Is there some point where we stand athwart history yelling stop? Or is it renaissance that’s necessary? Perhaps we have to wipe things out to recognize them for what they were, and represent, and then restore them to a place of honor in our lives if we decide they’re meaningful.
The restoration of handwork to everyday life serves both the person doing the work, and the customer. Walmart is useful, but it cannot feed the soul. Luddites want to dig ditches with spoons, but that’s not what I’m talking about. People need to see the evidence of humanity in their everyday objects. The persons that produce these everyday objects need to feel the humanity of the people that use their creations in return.
6 Responses
That one guy's quote is a keeper, if just for being universally true.
He said that he wanted his grave sign to say:
He died for greater opacity.
Even as late as the seventies, sign painting was a vagabond lifestyle, if somebody wanted that. Sort of like being a hobo, but with a job. You were an itinerant man, with the small "i."
That's my world! I started painting signs in high school and I've been totally on my own the past 40 years. No boss, no shop, no employees, no overhead… just me and my brushes. Also, some chisels and other useful tools… my phd… that's a post hole digger. I didn't throw in the towel after so many vinyl computer-cut machines were purchased. But that guy was absolutely correct… these things have been wielded by people who know absolutely nothing about graphic design. Here in Santa Fe, there is still an appreciation for the real deal. But we are in the midst of a Great Depression. It has returned, no doubt. I bid on jobs and never hear from that customer again until they've finally opened for business with a cheap vinyl sign flapping in the wind. Here's a little ad I put together for myself on the local craigslist. Hey buddy, can you spare a dime?
http://santafe.craigslist.org/sks/3632407842.html
Hi Casey- We're both that kind of hobo, too, you and I. But we stand still and the world moves around.
Hi Tom- That's first rate work in your advert. I especially like the postcard.
" People need to see the evidence of humanity in their everyday objects. The persons that produce these everyday objects need to feel the humanity of the people that use their creations in return."
ok that is the lightening i was trying to conjure with my lightening bug comments the other day about the Roentgen's Berlin Secretary. i've been thinking about that video and a few others like it on the web and finally figured out what bugs me so much about them. the furniture has exquisite wood working without a doubt. the gimmick however is the locksmithing. what makes them 'neat' isn't the wood but the springs, clasps and hinges. the other thing that bothered me so much is the whole point of a secret compartment is that it's secret. if the whole piece is nothing but secret compartments that is sort of a tip off.
on a unrelated note, google knows i've watched stuff you've put up as well as things i'm lead to from there and makes suggestions. may i suggest for your consideration something as wonderful as Roentgen's Berlin Secretary but honest simple and useable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3utt2Y5aH0
I see it all the time – the vinyl graphics guys hawking their "practical" wares to boaters who want something that will "last" versus the real sign painters, the one's who'll freehand your boat name onto the mahogany transom – or do it in gold leaf if you your wishes and wallet are in sync.
The gravestone tickled me. Mine's going to say, "She Varnished From Our Sight".
He died for greater intensity. Mine, you see.