Page 4 RAIN September/October 1984 to carry us about, new machines to till the soil, electric lights, and all that—are just superficial things, and not worth the price we have to pay for them in exchanging our whole way of living, in threatening our children with the chance of ruin!" Wright (1883-1931) invented Islandia when he was a child; he continued to invent maps and a history, and wrote this story, as an adult. In William Morris' News from Nowhere (1890), people spend their time creating useful and beautiful artifacts, which they give to each other freely whenever asked. People live close to the land. Morris decried the effects of industrialization on society and espoused socialism. His vision was of a post-industrial, post-revolutionary society where everyone shares the dreary work and there are no machines. This was the vision that Morris (1834-96) tried to realize in his work. He went to Oxford to study for the Anglican priesthood, but upon reading John Ruskin's essay on "The Nature of Gothic," he decided the way to save souls was through art. In that essay, Ruskin taught that "art is the expression of man's pleasure in labor." (Ruskin also wrote Unto This Last, a book that Gandhi held responsible for "the turning point in my life.") 'A true source of human happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life and elevating them by art.' —William Morris "A true source of human happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life and elevating them by art," Morris wrote. He tried his hand at all the arts in his day. He founded a printing press, illuminated books, designed textiles. Morris looked to medieval times as the ideal—the days when people worked with their hands as well as their minds. (Hermann Hesse captures the spirit of what it's like to be a wandering medieval artist in Narcissus and Goldmund [1930]. Ananda Coomaraswamy has also written about the medieval artist; see "Every Person, A Special Kind of Artist," RAIN V:3.) Morris' ideas led to the birth of the Arts and Crafts movement, which was fueled by the conviction that industrialization had brought with it the destruction of purpose, sense, and life. It saw the uncontrolled advance of technology as a threat to man's spiritual and organic harmony. The Arts and Crafts movement also espoused a return to quality craftsmanship; it promoted the dignity of labor and respect for materials. Morris and his followers attempted to revive the guild system, wherein apprentices perfected their craft under the tutelage of a master. Most of the guilds that were formed in Britain, however, were loose associations of artists and craftsmen who learned from each other by giving workshops and lectures. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Gustav Stickley (1858-1942) founded The Craftsman, a magazine devoted to the dissemination of the Arts and Crafts philosophy in America. People who read RAIN now would probably have read The Craftsman, which was published from 1901 to 1916. The Craftsman promoted the return of simple, natural, and honest life styles and products. Stickley always thought of Arts and Crafts as a political movement. He envisioned a world where people built their own homes, planned their own cities, and made their own furniture. The Craftsman originally focused on the philosophy of William Morris, the possibility of work reform through socialism, and the household arts (furniture design, ceramics, and bookbinding, for example), but its range broadened over the years to include art, architecture, poetry, drama, politics, economics, history, gardening, city planning, education, women, health, and the art of ethnic minorities. There were also how-to articles and Craftsman house plans. In fact, Stickley manufactured Craftsman furniture, and published a few books of his house plans: Craftsman Homes (1909,1979, 205 pp., $6) and More Craftsman Homes (1912,1982, 201 pp., $6.95, both from Dover Publications, 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014). Stickley believed that it was important "to have homes of our own, homes that we like, that we have been instrumental in building, that we will want to have belong to our children .. . this means that the homes must be honest and beautiful dwellings; they must be built to last; they must be so well planned that we want them to last, and yet they must be within our means." VOL..1 October, MDCCCCI no.1 Price 20 cents the copy C*»rrlcKv 1901 bv Cwet*v« »itchl*r FROM: The Craftsman
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