The Unknown Craftsman A Japanese Insight Into Beauty Pdf [better]

However, Yanagi pushes further. He celebrates the accident : the uneven glaze, the kiln crack, the finger print in the wet clay. To the Western eye trained on symmetry, these are "flaws." To Yanagi, they are "faces"—the unique signature of nature working through the craftsman.

Yanagi loved the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold lacquer. This treats the object’s history—its cracks—as part of its beauty, not a flaw. the unknown craftsman a japanese insight into beauty pdf

: The official publisher's page for the current paperback edition . However, Yanagi pushes further

| Western Philosopher | Yanagi’s Counter-Argument | | :--- | :--- | | (Perfect Forms) | Perfection is sterile. Irregularity is real. | | John Ruskin (Gothic individualism) | Individualism is just ego. Collective craft is higher. | | Walter Benjamin (The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction) | A well-made machine product can be beautiful if the pattern is good, but a handmade object is always superior. | Yanagi loved the Japanese art of repairing broken

: It is designed for practical, daily use rather than display. Inexpensiveness : It must be affordable for the masses.

Yanagi introduces several key concepts that challenge Western notions of art: