Modeling: Craft vs. Art

Modelers debate whether modeling is a craft or art.  Some say that modeling requires skill but is not an art but a craft, while others say that modeling surpasses craftsmanship and is art.  Art is “the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects” (Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary).  Art, then, is a process that combines skill (which can be defined as refined technique) with creative imagination to produce an aesthetic object. Being creative is “having the quality of something created rather than imitated.”  Some modelers are content with copying objects while others take an object to another level to produce something that is both accurate and true to the object but also adds qualities to the object that make it aesthetically pleasing.  

As a figure modeler, I believe the essence of Anime/Fantasy figure modeling is to breathe life into in inanimate object (the cast resin, vinyl, or plastic figure) that has as its sole reference point the character and personality of a humanoid of some kind.  Breathing life into the object is more than an accumulation of technique.  It is an activity of creativity.  We start with a figure in which a sculptor has infused personality and character, often in some kind of pose that depicts action and intent.  Starting from this base, the model builder expands what has been provided and further builds the personality and characteristics of the figure. Depiction of personality in the painting of a figure requires the skillful application of subtle shading and highlighting to capture and, to a degree, exaggerate the characteristics, mood, personality, and intent of the figure sculpted by the sculptor.  Breathing life into a character requires the modeler to render emotions on the face of the figure that are consistent with the pose.  The distinction between art and accuracy is important when developing the character of the fantasy/anime figurine because it places into the hands of the modeler the task of taking a figurine and skillfully creating an aesthetic object where “aesthetic” refers to relating to the beautiful.  A shift occurs between skill and art, for some, in that the vision and emotional intent of the modeler is communicated between the viewer and the modeler in the form of something that is emotionally pleasing.  

Whether the piece is an Anime figure or a grotesque monster is not relevant.  What is relevant, and what turns the piece from skillful representation, into a piece of art is the emotional exchange that occurs between viewer and modeler through the modeled piece.  To this extent, modeling can be both skillful reproduction and art depending on what the modeler creates.  What do you all think:  Is modeling a skillful reproduction or is it art?