Why We Make Things & Why It Matters - Softcover

Peter Korn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1784705063 ISBN 13: 9781784705060

Publisher: Vintage, 2017

Synopsis

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?

Whether you''re honing your craft or turning your hand to a new skill, discover the true value in what it means to be a craftsman in a mass-produced world.

Part memoir, part polemic, part philosophical reflection, this is a book about the process of creation. For woodworker Peter Korn, the challenging work of bringing something new and meaningful into the world through one''s own efforts is exactly what generates authenticity, meaning, and fulfilment, for which many of us yearn. This is not a ''how-to'' book in any sense, Korn wants to get at the ''why'' 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.

''If you are in the building trade or just love creating things as a hobby, you will find this book fascinating'' The Sun

About this title

About the Author

Peter Korn is the founder and Executive Director of the Centre for Furniture Craftmanship, a woodworking and design school in Rockport, Maine. A furniture maker since 1974, his work has been exhibited in galleries and museums across the United States. In addition to writing Why We Make Things and Why It Matters: The Education of a Craftsman, which won the 2014 Maine Literary Award, Korn is the author of several how-to books. These include the bestselling Woodworking Basics: Mastering the Essentials of Craftsmanship and The Woodworker's Guide to Hand Tools.

From Booklist

Drawing on his decades of experience handcrafting fine furniture, Korn’s previous books have primarily focused on teaching woodworking to neophytes, including the best-selling Woodworking Basics (2003). In this inspired departure from such how-to guides, Korn explores the fundamental reasons why he and other artistically inclined hobbyists and professionals passionately devote themselves to their craft, often for little recognition or monetary gain. Against the backdrop of a consumer marketplace saturated with machine-manufactured goods, Korn asks readers to consider what makes creative work so rewarding, what the nature of those rewards actually are, and what making things can reveal about our deeper nature. In answering these questions, Korn describes his own life as a crucible of self-discovery, recounting how his middle-class Philadelphia upbringing led to carpentry work, then designing furniture, then teaching woodworking, and finally to founding a furniture-making school in Maine. Written with as much attention to polished prose as the author gives to his woodworking, Korn’s book is a stirring testimonial for self-fulfillment through craftsmanship, whatever form it takes. --Carl Hays

Edition details

• Publisher: Vintage
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1784705063
• ISBN 13: 9781784705060
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192