As I was driving home today, I enjoyed a delightful morsel on NPR’s All Things Considered about the The Enlightening Bridge Between Art and Work by Alain De Botton (it’s better listened to than read, imo).
Here’s an excerpt of the spot that I found particularly poignant:
Two centuries ago, our forebears would have known the precise history and source of almost every one of the limited number of things they ate and owned. They would have been familiar with the pig, the carpenter, the weaver, the loom and the dairymaid. The range of items available for purchase may have grown exponentially since then, but our understanding of their genesis has grown ever more obscure. We are now as imaginatively disconnected from the production and distribution of our goods as we are practically in reach of them, a process of alienation which has stripped us of opportunities for wonder, gratitude and guilt.
That last sentence, I think, resonates strongly with my personal motivation as a Maker. I dive deeply into the supply chain, learning the processes and understanding the people behind our Things, because it enables me to once again feel the wonder, gratitude, and guilt for the Things we otherwise take for granted. Wonder at the skill of craftsmen and the cleverness of designers; gratitude for the passion and hard work of my peers; and guilt for the sacrifice, waste, and unsustainable practices motivated by an obscure system of perverse economic incentives.
Beautifully put.
[…] of opportunites for wonder, gratitude and guilt Bunnie Huang quotes a bit from an All Things Considered airing of some of Alain De Botton’s The Enlightening Bridge Between Art and Work: “Two […]
It is beautiful, however how many of us can make the englightenment of Art and Work together with perfect harmony? It is a nice thought anyway.
A nice cuddly thought, but based, I think, on the nice cuddly (and incorrect) view of history where “two centuries” ago we lived in an arcadian paradise of locally sourced maker-consumers. In 1810 western Europe at least was busy importing and exporting everyday items, cloth, tools, food, etc locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.
Notch back another two centuries – yep – still happening – through medieval times – yep – still moving stuff through international markets.
Especially back in Roman Britain the movement of manufactured goods and foods was extensive: maybe before this you could say that everyone could see the connection between raw material and finished goods. Err, except for metal object, sourced from ores from mines. And imported luxury items. And some dye-stuffs. And . . .
In many ways this comes from a patronising view of our ancestors as “simple country folk” – they were never arcadian dullards and probably too busy with gossip, ambition, hunger or general impatience with life for “wonder, gratitude and guilt” when looking at their homespun trousers.
[…] Huang quotes a bit from an All Things Considered airing of some of Alain De Botton’s The Enlightening Bridge Between Art and […]
[…] Huang quotes a bit from an All Things Considered airing of some of Alain De Botton’s The Enlightening Bridge Between Art and Work: “Two […]
[…] couple of weeks ago, Bunnie Huang wrote this in response to a piece on NPR: Here’s [the part of the NPR story that] I found particularly poignant: Two centuries ago, our […]
Thanks very much for sharing.
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