解决温饱问题。

The biggest challenge in the process of insisting on craft

The biggest challenge is to help artists sell their works and solve the problem of living. I think artists should recognize their two roles. As artists, they don’t need to consider the market when creating. The purer the better, they can express their ideas subjectively and sincerely. As designers, when designing in the face of the market, they must consider the needs of users and meet the needs of customers while satisfying their pursuit of art.

I’m not opposed to making commercialized things. Only when you have enough food, can you have the energy to do art. This has always been my advice to artists. On the one hand, I encourage them to keep their passion and ideals for artistic creation, and on the other hand, I also want to think about how to solve the problem of food and clothing.

数字化机器生产和传统手工艺之间的关系？

作为手工艺术家来说，自己的手的参与是没有办法被替代的，因为手工艺是手和材料的结合，在这个过程中手和材料慢慢磨合，逐渐形成最终的作品，和雕塑是一样的。

我认为机器是手的延伸，在传统手工艺无法解决或者需要做批量生产的产品时，就需要借助机器生产。

手工艺有两个大的发展方向，一个是纯粹的艺术创作，艺术家全程自己设计、自己参与；一个是批量化的产品，艺术家要学会用软件绘图，制作比较精确的工艺图和尺寸图交给工厂生产。

The relationship between digital machine production and traditional handicraft?

As a handicraft artist, there is no way to replace the participation of his own hands, because handicraft is the combination of hands and materials. In this process, hands and materials slowly run in, gradually forming the final work, which is the same as sculpture.

I think the machine is an extension of the hand. When the traditional handicraft cannot solve the problem or need to make mass production products, we need to use the machine to produce.

There are two major development directions of handicrafts: one is pure artistic creation, and the artist designs and participates in the whole process by himself; the other is mass production. The artist should learn to draw with software, and make more accurate process drawings and dimension drawings for factory production.

中国的手工艺体系和欧美国家比起来差异在哪里？

• 一个比较大的差异是，欧美他们的市场体系已经成熟了，市场细分化已经完成了。他们从学院到市场整个体系是贯穿下来的，没有太脱节，可以搞艺术，可以搞产品，有公司和你合作。而在中国的这个体系不完整，呈现的是碎片化、个体性的操作，这是最大的问题。不是我们的东西卖不出去，而是没有找到合适的、特定的群体。
• 另外就是协会和组织。美国的American craft council每年都会组织举办大型的展销会，手工艺人通过展会能够销售自己的作品，很好地解决生存问题。展会还会和高校合作，提供免费的展位，让高校的优秀作品直接面对市场。另外，协会还会通过展会、杂志、网站等，与各地的艺术中心合作提供各种课程、沙龙、讲座，帮助大众了解手工艺。
• 西方的展览是针对不同的群体设置的，针对消费能力一般的客户和高水平的收藏群体的客户有不同的展览，艺术家们可以找到适合自己的定位。艺术家们不是单打独斗，不缺乏背后的支持，体系十分完善。而中国的艺术家是单打独斗的，协会太多、各自为政、没有起到自己应该起的作用，运转效率不高，资源没有整合起来。
• 一些手工艺大师、工艺美术大师观念较为老旧，认为“教给徒弟，饿死师傅”，所以保留着自己的绝活，和高校的教学理念不同。

What is the difference between China’s handicraft system and that of Europe and America?

A big difference is that market system in the west has matured and their market segmentation has completed. Their system runs through from the college to the market, without too much disconnection. They can engage in art or products, and cooperate with companies. But in China, the system is incomplete, presenting fragmented and individual operation, which is the biggest problem. It’s not that our products can’t be sold, but that we haven’t found the right and specific customer groups.

In addition, associations and organizations. American Craft Council in the United States organizes and holds large-scale exhibitions every year, through which craftsmen can sell their works and solve the survival problems. The exhibitions also cooperate with colleges and universities to provide free booths, so that the excellent works of colleges and universities can face the market directly. In addition, through exhibitions, magazines, websites, etc., the association will cooperate with art centres around the world to provide various courses, salons, lectures to help the public understand craft.

Western exhibitions are set up for different groups. There are different exhibitions for customers with general consumption ability and high-level collection groups. Artists can find suitable positioning. Artists do not fight alone, do not lack the support behind, the system is very perfect. However, Chinese artists fight alone. There are too many associations, they are independent, they don’t play the role they should. The operation efficiency is not high, and the resources are not integrated.

Some arts and crafts masters are old-fashioned. They think that “teach apprentices and starve masters”, so they keep their unique skills, which is different from the teaching concepts of colleges and universities.