| Title | Chapter 2: Digital craftsmanship in South African sculptural practice and the impact of new technologies on fine art and craft |
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| DOI | https://doi.org/10.4102/aosis.2024.BK466.02 |
| Landing page | https://books.aosis.co.za/index.php/ob/catalog/book/466 |
| License | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
| Copyright | Mirna Nel, Phil van Schalkwyk, Abiodun Salawu, Gustav Butler & Gilbert Motsaathebe (eds.). Licensee: AOSIS (Pty) Ltd. The moral right of the editors and authors has been asserted. |
| Publisher | AOSIS |
| Published on | 2026-06-09 |
| Long abstract | The following philosophical desk study seeks to examine the evolution of craft and craftsmanship, as it relates to predominantly Western developments in the fine arts, to establish a historical precedence for an analysis of digital craftsmanship. In addition, the chapter presents a comparative analysis of the technological impact of photography on the discipline of traditional Western painting at the turn of the 20th century as a discussion point in re-examining the benefits of digital three-dimensional (3D) technologies for contemporary sculpture, with specific focus on a South African art context. Contemporary art is experiencing a return to a greater interest in the highly crafted aesthetic achieved through increased creative and technical ambition and application. Because of the concept-driven move from artist-as-craftsman to artist-as-manager, the artist often turns to the skills and expertise of specialised craftspeople to make ideas come to life. When considering the post-digital world as a world recreated by the digital moment, which becomes intertwined with our daily lives, what does it mean for the material-encumbered notions of craft and craftsmanship? The complex relationship between art and craft has existed for centuries. With each industrial revolution, both art and craft had to adapt to the influx of new technologies, innovations, and ways of thinking and being. The rise of the machine in the First Industrial Revolution (1IR) threatened the physicality of the craftsman, while the digital turn in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) threatens materiality. In this chapter, I present a craft that has had to adapt to the intricacies of changing technologies and which has comfortably transitioned to the digital, perhaps more so than art itself has. |
| Print length | 21 pages |
| Language | English (Original) |
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Jonathan van der Walt is an artist and academic based in Gqeberha, South Africa, focusing his practice primarily on the discipline of sculpture. Van der Walt obtained his Bachelor’s (BA) degree, cum laude, in Fine Art (Sculpture) at Nelson Mandela University, Gqeberha, South Africa, in which he explored the blurred lines between high and low art within contemporary society. This exploration became the launching pad for research into craftsmanship in contemporary art, which was the central theme of his Master of Fine Art (MAFA) (Sculpture) thesis, for which he was awarded his degree in April 2017. Van der Walt is an associate lecturer in the Department of Visual Art at Nelson Mandela University, gallery manager and curator of the department’s Bird Street Gallery. He has furthered his professional practice and visual art portfolio through persistence in developing his professional art career, nationally and internationally, specifically distinguishing himself through a focus on traditional art practices combined with 3D technologies. Van der Walt participated in the Luciano Benetton Foundation Small Canvas Project, exhibiting in Venice, Rome and New York as part of the South Africa collection, as well as exhibiting in the ‘Through Our Eyes’ exchange at the Ritz Theatre and Museum in Jacksonville, Florida, USA.