Joe Barry wrote the following in today's e-mail:

"If you're re-reading Pye you should also go back to The Unknown Craftsman. In rustic furniture there is also the very Japanese concept of "Ma", or space. In the west we consider space to just be empty. In Japan the space is the balance or counterpoise to the object. The random accidents of space produced in rustic furniture are ones that western viewers have been unable to articulate due to a lack of vocabulary. We are reduced to saying we don't know why it appeals - only that it does."

In our culture we are focused on object as object, distinct, and isolated not only in terms of spatial and material qualities. We have an absurd fixation on seeing things as fixed in space and time when in reality they are not. In our quest for "certainty" we live in constant and active denial of the laws of physics, motion and change. Objects are expressions of relationship, not just of space vs. emptiness, but also involving the element of time. They capture the essential qualities of their maker in the moment of their creation. Rustic work may or may not reflect a final destination, but as part of a journey may be just what is required for growth. In other words, even the finest woodworker starts out by making something far short of his or her finest work. It takes a while to get good at anything. The real secret is to overcome lack of confidence and just start work. I can help some with that.

It requires effort and attention to see objects in their real form, so rather than seeing a table as an expression of its maker, or its placement in the home, or the materials used in its making or in relation to the objects it is designed to hold and display, or of the people for whom it was made, we just say table, as though in the naming of it our mastery of the object is complete. It would be impossible to describe in words the infinite, intricate relationships the table represents. When we move beyond seeing the world as full of objects, we begin to understand ourselves as active expressions of relationship and begin to understand others in the same light.

I think part of the appeal of rustic work can be explained by the relationship between order and chaos. We take comfort in the one, but have a strange fascination with the other. We are bored by the certainty we work like dogs to sustain. We are drawn like moths to the flame toward things coming apart. As voyeurs, sitting in the comfort of our lazy boys in front of our TVs we take great comfort that the chaos we see affects other people's lives and not our own. Randomness of texture and form within the confines of concepts known and accepted is that dance of contrasts, male-female, darkness-light, smooth-rough, worked-unworked, craftsmanship in inexplicable contrast/balance with natural form. A good piece of rustic furniture can engage the imagination like driving by a car past a train wreck, but with no injuries, and no ambulance required.