The Unknown Craftsman

Whilst browsing the traditional arts section at Kinokuniya, I stumbled across a volume entitled The Unknown Craftsman: A Japanese Insight into Beauty. I browsed through the strange format (a large, almost "coffee table" size book) and immediately sought to find a copy at my local library branch (I sing the praises of the New York Public library for carrying such a great selection of work!). This book exceeded my expectations; it offers more than an insight into Japanese aesthetics, but a universal philosophy of nature, man and creation.



Yanagi Sōetsu (柳宗悦), philosopher and founder of the 日本民芸館 (Japan Folk Crafts Museum), is a man of beloved conviction, but does not argue as a heated debater. His book rather seeks to restore a natural order, to him which has been greatly corrupted by the rise of industrialism and the misplacement of nature. The book is filled with illustrated plates, the color ones being reserved for the objects Yanagi considers to be the triumphs of true beauty. Upon first glance at these plates, one will be underwhelmed and puzzled, failing to see what exactly is so special about such "ordinary" objects. Yanagi anticipates this as the Western response, and allows us to "see" the object with our eyes rather than our intellect, for there the beauty will make itself known to us.

To Yanagi, modern day craftsmen take a certain individual pride in their work, often placing their seal and signature on their pieces, to distinguish themselves as finely produced crafts. This is in stark contrast to the anonymous art produced before the schism of the "fine" art and the "folk", when craftsmen, Yanagi argues, were unconscious of their work as "art", and created objects just as they breathed the air, unaware of the specific beauty of the object, and aiming to create for purpose and use. This purpose of objecthood, which Yanagi explains includes form (physical use) and pattern (aesthetic use), is essential to beauty. To use and object is to love it; the two are intertwined, life and art become one. Therein the value lies, in the objects use, not in its historical importance, mere aesthetic, or signature of artist. The value is inherent, not written. Namelessness is akin to timelessness, where any man can find the object of use to himself if he should so desire. The nobility of anonymity, Yanagi states, is found in the traditions of the East, but also in the guild system of the Middle Ages of the West. Could there be no object from that era which was not considered a masterpiece? The hierarchy of art ceases to exist; it becomes redundant when beauty is so varied and natural, as if trying to say some trees are more beautiful and valuable than others. Each piece is a reflection unto itself of handmade nature and virtue, formed of love by use, where written names and calculated dates played no importance.

Authorship, perhaps the premier importance of the Modern era in art, has lead us to forgery, individualism, historicism and "the art market". Alexandra sent me a link to clip of Orson Welles, in a later work entitled F For Fake, a film centering around an art forger, concerning the value of art and its "authenticty" as we think of it today. Welles' character, struck by the undeniable power and beauty of Chartes cathedral, contemplates the essentials of what is beautiful, and the true value of "art":



In an age where so many works go "Untitled" yet clearly embellished with idiosyncratic signature, perhaps the most bold move of all the contemporary artist could make is to produce works "unsigned". To leave the name unknown shows a creator who knew more than any of those who try so hard to understand, only to abandon the corruption of conscious language by further acknowledging it, failing to return to the purity and simplicity of works made for life, use and humankind.