Unwritten: The Implicit Luxury
47
but how can we get there if in many places a “do not touch” culture has evolved,
prohibiting touch and thus limiting our body’s perceptions? Touch is the sense that
holds the most memories, and when we make it react we open a whole new world
of communication. Lesley Millar says in Surface as Practice [8] that we go to touch
to make others “feel reassured, cared for and closer to us. Expression on a physical
level can bring two identities together and generate extremely powerful responses”.
Making with our hands, uniting touch with materials, generates levels of well-being
and satisfaction in much the same way.
When discussing the connections humans need, we cannot avoid our relationship
with nature, because part of the feeling of well-being is related to our engagement
with nature. Even if we consider humans to be the most developed species, we are
part of a greater whole; “we are all made of each other” [7]. The link between
exposure to nature and well-being is so well established that growing trends such
as Biophilic Design have started to place more emphasis on including elements of
nature in architecture and interior design. The possibility that natural materials can
help this dynamic of improving happiness and well-being in a silent but effective
way, feeds into the increased importance being placed on protecting the environment.
Acting to safeguard the future of the world is not something that we can continue
to delay, which is why a culture that cares about sustainability is on the rise. This
sustainability is starting in simple and individual acts but is rapidly being passed
on to broader production systems and larger corporations. Being engaged with the
preservation of nature at all levels is part of a new mindset, it is a change, whereby
we are looking to improve ourselves not just as individuals, but to reach wider parts
of society and the environment.
This is just one of a series of major changes that we are currently going through.
As Daniel H. Pink mentions in his book A Whole New Mind, we are leaving the era
of intellectual and logical thinking behind, and entering an age built on creativity and
empathy. This new era is about the “capacity to detect patterns and opportunities, to
create artistic and emotional beauty, to craft a satisfying narrative, and to combine
seemingly unrelated ideas into something new”. Through this, he argues, we will
improve our ability to “understand the subtleties of human interaction, to find joy in
one’s self and to elicit it in others, and to stretch beyond the quotidian in pursuit of
purpose and meaning”.
This change in mindset means it will be crucial to engage with what is happening
around us and take the right actions to incorporate the wisdom that ancestral communities have preserved for us through their techniques. The era of intellectual and
logical thinking that Pink mentions helped create a culture that is based on instant
technology and consumerism, but at the cost of detaching us from slower ways of
engaging with the world, and by extension nature, through our senses. Preserving or
resurrecting techniques of craftsmanship can help to find that lost connection with
our senses, and offer us a new perspective about how we can use it as an advantage
in today’s society.
Thus, natural materials, sustainable production, and craftsmanship help us to find
purpose and meaning and offer a pathway to reach this new luxury. However, this
luxury cannot simply be bought; it requires people to absorb this new mindset to
47
but how can we get there if in many places a “do not touch” culture has evolved,
prohibiting touch and thus limiting our body’s perceptions? Touch is the sense that
holds the most memories, and when we make it react we open a whole new world
of communication. Lesley Millar says in Surface as Practice [8] that we go to touch
to make others “feel reassured, cared for and closer to us. Expression on a physical
level can bring two identities together and generate extremely powerful responses”.
Making with our hands, uniting touch with materials, generates levels of well-being
and satisfaction in much the same way.
When discussing the connections humans need, we cannot avoid our relationship
with nature, because part of the feeling of well-being is related to our engagement
with nature. Even if we consider humans to be the most developed species, we are
part of a greater whole; “we are all made of each other” [7]. The link between
exposure to nature and well-being is so well established that growing trends such
as Biophilic Design have started to place more emphasis on including elements of
nature in architecture and interior design. The possibility that natural materials can
help this dynamic of improving happiness and well-being in a silent but effective
way, feeds into the increased importance being placed on protecting the environment.
Acting to safeguard the future of the world is not something that we can continue
to delay, which is why a culture that cares about sustainability is on the rise. This
sustainability is starting in simple and individual acts but is rapidly being passed
on to broader production systems and larger corporations. Being engaged with the
preservation of nature at all levels is part of a new mindset, it is a change, whereby
we are looking to improve ourselves not just as individuals, but to reach wider parts
of society and the environment.
This is just one of a series of major changes that we are currently going through.
As Daniel H. Pink mentions in his book A Whole New Mind, we are leaving the era
of intellectual and logical thinking behind, and entering an age built on creativity and
empathy. This new era is about the “capacity to detect patterns and opportunities, to
create artistic and emotional beauty, to craft a satisfying narrative, and to combine
seemingly unrelated ideas into something new”. Through this, he argues, we will
improve our ability to “understand the subtleties of human interaction, to find joy in
one’s self and to elicit it in others, and to stretch beyond the quotidian in pursuit of
purpose and meaning”.
This change in mindset means it will be crucial to engage with what is happening
around us and take the right actions to incorporate the wisdom that ancestral communities have preserved for us through their techniques. The era of intellectual and
logical thinking that Pink mentions helped create a culture that is based on instant
technology and consumerism, but at the cost of detaching us from slower ways of
engaging with the world, and by extension nature, through our senses. Preserving or
resurrecting techniques of craftsmanship can help to find that lost connection with
our senses, and offer us a new perspective about how we can use it as an advantage
in today’s society.
Thus, natural materials, sustainable production, and craftsmanship help us to find
purpose and meaning and offer a pathway to reach this new luxury. However, this
luxury cannot simply be bought; it requires people to absorb this new mindset to