Art Knives?

danbot

danbot

Joined
Oct 31, 2009
Messages
11,704
Love 'em? Hate 'em?... Meh?
If you had the money, would you consider buying a knife that wasn't really good for anything but looking absolutely beautiful? Or are they better left to the museum?

What's your opinion? Personally, if I could justify it, I probably would buy one. Although I would prefer one that was also somewhat functional, if not practical.

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These look interesting as show pieces except for the ones in the second picture, which I don't view as art knives - they are extremely lethal and I believe are banned in many places.
 
sharp_edge said:
These look interesting as show pieces except for the ones in the second picture, which I don't view as art knives - they are extremely lethal and I believe are banned in many places.
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Interesting. I thought they looked kinda "modern" artsy.
 
My opinion, and is just that, is I don't care for them. I understand why they exist and that some people get a lot of joy out of them. However, I have no interest in them because to me, knives are tools meant to be used. That doesn't mean they can't look nice, but appearance is not my top priority in selecting knives.

If I had the type of money to spend on an expensive art knife, I'd rather see that money do good in the world, donate it or something. But in the end, whatever makes you happy. It's your money to spend as you will. To each his own.
 
Art itself is pretty much an expression of human creativity and imagination that is appreciated by others.

Isn't that pretty much the crux of our interactions here? Lots of pieces can already be considered art, and knifemaking and designing is an "art".

An art knife to me would have to be functional first and foremost, as therein lies the art in my book... I consider things like material selection, successful heat treating, and form-for-function as important elements to the art... even over the aesthetics.
 
There's nothing wrong with getting creative. If I had the money/opportunity to own some of the beautiful pieces of work I've seen over the years you can bet I'd have some hung up around the house.

I remember a little while back where a member here had some pictures up of this dragon axe he created and it fu**king gorgeous. I wouldn't feel bad for single second owning something to that degree.

That said I like how all knives are basically art. It's functional art, which I love. I just don't have the funds to buy the really crazy stuff, haha.
 
No.

If it isn't capable of practical use (tool/weapon) it's useless in my opinion.

Even this extremely "full dress" DDR brought an evil grin to my Kali instructor. I would probably carry it if it wasn't tip down.

 
I like art knives, but ONLY if the knife itself is already mechanically perfected. The art needs to be an extension to the engineering, not a supplement.

I would never own a cheap knife that has some beautiful abalone scales. In my view, the knife has to be mechanically perfect in order to deserve nice scales.

I would buy something like a Scott Sawby knife though. From what I know, the knife has excellent tolerances, action, locking, and some people can't even figure out how it was put together. The mechanical precision shows when the blade is open, it looks like a fixed blade almost.
 
Charlie Mike said:
No.

If it isn't capable of practical use (tool/weapon) it's useless in my opinion.

Even this extremely "full dress" DDR brought an evil grin to my Kali instructor. I would probably carry it if it wasn't tip down.

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I guess for me, its the detail of the carving and sculpting of nice materials that really appeals to me. But I still want the blade to be made from quality heat treated steel, even if its not all that functional. (strictly speaking of "art" knives).
 
The third one looks like an actual usable functional blade.

For me, a I don't mind functional knives that are artistically embellished, but purely artistic pieces made to mimic a knife, but are nonfunctional, are useless crap. Every custom and semi-custom knife is a work of art into itself.
 
I don't think I could ever buy a non-functional knife but there are some knives that I have seen that I think are just breathtaking pieces of art. If I had great function and breathtaking art all together -- hell yeah I'd buy it.
 
The classic useful simplicity of a good old patina'd traditional is art in itself.
I'd rather go to a museum full of this than I would paintings or highly embellished knives with little function.
Not that they can't look nice, but you don't have to try to make a knife beautiful to make a knife that's beautiful.

Just my 2¢
 
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