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Posted by trahern on April 15, 2007, 1:26 pm
Please log in for more thread options > Hello all,
>
> This is from the woodturning group, but I feel it's appropriate to
> blacksmiting as well.
>
>
> >Hi Kevin,
> >One peculiar thing I have learned since I started selling my work is
> >that people seem intriqued by the "mistakes" or unexpected attributes
> >that arrise when making a turned object.
>
> >Since I have sold several pieces I considered junk because of
> >imperpfections I either made or were inherent in the wood, I came to
> >accept this as one of the unique features of that particular bowl and
> >now never exclude one for availability.
>
> >One thing that is often hard to avoid is heat cracks in the wall if
> >you get the surface too hot, but people love this feature in a bowl.
>
> Quite a while ago, I recall a person (and I cannot remember whom)
> saying to me (paraphrased):
>
> "It won't be long before everything is produced with such precision,
> and made from things that have little direct connection with natural
> materials, that people will long for the moments when they can leave
> the office and just touch something made of wood."
>
> That has stuck with me over the years, and I think it really rings
> true. Beyond the concept of wood as a material (wood was just a handy
> metaphor, of course), I would imagine (and I know it is true for
> myself, at least) that people either conciously or subconciously are
> beginning to reach that state. There is a lot of value in modern
> production methods, and it is amazing what things can be made, and
> made availible to the general public. But our stunning degree of
> wealth in terms of manufactured goods comes with a human cost as well.
>
> While I have a computer in front of me that contains billions of
> microscopic transistors working in unison, I no longer see that as
> unusual. Despite the amazing degree of sophistication in the
> technology, and the sheer amount of raw genius that went into creating
> it, it is so cheaply availible and commonplace, that the wonder of a
> this thing that is unrivaled in human history is greatly diminished.
> It was made by machines which can do no other thing, rarely make
> mistakes, and have no inherant obsticles to overcome- machines
> operated by individuals who most likely could not explain even a
> fraction of the functions of that machine is actually performing.
> There is nothing there to hold in awe, save the minds that initially
> concieved and implemented them, and it is hard to capture that elusive
> image and pause to give thanks for the giants who made a thing
> possible.
>
> On the other hand, a flawed object created by the hand of a living
> human being says something enitrely different. It is the flaw itself
> that directs the mind of the observer to wonder and disbelief. The
> flaw reveals to us that the object is *not* the product of a
> dispassionate automation which is capable of mindless repetition, but
> rather an object which has been worked by a person who has had to
> overcome many obsticles and endure many failures to learn how to bend
> a material to their will. When they made the thing, they cared. Even
> on a bad day, a craftsman or artisan does not try to produce shoddy
> work- and even on a good day, a person who has no abilities or
> interest in those areas cannot replicate even the meanest of items
> made by those who have taken the time to learn what is needed to
> create a thing.
>
> It is that knowledge, whether it is stated explicitly or buried deep
> in the psyche, that breeds a general fascination with flawed works. A
> flawed work has a soul, and contains in every curve and plane a
> reflection of the dedication and work of the person who created it.
> It is the union of all those things which make us human crystalized,
> and reconnects us to the hundreds of thousands of years in which our
> species has struggled with mind, heart, and hands to bring us to our
> present level of wealth and leisure. The flaw is history set in
> material form- displaying a snapshot of the temporary limitations of,
> and even more importantly, the promise of an ever-changing evolving
> mind.
>
> That's why your observation is not all that peculiar, at least in my
> mind.
Well I have found that when I am doing pieces for the general public
that they like hammer marks and slight irregularities as well. I can
take a flatter and iron out all the dings but most often I find myself
breaking the corners off of bar stock because that appeals to the
customer more than a piece that looks like it was made in a machine
shop.
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