Why We Make Things and Why It Matters: The Education of a Craftsman

by Peter Korn Narrated by Traber Burns

Overview

In this moving account, Peter Korn explores the nature and rewards of creative practice. We follow his search for meaning as an Ivy-educated child of the middle class who finds employment as a novice carpenter on Nantucket, transitions to self-employment as a designer and maker of fine furniture, takes a turn at teaching and administration at Colorado's Anderson Ranch Arts Center, and then founds a school in Maine: the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, an internationally respected nonprofit institution.

Furniture making practiced as a craft in the twenty-first century is a decidedly marginal occupation. Yet the view from the periphery can be illuminating. For Korn the challenging work of bringing something new and meaningful into the world through one's own volition-whether in the arts, the kitchen, or the marketplace-is what generates the meaning and fulfillment that so many of us seek.

This is not a how-to book in any sense. Korn wants to get at the why of craft in particular and the satisfactions of creative work in general to understand their 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, and often poignantly, in this personal, introspective, and revealing book.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

11/25/2013
In this philosophical reflection, Korn (Woodworking Basics), a long-time furniture maker who founded the non-profit Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, takes readers on a journey both spiritual and personal, recounting his life spent as a builder and teacher. Clearly, endless hours alone in the workshop have given him time to think; this introspective study alternates between biographical sequences and navel-gazing, endless questions related to craft and purpose, function and design, bubbling to the surface. As he states, "…creative effort is a process of challenging embedded narratives of belief in order to think the world into being for oneself, and that the work involved in doing so provides a wellspring of spiritual fulfillment." When talking about his personal growth—his attempts to start a business, his battles with cancer , his struggle to create a teaching space—Korn is straight-forward and engaging. When he delves into the more abstract and ephemeral notions, evoking the classic Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, the narrative loses both focus and intensity, becoming a hazy, meditative piece. Color photos. (Nov.)

From the Publisher

The style of Peter Korn’s lovely, patient and fastidious ode to craft, Why We Make Things and Why It Matters, mirrors the technical precision and style he has used in his career as a furniture maker and teacher.”—The New York Times

“In his beautiful book, Peter Korn invites us to understand craftsmanship as an activity that connects us to others, and affirms what is best in ourselves.”—Matthew Crawford, author of Shop Class as Soulcraft

“An uplifting title for artisans, novice or skilled, who will benefit from the ideas of a kindred spirit.”—Library Journal

“Peter Korn’s brilliant new book resonates with me as a visual artist in a profound way. I share his passion for craft and admire his ability to take a plank of wood and fashion anything he sets his mind to. Throughout the centuries, furniture makers and painters have shared a set of belief systems centered on craft. The pleasure and calm that I get as a painter fashioning a complicated work from colored dirt on canvas is, I believe, the same pleasure and peace that Peter Korn and his students get as craftsmen.”—Chuck Close

Library Journal

10/15/2013
Here, furniture maker Korn (Woodworking Basics: Mastering the Essentials of Craftsmanship) shifts from how-to guides to a more philosophical approach to woodcraft. Tracing his evolution as an artist, he chronicles his beginning with carpentry/early efforts, then describes his ownership of a storefront in New York City's Little Italy in the 1970s and his first solo show in 1981 at the Gross McCleaf Gallery in Philadelphia. Korn taught at Anderson Ranch in Colorado and eventually opened a school, the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, in Rockport, ME. He discusses having cancer as a young man and describes its return when he was older and the impact it had on his life. This book documents Korn's personal philosophy, interweaves art and existence, and is based on a strong belief in his work. He mentions as influential Robert M. Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values, Richard Sennett's The Craftsman, and Matthew B. Crawford's Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work, as well as other books that have explored similar territory. VERDICT An uplifting title for artisans, novice or skilled, who will benefit from the ideas of a kindred spirit.—Barbara Kundanis, Longmont P.L., CO

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169519389
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	04/15/2014
Edition description:	Unabridged

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