boox.spaceFifteen years ago, I put on a penguin suit and obtained my PhD for an exhaustive study with the rather dry title 'Identity and Christian-Muslim Interaction: Medieval Art of the Syrian Orthodox from the Mosul Area'. This was followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the Sorbonne in Paris and a short research period at Konstanz University.
Having specialised in medieval art from the Middle East for many years, I am now a full-time box maker, catering for contemporary artists, designers and photographers. I have swapped my suit for an apron, my desk for a work bench. Sadly, most of the works of art and architecture that I researched in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq has been damaged or destroyed in the recent wars.
Although I have been making boxes for some time now — perhaps precisely because of it — people still quite regularly ask me, 'But don't you miss working with your head?'
Ting-a-ling!
As sociologist Richard Sennett argues in his highly recommended book on craftsmanship, this distinction between mental and manual labour is superficial. True craftsmanship involves a continuous dialogue between concrete practices and thinking. As Sennett puts it, it involves 'making connections between head and hand.' He shows how the work of the hand can inform the work of the head.
Making is thinking — with your head, with your hands, and with your heart.
#craftsmanship #crafts #boxmaking #bookbinding #handmade #richardsennett #kurtvonnegut #artsandcrafts #photography #fineartphotography #art #contemporaryart
Having specialised in medieval art from the Middle East for many years, I am now a full-time box maker, catering for contemporary artists, designers and photographers. I have swapped my suit for an apron, my desk for a work bench. Sadly, most of the works of art and architecture that I researched in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq has been damaged or destroyed in the recent wars.
Although I have been making boxes for some time now — perhaps precisely because of it — people still quite regularly ask me, 'But don't you miss working with your head?'
Ting-a-ling!
As sociologist Richard Sennett argues in his highly recommended book on craftsmanship, this distinction between mental and manual labour is superficial. True craftsmanship involves a continuous dialogue between concrete practices and thinking. As Sennett puts it, it involves 'making connections between head and hand.' He shows how the work of the hand can inform the work of the head.
Making is thinking — with your head, with your hands, and with your heart.
#craftsmanship #crafts #boxmaking #bookbinding #handmade #richardsennett #kurtvonnegut #artsandcrafts #photography #fineartphotography #art #contemporaryart
