The Beauty of Everyday Things (Penguin Modern Classics)

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Really calm, meditative read. Whilst reading It has got me looking at object/art in a more appreciative perspective, sitting for a second and enjoying it in silence, which is really refreshing. James A Reilly, A Small Town in Syria: Ottoman Hama in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries [ ⮐]

Insufferable attitude towards himself. Great resource for handicrafts in Japanese history and how to appreciate objects created for utility. I don’t enjoy being a hater, esp. to someone who is clearly an expert in his field, but he’s dead so I’m not hurtin’ any feelings. Literally, sabi commonly means "loneliness" but as a Buddhist term it originally referred to the cessation of attachment.Long revered as the authority on craftsmanship and Japanese aesthetics, Yanagi devoted his life and writing to defend the value of craft. In an age of feeble and ugly machine-made things, this now-classic book is a call for each of us to deepen our relationship with the objects that surround us. Inspired by the work of the simple artisans Yanagi encountered on his lifelong travels through Japan and Korea, it is a heartfelt defence of modest, honest, handcrafted objects, from traditional teacups to jars to paper. Objects that exemplify the beauty of everyday things. One's assessment of an object must be free and unhampered, with nothing between you and the object. You must look directly at it. To decide that a particular piece must be valuable because it has a particular [artist's signature] seal is weak and demeaning. Your assessment only gains meaning when you look at the object directly, free and unfettered.”

If our possessions are timeless in their design, we will feel no great need to upgrade them. If they are durable, we will keep them for longer. If we like them and enjoy using them, we’ll take better care of them. The cure for consumerism is not to be less concerned about our material things, but more concerned – choosing everyday objects that we value. His letter to the suffering Korean people (in the time period when Japan occupied Korea) was very moving and made me think of some political corners of this world today…. It's included no doubt because of his expression of admiration for Korean folk craft is included. The book is critical towards the western obsession of perfection as the only promise of beauty. In fact, and if you’re familiar with Japanese arts and culture there is an emphasis on the imperfect being superior. Y (More infos: In Praise of Shadows, Junchiro Tanizaki 1933); Soetsu Yanagi was a philosopher, art historian, poet and aesthete lived in Japan between 1889 and 1961. He is also the founding father of the mingei movement in Japan in the late 1920s and 1930s. Mingei literary means “crafts of the people”. Yanagi finds beauty in the ordinary objects of everyday use. An object or art will be considered mingei if it meets these criteria: My favourite bits of his essays were when the author elaborated in the meaning of beauty and how it is manifested in Japanese folk craft. But this is his very personal opinion and doesn't reflect the general understanding of aesthetics in Japan - as he himself points that out!

The daily lives of ordinary people are replete with objects, common things used in commonplace settings. These objects are our constant companions in life. As such, writes Soetsu Yanagi, they should be made with care and built to last, treated with respect and even affection. They should be natural and simple, sturdy and safe – the aesthetic result of wholeheartedly fulfilling utilitarian needs. They should, in short, be things of beauty. PDF / EPUB File Name: The_Beauty_of_everyday_things_-_Soetsu_Yanagi.pdf, The_Beauty_of_everyday_things_-_Soetsu_Yanagi.epub There's nothing wrong with valuing the crafts of the commoner and taking pride in national or even regional goods and arts. In fact, I even encourage such pride and appreciation of common goods and handicrafts.

Radical and inspiring ... Yanagi's vision puts the connection between heart and hand before the transient and commercial" - Edmund de Waal Our lives are filled with objects. Everyday things used in everyday settings, they are our constant companions. As such, writes Soetsu Yanagi, they should be made with care and built to last, treated with respect and even affection. They should be natural and simple, sturdy and safe—an aesthetic fulfillment of our practical needs. They should, in short, be things of beauty. A close contemplation is crucial, as beauty can be found in minor details. Intelligent design or hidden technical ingenuity that astonishes and we marvel at. We can discover the enduring appeal of simplicity and function. The true meaning of the tea ceremony is being forgotten. The beauty of the way of tea should be the beauty of the ordinary, the beauty of honest poverty. The Japanese philosopher and aesthete’s definitive, hugely influential exposition of his philosophy of folkcrafts, setting out the hallmarks of Japanese design as we know it today: anonymity, quality, simplicity and honesty—and, of course, wabi-sabi, the beauty of imperfectionThis book is much, much more niche than the cover blurb sets it up to be - not so much "a heartfelt call for us to deepen our relationship with the objects that surround us" as a selection of nostalgia-tinged, thematically-linked essays on Japanese arts and crafts. It's more a precursor to Alex Kerr's Lost Japan than it is a book about the nature of art and beauty. Yanagi's everyday things are things that are produced in Japan's provinces, anonymous works that are mass-produced, but not in factories, often plain and simple even in its designs: pottery, paintings, clothes, statues...objects that are meant to last, yet treated with some respect and affection. They are utilitarian, practical, following certain laws of making yet not being too much of an artist-work. He found them at first in quite cheap prices, before other people caught on with it, and thus managed to gather a nice collection, some of which ended up in the museum I've mentioned. Yanagi was a philosopher, poet, art historian, essay writer for papers and such, besides being a collector and museum starter. Soetsu Yanagi (1889 – 1961) was a philosopher and art historian who came to specialise in the folk crafts of his native Japan. The Beauty of Everyday Things collects several of his essays into one volume celebrating the simplicity and anonymous artistry of Japanese handicrafts.