Making is Connecting 2nd edition (2018) by David Gauntlett

Reading two books were extraordinary turning points for me in my path towards PhD study:  The first was the IB Tauris 2010 reissue of Rozsika Parker’s The Subversive Stitch and the second was David Gauntlett’s Making is Connecting (2011).  I have plans for a future blog post on the significance of Parker’s book, but with the publication of the second edition (2018) of Making is Connecting, I wanted to take time to reflect on it.

In the spirit of transparency, I should clarify that I pre-ordered my own copy of the new edition, but that David Gauntlett also kindly arranged for Polity to send me complimentary copies after we met at a conference. These copies will be happily passed on as a ‘giveaway’ over at @Knitrospective on Instagram to coincide with this post (24^th-30^th August, 2018).

The concept of ‘making is connecting’ made complete sense to me when I first read it.  I had just begun to form the ideas which would become my PhD:  How making by hand in knit, crochet or needlework supported self-reflection, space for meditative thought and, in sharing such making on digital platforms, provided a social connection as authentic to me as those in the physical sphere.  What Gauntlett had to say about making meaning, making marks in the place one is situated, and – echoing Peter Korn – the ways that making can be transformative resonated with my experience.  Moreover,  the use of digital platforms (my research has focused on Facebook groups) to share, learn, gain inspiration and inspire in turn was a refreshing perspective compared to some descriptions of the web as an inevitably negative space.

Key Ideas

The second edition of Making is Connecting clearly flags up where completely new material may be found (primarily Chapters 7-9) and also that revisions and additions have been made throughout the original text.   The central concepts remain as valid as in the first edition, although there is a clear acknowledgement of the problematic ways that social media platforms have developed in the intervening years with concerns over data harvesting and surveillance.

The text provides a helpful overview of the history of ‘craft’ from Ruskin to Greenhalgh, reflecting on the continuing importance of DIY culture, punk-inspired lo-fi, and more recent readings on maker movements as well as the place of creativity in the everyday.  In addition to making physical objects by hand, Gauntlett also explores digital spaces such as You Tube where user-generated-content (originally, perhaps) is not (as) implicated in the dominant behemoths of social media platforms.  The examples of making and coding which emerged from the development of Web 2.0, alongside the context of academic thinking about media and sociology are still as helpful as in the first edition and provide a useful starting point for those interested in researching this area.

Making – for joy, to act as part of a tradition, or to experiment – provides an opportunity for togetherness, where the act of making something (not the product itself, as so many other writers on the handmade posit) is part of being in the world.  This interpretation of making and connecting is vital for society, feeding both the individual and the community. Gauntlett offers a clear argument about making as contributing to social capital or ‘happiness’ and that experiencing this in the online world can be as powerful as the offline.  Whilst the sections of text which deal with these ideas are lightly revised versions of the first edition, the debate remains as central now as it was then and has clear links with recent publications like Papacharissi’s edited Networked Self series

New Material

Much of the fresh material in this second edition focuses on the gaps between popular practices on sharing making on digital platforms and Berners-Lee’s vision of free interconnection through Web 2.0. Gauntlett highlights the implications of free labour as not a bug but a feature of undemocratic, problematic social media platforms and the resultant impact on areas like the creative industries.  He highlights concerns about the harvesting of personal data which individuals willingly or unwillingly trade for digital connection and suggests that there may be ‘better’ platforms such as blogging and podcasting which makers may use with more autonomy. 

In particular, it is the independent music industry which is the focus of a different kind of materiality and making in this edition.  Gauntlett explores how music production has been democratised through digital tools, with all forms of creativity from composition to label management and marketing offering greater freedom (and labour) than previously. This is balanced by examples of ways that forms of social media can intertwine with the physical, such as folk artist Sam Lee independently producing a traditional music album packed with digital field recordings, partially funded by online crowd-sourcing bids for a songbird walk in rural Sussex.

Gauntlett reminds us that social media platforms still have the potential to be an open space for creativity.  Members of communities involved in different modes of making move along a continuum of the digital and the physical, using their passion to contribute to a tradition, challenge its perceptions and disrupt its gatekeepers though adapting the affordances of digital platforms.  This has been recently demonstrated by knitwear designer Jeanette Sloan as she encouraged makers to find, follow and support black yarn designers through the hashtags #blackpeopledoknit #diversknitty and #blackgirlscrochet amongst others to highlight the need for recognition, diversity and equality on Instagram and in the wider knitting community.

This second edition reminds us that responding to the invitation to make – whether in physical or digital space – can support one’s creative identity and grow a community. Connecting with a creative community passionate about making is an opportunity to be heard and participate in a place where one can be kind or experience kindness.  The most significant message for me is that, unlike Sennett - who writes about eliminating consciousness of the body in order to focus on crafting a product, Gauntlett celebrates what mind and body can do in the creative process and that through making the self is not lost but found.

“Making stuff is powerful. Making stuff gives you agency. Making stuff transforms. Making stuff makes something out of nothing. Go make stuff”   

This Thing of Paper, Karie Westermann (2017) 

More?

Current thinking from David Gauntlett can be found on his website, which includes background to the modules he is teaching at Ryerson as Canada Chair, Professor of Creative Innovation and Leadership and earlier blog posts and articles on making and the digital.  The website also has material ‘deleted’ from Making is Connecting, but which some may find interesting, alongside a free copy of the introduction for those who would like to sample the text or an overview video.