First Decade Interview with Fred Baier (OH14)

Interviews

Crafts Council
Fred Baier

First Decade Interview with Fred Baier

27/08/2015

Two digital sound files of First Decade interview with Fred Baier, part one: 00:18:44, part two: 00:30:25

In this 2015 First Decade interview, innovative furniture and sculpture maker Fred Baier recalls his experiences as a new maker in the 70s. Influenced by his time working in industry as a barrel and wooden wheel maker, Baier discusses how his objects of the 70s were about ‘industrial imagery’ and ‘dying trades’ replaced by new technologies. He details how his furniture pieces have always been about ‘making statements’ rather than form following function, and his feelings that this was a more accepted practice in America during the period. Baier humorously describes his involvement with the Crafts Council, his exhibitions and commissions by Victor Margrie, experiences of receiving a bursary, and being on the Grants Committee. This interview also highlights how ‘craft’ became a ‘dirty word’, with Baier playfully talking about the makers attempts to disassociate themselves with the word following craft commercialisation.

OH14