Art Evolution: ART to CRAFT (Article in Progress)

Art Evolution 

ART to CRAFT

Dr Abe V Rotor

1. Art Evolution 

Calabash Lantern

Miracle Fruit (Crescentia cujete), Family Bignoniaceae 

Calabash globes: lantern, savings bank, crystal ball.  Crafted by the author 2025

Dichotomous is art today,

   in schools and movements,

   aesthetics and utility, 

   indigenous and foreign,

   fantasy and reality,

   conventional and abstract.

Art and craft, if I may say.

 

Calabash shell is the hard rind of  Miracle Fruit (Crescentia cujete), Family Bignoniaceae. Although botanically distinct, the Calabash fruit has common features and uses with Bottle Gourd, Lagenaria siceraria, Family Cucurbitaceae, an annual climbing plant known as  upo in Pilipino and tabungaw in Ilocano.

As old as in biblical times, or earlier, 

crafts made from this fruit were sacred,

grains vessel, jug for wine and water, 

link of man's faith with his Creator.  

 

The biblical meaning of the calabash encompasses its symbolism as a vessel, metaphorical representation of growth and flexibility, expression of abundance and blessings, and its significance in rituals and offerings. (The Biblical Significance of the Calabash: Unveiling Its Spiritual Symbolism, (Home and Nature, Internet)

3. Art Evolution

Two Faces of our Planet Earth Chandelier

The Pristine Face of our Planet Earth in acrylic

on wood scrap by the author 2020

Imagine this scene before the Fall,

   nature in unity and harmony;

Or is it an aftermath of man's exile,

   redeeming the Lost Eden's beauty?

 The Defiled Face of our Planet Earth in acrylic

on wood scrap by the author 2020

Light in the air, swaying with the wind;

     heavy in the air dull, still;

Pristine, natural in the absence of man, 

     defiled, dead, can't humans feel?

4. Art Evolution 

Nature's Trophy 

"The object of art is to give life a shape.” - Aristotle

Driftwood, foothold of  shells, against a mural background, 

crafted by AV Rotor 2024

Hail! But Nature's trophy is not victory,

not grandstanding and glory.

For Nature's distress call is a sad story,

to stop man's greed and folly.

 

 

Driftwood, foothold of  shells in two views, AVR

  

Closeup of shells attached to the driftwood; 

glass replica of pearls in oysters AVR 

Pearl! How beautiful a pearl could be! 

but its kind today in the laboratory

holds no longer the secret of the sea. 

5. Art Evolution

Driftwood into Flower Vase

Main face of the driftwood vase

I am a remnant of a felled tree in a forest long ago,

     drifting down the river to the sea;

braving the elements and patient with time, too;

     free but knowing not my destiny. 

For how long I drifted far and wide I do not know,

     my world was aimless and carefree

among creatures I met, that would come and go. 

     but to whom can I tell this long story?

Until the tides took me one day into another view,

     to where trees stood happy once like me,

where people brought back old memories anew;

     but I am now but a waste of the sea. 

Until a curious lass took me for something new,

     something for the arts, not for money;

but some kind of beauty in my ugliness to show

     Nature's hidden artistic quality. ~

Views of the driftwood vase in perspective variations. ~

"The artist sees what others only catch a glimpse of.” - Leonardo da Vinci.

 6. Art Evolution 

Geological Specimens and Art