Abstract

It is common for disciplines to be placed in spaces dedicated to convergence and dialogue, in which the disappearance of boundaries leads to areas characterised by approximation and fusion, capable of hosting the breeding ground required for experimentation and for approaching solutions with a high creative and poetic value. We are speaking of what has come to be known as interdisciplinarity (or its many variants such as transdisciplinarity, multidisciplinarity, etc.), a natural phenomenon in contemporary artistic creation, in the search for a new discourse based on the convergence of research into “art, science, technology, and conscience.” Nevertheless, this contagion seems to have embraced, to a lesser extent, the so-called “lower” art forms. We are referring specifically to the knowledge, techniques, and technologies surrounding what we call crafts. If we look closely at the joint history of art and crafts, we will witness an evolutionary process of encounters and clashes that enables us to trace the journey that these two have taken together through history. “Glocalisation” (as the cause) and transcultural “hybridization” (as the effect) are distinctive features of modern international art. To defend and argue this theory, we will focus on projects by nine contemporary artists selected for their use of different local Granada craft techniques to create their works: Valeriano López (Huéscar, Granada, 1963), Asunción Lozano (Granada, 1967), David Escalona (Málaga, 1981), Paco Montañés (Alcalá la Real, Jaén, 1980), José F. Freixanes (Pontevedra, 1953), Elvira Correa (Granada, 1968), Marisa Mancilla (Granada, 1972), Carlos Miranda (Málaga, 1971) and Ángel Sanz (Madrid, 1960).