On Beauty

Soetsu Yanagi from The Beauty of Everyday Things

Utilitarian craftwares become more beautiful the more they are used, and the more beautiful they become , the more they are used.

Today, when everything is trending towards the frail and sickly, the beauty we see in these common objects is both a blessing and a joy.

There has rarely been a well-made craft object that was not simple. There are fewer that are complex. True beauty is not possible devoid of simplicity.

Just as construction workers who have built a wonderful highway don’t sign their work, neither do artisans append their names to their ware. From beginning to end, without exception, such handicrafts are made by nameless craftsmen. It is this lack of desire for personal recognition that produces their flawless beauty.

Soetsu Yanagi from The Unknown Craftsman

On reflection, one must conclude that in bringing cheap and useful goods to the average household, industrialism has been of service to mankind - but at the cost of the heart, of warmth, friendliness and beauty.

By contrast, articles well made by hand, though expensive, can be enjoyed in homes for generations, and, this considered, they are not expensive after all.

Man prefers the creative and the free to the fixed and standardized.

Young people nowadays judge according to whether a thing is new or old, but more important is whether it is true or false.

When the power to see does not accompany the power to know - when the power to see is blunted - art historians, critics, and collectors all fall into the same kind of confusion.