Earl Brunner on fri 28 apr 00
Well, it's been a few weeks since I wrote on this subject.
It relates
to the question of the significance of Bernard Leach, Shoji
Hamada, and whether or not their influence is valid or even
valuable. Discussion here
and in private posts lead me to "The Unknown Craftsman",
writngs by Soetsu Yanagi.(1889-1961)
First off, I only find the word mingei once in the book. I
do find his writings stimulating and interesting. For
example concerning hands vs. machines:
"No machine can compare with a man's hands. Machinery gives
speed, power, complete uniformity, and precision, but it
cannot give creativity, adaptability, freedom,
heterogeneity. These the machine is incapable of, hence the
superiority of the hand, which no amount of rationalism can
negate. Man prefers the creative and the free to the fixed
and
standardized."
Also:
"Beyond all question of old or new, the human hand is the
ever present
tool of human feeling, whereas the machine, however new, is
soon out of
date. Young people nowdays judge according to whether a
thing is new or
old, butmore important is whether it is true or false. If
true, whether
it is handmade or machine-made, it will always preserve its
newness"
--The Unknown Craftsman, pg 108 dated 1954
This reminded me of the keynote speaker (Dr. Frank Wilson)at
NCECA this
year. He talked about the key place our hands play in the
formation of
our intelligence. His book: "The Hand:how its use shapes the
brain,
language, and human culture"
--
Earl Brunner
http://coyote.accessnv.com/bruec
mailto:bruec@anv.net
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