ABSTRACT
The particular human-material relationship of making things is characterised by skill. Evaluating skill is considered as a highly subjective assessment, weighted by the supposed quality of an object, and a topic all too easily claimed by cultural relativism. Skill is generally accepted to be a type of knowledge but of a distinct kind. Changing the perspective to craft and skill, the emphasis of the analysis is redirected towards understanding material qualities. A skilful practitioner will bring out the qualities of a material, whereas the unskilled one might not even recognise them. Consequently, they respond differently towards the material and their resulting objects differ in quality. Craftspeople and their skills are fundamentally dependent on a sensory reading of their material and every move they make to turn their idea into practice has to happen in response to the material. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.
