The Beauty of Everyday Things (Penguin Modern Classics)

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They are utilitarian, practical, following certain laws of making yet not being too much of an artist-work. The cure for consumerism is not to be less concerned about our material things, but more concerned – choosing everyday objects that we value.

Muji(no ground) gave rise to unglazed ceramics left unadorned with deliberately rough textures and subtle imperfections, seeking to embody virtues of humility and simplicity whilst also pointing to the Transcendent.

After all, there is no greater opportunity for appreciating beauty than through its use in our daily lives, no greater opportunity for coming into direct contact with the beautiful. Guitarist Steve Cooney, drummer Robbie Harris, bassist Jon O’Connell and fiddler Adam Shapiro also appear on the track, which they produced at Windmill Lane studios.

Add to this the fact that there are no restrictions on mechanisation, which leads to rampant production of an even lower quality. There’s a whole chapter extolling the virtues of the monk and sculptor Mokujiki, but no pictures of his art to demonstrate what Yanagi is on about. Too often I see examples of modern makers taking traditional designs off in directions that lose the essence of what made the design good. They should be natural and simple, sturdy and safe – the aesthetic result of wholeheartedly fulfilling utilitarian needs. Yanagi mentions that he dreams of one day creating a museum in the West that is based on Japanese aesthetic principles, yet I wonder if a more sympathetic audience compromised of adherents to the “Middle Way” might be more appropriate, given a shared belief in the Eternal seeking to appreciate its manifest Signs in this life and existence.I think his chapter on why when witnessing an art thing the first time, the process of seeing (intuition) is superior to knowing (intellectual rating of the work); the latter is just extra. There exists a view of intellection, incorporating direct intuitive perception of higher truths, linking beauty to objective reality and moral discrimination. In practice, the arts would make best use of natural materials from their immediate environment, “seek, in addition to having aesthetic value, to be functional and useful objects to fulfill genuine needs,” and be robust enough to survive repeated use over many years.

The results of intuition can be studied by the intellect, but the intellect cannot give birth to intuition. Soetsu Yanagi (1889 – 1961) was a philosopher and art historian who came to specialise in the folk crafts of his native Japan.

But it is now, in our age of feeble, quick and cheaply made things, that we see a growing longing for high quality objects, made with care. The first couple of essays define folk craft and why it matters, and then it goes on to explore a range of examples, such as traditional fabrics, pottery and woodblock prints. Furthermore, the working conditions in factories are oppressive, and workers find their work to be meaningless. These are themes that were explored in The New Materialism project, or in practical detail in Tara Button’s book A Life Less Throwaway. This decline in quality is the result of the excesses of the profit motive, organisational distortions, technical limitations, and much more.