on making

I am convinced by the need to make, or more specifically, the need to be involved in a making. The 'zone' - that place of being completely inside of the doing - well, all I know is it feels unquestionably right to be there. And as long as it's your body doing the work, all sorts of making fall under this umbrella.

some quotes :

" craft's slow tempo - that taking time to do something well - is "profoundly stabilizing" to people. "When people are forced to do things quickly," without time for reflection and learning, life "becomes a type of triage." "


" joie de faire ... the sheer enjoyment of making something exist that did not exist before, of using one's own agency, dexterity, feelings, and judgment to mold, form, touch, hold and craft physical materials."


"...modern life makes us choose between solutions and craftsmanship, and we generally pick solutions. We pick speed, low cost and convenience; and as a result, something deep within us, a timeless human impulse central to human nature, gets neglected. Moreover, choosing fast and cheap becomes a habit, a default, and we forget that there is another way to live, a more artful, more meaningful way to live."


from:
monica moses' talk at the American Craft Council. She quotes Ellen Dissanayake, whose work has been dedicated to the sociology of art in humans, and Richard Sennet, A social analyst who recently wrote a book on the 'positive aspects of labour, called The Craftsman.