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The beauty of everyday things / Soetsu Yanagi ; translated by Michael Brase.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextLanguage: English Original language: Japanese Series: Penguin ClassicsPublisher: UK : Penguin Books, 2018Description: 346 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 18 cmContent type:
  • text
  • still image
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780241366356 (pbk.) :
Uniform titles:
  • Works. Selections. English
Subject(s): Additional physical formats: ebook version :: No titleDDC classification:
  • 745.0952 YAN 23
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Status Date due Barcode
Standard Loan LSAD Library Main Collection 745.0952 YAN (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 39002100646265

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Our lives are filled with objects. Everyday things used in everyday settings, they are our constant companions. As such, writes Soetsu Yanagi, they should be made with care and built to last, treated with respect and even affection. They should be natural and simple, sturdy and safe - an aesthetic fulfilment of our practical needs. They should, in short, be things of beauty.

Long revered as the authority on craftsmanship and Japanese aesthetics, Yanagi devoted his life and writing to defend the value of craft. In an age of feeble and ugly machine-made things, this now-classic book is a call for each of us to deepen our relationship with the objects that surround us. Inspired by the work of the simple artisans Yanagi encountered on his lifelong travels through Japan and Korea, it is a heartfelt defence of modest, honest, handcrafted objects, from traditional teacups to jars to paper. Objects that exemplify the beauty of everyday things.

"Radical and inspiring ... Yanagi's vision puts the connection between heart and hand before the transient and commercial" - Edmund de Waal

"Soetsu Yanagi's unerring eye has influenced generations of makers. His notion of Zen and the art of design continues to inspire all those involved in shaping our everyday world" - Jasper Morrison

Translated from the Japanese.

Formerly CIP. Uk

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Soetsu Yanagi (1889 - 1961) was a philosopher, art historian, aesthete and poet. He evolved a theory of why certain objects made by unknown craftsmen were so beautiful, and became the founding father of the Japanese folk crafts ('mingei') movement. He helped establish, and was the first director of, the Japanese Folk Crafts Museum.

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