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Mike, that's likely true...mysticism isn't required to appreciate the wood and do good work. But there are many humans who feel the need or feel comfortable with something more mystical. Sometimes that's cultural and sometimes that's just personal. Either way, appreciating and doing beautiful craftsmanship is great!
--
The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
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I have not read the Nakashima book. But somehow I doubt that he was claiming that trees have brains. But they are living things. And they do react to their environment. Many of us have observed that branches, and even entire trees, grow in the direction of the strongest light. Not sure what this indicates..other than trees react to their surroundings. But trees are certainly different than rocks.
More than this I do not know. Not really trying to debate anything. Just trying to say that it is easier to close one's mind than it is to open it to possibilities that may not be apparent to us.
My guess is that Nakashima was trying to celebrate the fact that the wood he worked with came from a living thing. Hard to deny that. Do not expect he claimed that trees have legs or or brains like we do. But I have not read the book.
Myself, I feel a difference when I work with wood, as compared when I work with stone or metal.
I realize that some of us may not feel this way.
Bill
Too much to do...Not enough time...life is too short!
Contributor
There was a FWW article many years ago which discussed Nakashima's approach to sectioning a downed tree. He believed every tree had a story to tell if sectioned properly. He would personally supervise and direct the cutting to best (in his judgement) exhibit the tree's "soul" which he had reverence for. Nakashima perhaps was an artist working in a craftsman's world. But he was very successful financially and certainly was not a starving artist.
Jerry
"It is better to fail in originality than succeed in imitation" - Herman Melville
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Sorry for brevity here...really enjoy the subject, but am responding from a tablet with a lame keyboard. Regardless, google "Ted talk how trees talk to each other". Watch that and it's hard to believe they don't have the rudimentary characteristics of a sentient being. Apparently trees do indeed speak to each other and nurture their own young. Who knew!?
And yes, I'm literally sipping a drink and smoking a cigar, sans "jacket" unless a flannel counts as one. So this post might be influenced by that. :-)
Contributor
It's always tempting to anthropomorphize non-human entities. Was that talk given on April 1?Originally Posted by Paul Richard
Mike
[Plants (and animals) develop traits through evolution that maximize the survival of their species. These traits are not evidence of sentience. It's just something that works to maximize the survival of their offspring. If it's evidence of anything, it's evidence of evolution.]
[A Venus Flytrap detects an insect in it's trap, closes on the insect, digests it, and reopens. Does that make it a sentient being?]
[I don't think you could find any scientists anywhere who would claim that trees are sentient beings.]
Last edited by Mike Henderson; 04-02-2017 at 10:28 PM.
Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.
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LOL! Not that I'm aware of, but entirely possible. I'm a sucker for April fools jokes! :-)
Shenanigans aside, a pretty interesting and enlightening talk that feeds the curious on this subject. As for me, my empty glass is hungry. :-)
Member
Thinking on this subject, can see the need for respect for the Lord's creation, and trees and wood are part of that creation. I like to build furniture with the best craftsmanship I can, and use interesting pieces of wood so I can leave behind something worthwhile.
Contributor
I'm with Mike. Anthropomorphising plants and animals is fine for Disney, but it has no logical place in real life.
Of course trees respond to their environment. We had a serious Gypsy Moth caterpillar invasion here years ago that decimated the oak trees and seemed like it was going to wipe them out. The trees responded by putting out a toxin in their leaves that repelled the caterpillar. Crisis averted. That's the will to survive which is not the same as having a soul.
Doesn't mean trees aren't seriously cool.
Contributor
I can't speak for the man, but I'm certain he did not mean it in the literal sense, but in the sense that he was working with a material that had lived it's life and had a story to tell by way of the grain.
If you want to be hyper-logical, then by all means do so, but it doesn't make for an interesting read on what makes you go out to the shop and work wood.
I enjoy the book, it has a certain significance to me in that my early years in woodworking were heavily influenced by what was local to me (Nakashima) and so to read about his experiences as a youth and what ultimately drove him to become an architect and then to become a woodworker was quite interesting and inspiring.
I also enjoyed Mira's book (George Nakashima's daughter) who provided a different perspective on her father's work and provided further illumination of his past.
If you can't connect with his woodwork, you may find yourself empathizing with someone who became successful then lost it all due to circumstances well outside of his control (WWII) and then rebuilt it while raising his young family.
Bumbling forward into the unknown.
Contributor
Let's take two woodworkers, both who work with natural edge wood. Both do their best to select the best material for their furniture and both are equally successful.
However, one of them sells his furniture with a story - that he has found the "soul" of the tree and brought it into the furniture. The other woodworker just offers his furniture for sale, depending on the natural beauty of the wood and his craftsmanship.
Lo and behold, the guy with the story gets more sales at higher prices than the second woodworker. I suspect that Nakashima recognized that some buyers were gullible and would pay extra so that they could tell their friends the story that Nakashima told them.
Both woodworkers did the same thing, and produced the same final product - except for the story. The story didn't help Nakashima select better wood or better cuts - since a tree soul doesn't exist, searching for it is fruitless - but it helped him sell. He was a smart businessman - a good marketing person.
Mike
Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.
Contributor
Well said. Marketing. Everyone loves a good story. You see it in the antique business. An item with provenance is worth more than one without. Even if that 'provenance' is just word of mouth.
If a story makes you feel good and perhaps inspires you to achieve something you would not have achieved without it then that accomplishment is yours. Credit to the author for inspiring you.
Perhaps as already has been said, this whole 'soul' business should not be taken literally.
Marketing.
Contributor
I believe Nakashima saw and felt something of a soul from wood and trees.Ive been to the Giant Sequoias and Redwoods.
Theres something about air dried wood it has a different feel and color then Kiln dried.
My personal experience is explicit to me no doubt in my mind.
Heres a cute video clip I saw recently watching a movie with my Grandson.
https://youtu.be/VD8UttNfU60
Aj
Contributor
I think Andrew is describing exactly what Nakashima meant by the title. Not marketing at all. For those of you who only associate 'soul' with sentient beings consider this definition from Meriam Webster for soul:
b : the quality that arouses emotion and sentiment.
Artists but maybe not craftsman, think about this with every piece.
From reading the Soul of a Tree-I think this is the definition he was talking about.
Contributor
I think I remember that movie storyline from waaay back. Something about a block of rock and a sculpture. Just remove the extra rock to reveal the sculpture inside.
Rick Potter
DIY journeyman,
FWW wannabe.
AKA Village Idiot.
Contributor
Except they almost certainly didn't produce the same product. The subtle detail and proportion in Nakashima's work is elusive and extremely difficult to replicate. I think some of the same could be said of several other woodworking masters who were especially known for design.
Please think of some of this work as a high form of art. I would like to think that what he describes in The Soul of a Tree is essentially an artist's statement of inspiration. It's a little harsh to characterize it as a sham intended to take advantage of gullible buyers. Nakashima spent time in India and was very influenced by eastern philosophy and some of these concepts are very difficult to grasp through the lens of western linear thinking.
If you're suggesting that George Nakashima does not deserve the critical acclaim he received for his work, I hope you'll study it more closely and perhaps change your mind.
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