Name: Janice Hopper's review of Why We Make Things and why it Matters by Peter Korn
Item: Why We Make Things and why it Matters
Rating: 2
Author: Janice Hopper

Peter Korn

Our idea of the craftsman as an independent, creative individual dates back to William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Romantic as that image may be, the status and income of a practicing "craftsman," whether boat builder, potter, weaver, or woodworker, has always been tenuous, and remains so to this day. As much as we might covet or applaud handmade products, they cannot, and do not, compete in the general marketplace. Craftspeople work at the margins of contemporary society, and the fault lines can, at times, offer a revealing perspective on the cultural landscape.In this moving account, we follow Korn's search for meaning as an Ivy-educated child of the middle class who finds employment as a novice carpenter on Nantucket, morphs into a self-employed designer/craftsman of fine furniture, takes a right turn into teaching woodworking and design at Colorado's Anderson Ranch Arts Center, and finally founds a school in Maine: The Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, an internationally respected, non-profit institution teaching design, furniture making, and related arts to over 400 students a year.This is not a "how-to" book in any sense. Korn wants to get at the why of craft, in particular, and at the satisfactions of creative work, in general – to understand their essential nature. How does the making of objects both reflect and refine our own identities? What is it about craft and creative work that makes them so rewarding? What is the nature of those rewards? How do the products of creative work inform society? In short, what does the process of making things reveal to us about ourselves? Korn draws on four decades of hands-on experience to answer these questions eloquently, and often poignantly, in this personal, introspective, and revealing inquiry.

The Education of a Craftsman

Why We Make Things and why it Matters

Hameed Rahamathullah

Janice Hopper

Bored me. I'm glad he's had a meaningful and fulfilling life, but I just didn't care. I thought the book would be more "why we make things" and less "what I did with my privileged life."

He had nothing to really say to me. I was just sucked in by the title. I'm a sucker for a good title.

Todd Luallen

It reads a bit like a bio of a hippie wood-worker, and a bit like the book The War of Art. Fortunately, I enjoyed the journey. The book is full of Peter's humanistic worldview but does not come across as heavy-handed. In fact, Peter provides plenty of diverse explanations for his thoughtful theories and propositions. The book also discusses the founding and the growth of the school of woodworking that Peter founded in Rockport Maine. I couldn't help but look up the school and am honestly interested in taking a workshop or two (if I'm ever in the area). 

I thought this book would provide motivation for going and making something, and it does that to some degree, although not as much as I expected. Peter concludes the book saying that becoming a craftsman, even a master, won't necessarily make someone complete or happy, but becoming a craftsman will take someone farther along that path.

Emma

Why do we make things? Why do we choose the emotionally and physically demanding work of bringing new objects into the world with creativity and skill? Why does it matter that we make things well? What is the nature of work? And what is the nature of a good life? Part memoir, part polemic, part philosophical reflection, this is a book about the process of creation and what it means to be a craftsman in a mass-produced world. For woodworker Peter Korn, the challenging work of bringing something new and meaningful into the world through oneâe(tm)s own efforts is exactly what generates authenticity, meaning, and fulfilment, for which many of us yearn. This is not a âe~how-toâe(tm) book in any sense, Korn wants to get at the âe~whyâe(tm) of craft in particular, and the satisfaction of creative work in general, to understand its essential nature. How does the making of objects shape our identities? How do the products of creative work inform society? In short, what does the process of making things reveal to us about ourselves? Korn draws on four decades of hands-on experience to answer these questions eloquently in this heartfelt, personal and revealing book.

Hameed Rahamathullah &
Why We Make Things and why it Matters by Peter Korn

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Hameed Rahamathullah &Why We Make Things and why it Matters by Peter Korn

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Hameed Rahamathullah &
Why We Make Things and why it Matters by Peter Korn