What are the similarities of art and craft?

While the concept of art has greatly changed over time, I feel like it is acceptable to say that a craftwork is an object defined by the technique used to create it, while an artwork is defined by its content.

To say that art exists only as decoration or “to be seen”, is ludicrous. It’s like saying that carrots exist to be eaten. Art does not need to be decorative, nor, under particular circumstances, to be actually exposed. In some cases, the “notion” of art alone is sufficient for an artwork to exist.

Take as a famous example Duchamp’s Fountain, which was neither decorative, nor exquisitely crafted, nor, as a matter of fact, ever shown to the public. It was lost just a few days after it was presented (and rejected). Fountain became a case study because it highlights to the extreme how art can somehow part with craftsmanship, originality of form, and even its physical body, and yet exists through its content, or statement.

Which leads to another though: craft only exists as long as its identifying material or technique exists, while art has proven to outlive its medium.

To establish the separation between craft ( the skilful technique) and art (the creation of content), is particularly useful when studying early civilizations and primitive cultures as it allows to set apart cultural artefacts from early artistic expressions. The technique - the craftsmanship - of archeological artefacts is a proof of the technological advancement of the culture. On the other hand, the decorations and motifs that often decorates them, can be seen as early examples of representation of reality and abstract thoughts.

To conclude and possibly answer the question - what are the similarities between art and craft - I would argue that the only possible connection, is that both art and craft are demonstrations of human’s unique ability to create, whether it is an object or a proposition.