Art as Experience - John Dewey

I was reading 'Art as Experience' today by John Dewey, whilst trying to figure out exactly what it is that we like when experiencing art. I came across this paragraph, which I felt expressed the essence of the 'Work not Working' project:

"The intelligent mechanic engaged in his job, interested in doing well and finding satisfaction in his handiwork, caring for his materials and tools with genuine affection, is artistically engaged. The difference between such a worker and the inept and careless burgler is as great in the shop as it is in the studio. Often-times the product may not appeal to the esthetic sense of those who use the product. The fault, however, is oftentimes not so much with the worker as with the conditions of the market for which his product is designed. Were conditions and opportunities different, things as significant to the eye s those produced by earlier craftsmen would be made." (5)

Hmmm... think about that the next time you get your oil changed.

Office with a View

"You've just gotta love an office with a view. For me this is the best job in the world." This was said by the truck driver on Season 1 of The Axemen. You've just got to love it. I'm even tempted to try out my tree legs. Yii haaaa!

Very important work

I was listening to a lecture by Stephen Billett today, and was taken back by the fact that someone actually realised that there is no such thing as s(fee/sees)t work. I am glad that he took the time to explain to his professor friend that to people undertaking unskilled labour, the labour is quite important - even if he did mention that his professor friend still thought it was s(fee/sees)t (I wonder what he teaches).
I started thinking long and hard: Billett is a vocational teacher educator, he has spent the latter part of his career researching on the job learning, and I am glad that his research has shown the skills and expertise people acquire when undertaking 'unskilled' work. I wonder whether he has ever thought about exactly how important the work of a cleaner or greengrocer is to the people, and how much job satisfaction they really get. I thought that there are two sides to this coin. If we leave professionals who have pursued their 'vocation' out of this equation, we can compare:

a) The greengrocer or cleaner who really enjoy what they do, they can see the progress and meet different people, versus the professor who has pursued a career for status (and then what kind of satisfaction or enjoyment does he/she have after all?).

or

b) The greengrocer or cleaner who only has to go to work, earn their money, be cleaners and greengrocers while their on the job, but after hours they get on with the rest of their life and noone thinks of them as the 'cleaner' or the 'greengrocer', versus the professor who does not just go to work to earn money, they also come home from work to keep working, and they are always known as the 'good', the 'atrocious' or the 'nutty' professor.

I do not know. Which work do you think is the most important?

North Carolina bound...and the campout begins!

Yee hah! Looks like it's North Carolina for me, and I guess many others as Yahoo! news explains that the good old NC is one of the lesser touched places of the recession. There might be a bit of a wait as economic growth isn't expected to be that extreme this year. But, by 2010 more jobs will be appearing.

So, let's go and camp out on the lawns of the great NC, in wait of the opening positions.

Crumby breadlines and golden handshakes

Volunteers at Iceland's Fjölskylduhjalpin can't complain, they've had plenty of unpaid work to do. As the economic situation rapidly deteriorates, these happy workers are inundated with demand. In fact, according to Teppo Tiilikainen of Suomen Kuvalehti, the lines keep growing and growing. It's not just the unemployed and students who are lining up to get a bit of Fjölskylduhjalpin's good stuff, but also employed families who just don't seem to make 'ants meat' with what they're getting from the workplace.

So, if you're bored and looking for something to do, pop over to Iceland and take up a post at Fjölskylduhjalpin. Business is BOOMING, and they need all the hands they can get. And, if you happen to see David Oddson, send him Iceland's love.

Picture right taken from Suomen Kuvalehti: http://suomenkuvalehti.fi/Haku/?q=islanti

Work, home and beauty to all

I was at the Alvar Aalto Museum here in Jyväskylä the other day when these words called to me: "Work, home and beauty to all". These words are the premise of the Scandinavian model of welfare, inspiring the Swedish Folkhemmet (House of the People), and spurring the productivity and success of Nordic industries - particularly the Finnish design industry.

In this phrase 'work' is in first position, meaning that home and beauty comes afterwards. Of course, if we look back to Adorno and Horkheimer (and even Mr Bourdieu) we see that particularly 'beauty' was a way of inspiring 'work' and the workers. In today's stagnant economy 'work' is now beautiful, hopefully providing a home to all.

Something to Mill Over

While I was busy reading articles on the screen today I suddenly remembered the fate of the paper mill workers, particularly is I happened to save too much paper. So I started printing everything out single-side... and now I feel much better.