[Sigia-l] Re: Emotion and Design: initial summary

[Thomas.Donehower at nethod-euro.com]

>Several correspondents pointed out that woodworking tools are excellent
>examples, with Japanese ones being quite different from western ones.

Don,
I agree, "woodworking tools" are a great place to start. I believe an even
better place to start is with the woodworker himself. I'm thinking about my
father who makes his living building Windsor Chairs. If you think about it,
here is a craft that absolutely depends on the product being usable and
beautiful.

I would argue that his first goal is to create a "chair." That is the
"useable" portion of his final product. He takes "logs," these are not Home
Depot pre-sliced and diced boards, but wood in its rawest form, bark
covered logs that he hand-picks. He then starts by hand sawing and shaving
the logs down into actual chair parts. Now I would also argue that there is
something "beautiful" in the process that intrinsically ends up in the
final product, that might be something to think about.

However, during his process, he is not thinking about beauty, he is
thinking about strength and balance. He is thinking things like "How small
can I shave this spindle before it won't support the weight?" He is
thinking about forming a "chair" that has to look and act a certain way,
but he is also thinking about balance and symmetry, which quite possibly
might contribute to both "usability" and "beauty." But his primary goal is
to simply create a "Windsor Chair" that's what his customers have asked of
him. In his mind he knows the qualities that make wood a "chair" and a
"chair" a "Windsor Chair."

Inevitably though, once the form of the Windsor Chair is there and when
exactly this moment is, I can't tell you, but my guess is that it's not a
precise moment, but more of a feeling, he will start to think about things
like "What would it look like if I added an extra bead to the spindles?" Or
"that knot in the arm is unique, what can I do to enhance it?" Here he is
thinking about beauty, about what qualities this particular Windsor form
has that he can further bring out to make it, its own special piece.

I'm not sure how this next thought applies, but I thought I'd mention it to
you:
I once inquired to a lady on the street selling paintings how one could
sell sculpture on the streets of NY. I was told that an artist could sell
just about anything so long as it wasn't furniture. At first, I thought
that didn't seem right, but then I thought about it and it made a lot of
sense. I could see just about every hack out there trying to sell his old
TV or Lazy Boy. That's why the Mayor's office had to make the distinction
bwtn furniture and art. When I asked how they defined furniture, the lady
said "If you can sit on it, it's furniture. If you can't, it's art." Right
next to her was a guy selling what looked like iron benches, but he had
rendered them useless by gluing mirrors and glass on every "sittable" part.
By NY legal standards, he was selling "art" not "furniture."

Some ancient usable and beautiful things...
-The Pyramids
-Sarcophagus
-Viking Ships
-Grecian Urns

Best,

Thomas Donehower
Sr. Information Architect

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