Group---
Having watched a couple of weeks worth of stuff regarding the differences of opinions on framebuilding-- it occurs to me that I have witnessed the same types of problems in several other areas during my career in the building/arts world trying to assemble quality, exciting buildings. Some architects are much better than others. (Some are much better than I, which is difficult for me to imagine.) Some are "nuts and bolts" type creators who build solid and extremely boring buildings. Some are extremely creative and design delightful things-- and generally rely on others to put them together so they will meet building codes and remain standing. Some are essentially business people who hire the good designers to create their work. The personalities involved are generally as diverse as the work produced. I don't know of anybody who does it all well in this particular profession.
I would start with the presumption that framebuilding is essentially a craft. I have serious doubt that a ridable frame could be built without having a degree of craftsmanship involved. Assumedly, after a "normal" person builds several frames, their experience would improve the level of craftsmanship, and the product would improve.
The other side of the equation is art. The two are very separate, and yet, very much tied together.... sounds French, doesn't it? Some will take the craftsmanship and develop it into an art form. Some are very artistically oriented, and have to let the craft develop to meet their artistic levels. Every individual framebuilder will have separate degrees of artistic and crraftsmanship abilities, which will develop and be exhibited by where that particular individual is in their stage of development.
A good craftsman can build a lovely frame that may not have the "sparkle" or "life" as one created with a higher degree of the "artist's touch". A good artist who has little craftsmanship capabilities will not build bicycle frames (at least as we know and understand them :-). Since that art portion of the equation is an intangible entity and cannot be rationally defined, it can easily open a basket of worms and create discord because we each see the intangible with our own perception. Generally speaking, nobody is right, and nobody is wrong---- a difficult concept today.
The best example of the separation of the arts and crafts is in the world of leaded (stained) glass windows. One will see thousands of these at art fairs, etc. Most are examples of craftsmanship-- some much better than others, but purely an exercise in cutting and putting together pieces of glass with lead caming so it hangs together in a solid piece. Most of the stuff we see has little, if any, artistic value--- it is 90% an excercise in the craft of putting it together. The occasional artist who creates these windows will turn out something that even the layman will look at and say "Wow!". Sometimes it is a very subtle difference between the well executed craft and the work of art.
Sounds a lot like framebuilding?
>From the tone and content of several of the letters, we definitely have a few "artists" in the group. As a generalization, they tend to have a bit different (and perhaps difficult) personalities also--- not a bad trait, just different, and sometimes "they" require a little more sensitivity than we earthbound mortals prefer to grant and tolerate, even though we might not understand exactly what's going on.
I really appreciate and honor someone who is very good at what they do... be they a craftsperson or artist, or combination of both. I suspect and am glad that the whole gamut is represented on the list, and feel that there is a lot to be learned from interchanges such as this--- not just about framebuilding, but of the world in which we reside.
Cheers-
Nelson Miller -- Seattle