User:Chen Junyu/Thematic Project/The Politics of Craft

• Quote from Wiki :

“News from Nowhere (1890) is a classic work combining utopian socialism and soft science fiction written by the artist, designer and socialist pioneer William Morris. In a future society based on common ownership and democratic control of the means of production. In this society there is no private property, no big cities, no authority, no monetary system, no divorce, no courts, no prisons, and no class systems. This agrarian society functions simply because the people find pleasure in nature, and therefore they find pleasure in their work.As Morris, the romance character, quests for love and fellowship—and through them for a reborn self—he encounters romance archetypes in Marxist guises. The book offers Morris' answers to a number of frequent objections to socialism, and underlines his belief that socialism will entail not only the abolishment of private property but also of the divisions between art, life, and work."

My project aims to present to audiences " utopian of crafts" in another way.

OUTLINE

describe project The project includes two things :A movie in which the image is divided into two parts ,on the left hand side it a looping animation of all different circles I have drawn, and the process of drawing these circles on the right side . To the side is a transparent box filled with all the papers I have drawn onto to make the animation on the film - the best circle will be placed on the top of the stack of paper.

I image myself to be a craftsman who concentrates on drawing circles for the whole of her life. She gains pleasures from doing this simple thing, keeps her esteem to this crafts, gets meaning from the circulating movement. In “News from Nowhere (1890) William Morris talks about how to get pleasure and enjoy life. For Morris doing what you want (autonomy) gives the most pleasure. When drawing circles the process is like a wave- you go through boredom and really focus on making a perfect circle you can feel something I never felt before- a peaceful thing. Drawing a perfect circle is not actually what I aim for the project. A "perfect circle" drawn by hand is nonexistent.I am sure someone can do it well after much practise, but never " perfect ". Although I aspire to perfection , as a craftsman who focuses on one single thing, I will never reach the "perfect" point, but there will be a best work in my short craftsman's life . Mentally I try to reach the state that thinking without limitation. while I focus on drawing circles again and again I can get the most slightly changes in my movement then trace back to the source --- my brain and my heart. To draw a perfect circle , except the skill that drawing smooth lines, you can only succeed when you keep absolutely quiet inside your heart，breathing regularly and concentrating totally. Morris talks about the absolute pleasure labor can give you, but how can pleasure exist without comparison with non-pleasure, and what is beautiful without set against ugly things? There must be failures,struggles,boring process even when someone is doing his or her favourite work, if they always succeed，feel enjoyment , keep excited , then all of this becomes nothing, it is just the duplicated emotion existing in the labor's everyday life.（ sounds like reaction which is provoked by psychedelic drugs ).

-- it is a mapping of Japanese's craftsmantship, but it doesn't means there is a divided line between eastern and western.

plan for next week : read George Orwell if has time ...take notes.

utopian to make a perfect circle

thsi job - to allow people to do only one thing, and not worry about money is non-existant. It is impossible now, negative to this utopian - morris orwell: if everything is beautiful how could you measure what is beautiuful? Morris must know this kind of Utopia cannot be true. Utopia is in the future. For morris art can be life itself. What would change= class difference work, pleasure and art come together.

think about how to get the politics aspect of your work ? how to hand up questions?

how is this different to your other ways of working? I starts thinking about the "politics" side of my work. Try to hand up questions rather only present the pure visual work.

Usually I get inspiration from narratives from my past life, now it seems to figure out why this narratives attracts me and what is the

describe other work describe the difference

what is the difference? In “News from Nowhere (1890) Morris talks about how to get pleasure and enjoy life, you can choose what to do. In the Eastern society people tend to specialise. For Morris doing what you want (autonomy) gives the most pleasure. Sometimes there is conflct and this is productive. When drawing circles the process is like a wave- you go through boredom and really focus on making a perfect circle you can feel something I never felt before- a peaceful thing.

see orwell's essay on morris