Video Craft at Museum of Craft & Design

Video art usually gets framed as immaterial — light, signal, screen, code. Craft gets framed as the opposite — clay, thread, glass, touch. “Video Craft” at San Francisco’s Museum of Craft and Design is built to mess with that split. The show argues that moving-image media and handmade media were never as far apart as they look, and right now that feels like the whole point. It’s on view at MCD from February 28 through August 16, 2026, with the museum open Thursday through Sunday, noon to 5 p.m., plus free admission on the first Thursday of each month. (sfmcd.org) ### What is this show actually doing? Basically, it takes video seriously as a material practice. Not just something you watch, but something built through texture, repetition, pattern, timing, and physical process. MCD’s curators, Sarah Mills and Ariel Zaccheo, organize the exhibition around encoding, looping, and sampling — terms that belong to media art, but also map surprisingly wel(sfmcd.org)ions. (sfmcd.org) ### Why pair craft with video? Because the old split is kind of artificial. A woven textile is a system of pattern and instruction. Film is a strip of material carrying images through time. Glass can bend and project light. Ceramics can hold traces of process the way edited footage holds cuts and seams. The show’s argument is that artists have been working across these overlaps for a lo(sfmcd.org)bins. (sfmcd.org) ### Who’s in it? Nearly 20 artists, spanning early video pioneers and younger artists who grew up fully inside digital culture. The lineup includes Beryl Korot, Sabrina Gschwandtner, Senga Nengudi, Sarah Rosalena, Jennifer West, Jodie Mack, Richard Vijgen, Kate Nartker, and others. That mix matters — the exhibition isn’t just saying “look, screens can imitate craft.” It’s showing multip(sfmcd.org), pattern, memory, and embodiment. (sfmcd.org) ### What kind of work should you expect? Not one style. More like a family resemblance. Some pieces lean into textile logic — grids, weaving, repeated structure. Some use film or projection as a tactile object rather than a neutral delivery system. Some slow images down until they feel almost touchable. The catch is that this is less a blockbuster of single iconic works and more a tight(sfmcd.org)s real work. (sfmcd.org) ### Is there a standout example of the idea? Beryl Korot is probably the clearest anchor. Her work has long connected video structure with weaving logic, which makes her a natural fit here. Sabrina Gschwandtner is another strong example — she works with discarded 16mm filmstrips in quilt-like compositions, which is exactly the kind of bridge this show wants you to see. Once that clicks, the whole exhibition gets easier to read. (sfartweek.com) ### What should a visitor know before going? MCD is in Dogpatch at 2569 Third Street. General admission is $10, with discounts for students and seniors, and free entry for kids 12 and under, members, and several other groups. Free First Thursdays are the easiest low-stakes way to catch the show. Tickets can be bought at the door or reserved ahead, but advance booking is only encouraged, not required. (sfmcd.org) ### Why does this matter beyond one museum show? Because a lot of contemporary art talk still treats digital media as frictionless and craft as stubbornly physical. “Video Craft” says that’s the wrong map. Screens have always had material histories, and craft has always had systems, codes, and technologies inside it. In a moment when so much culture feels flattened into feeds, that’s a pretty useful correction. (sfmcd.org) ### Bottom line If you want a clean survey of contemporary video art, this isn’t quite that. It’s better as an argument — one that makes the screen feel handmade, and the handmade feel newly alive.