‘What is Pattern?’ by Soetsu Yanagi

32-page manuscript book, written out in Chinese ink with gouache illustrations on Indian Hemp Cream paper with Ruscombe Mill Pantile Red endpapers, bound in Somerset Toned White card cover with Indian Hemp Beige paper jacket. 340 x 170 mm. Completed in March 2023

This is another in a series of works I have made using texts that describe craft practice. I can certainly relate to Yanagi’s respect for the unknown craftsman and the beauty of everyday objects (ignoring the fact that the book I have made could hardly be considered ‘useful’). However, I am suspicious of his emphasis on archetypal pattern as a vehicle for ‘beauty’. Perhaps the original Japanese has an alternative connotation to the one we traditionally associate with the concept of beauty, but in my view this is something that is very much in the eye of the beholder. Furthermore, I do not consider ‘beauty’ to be a necessary quality of an artwork but look for a whole range of other features such as ‘authenticity’, integration of form and content, lack of pretension, etc.

Having said that, I take care to use formats that reflect harmonic proportions (in this case in the ratio 1:2), an adherence to legibility, and a relationship of forms - here the simple brush-made patterns echoing the rhythmic texture of the writing.