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Material: Making and the Art of Transformation
A master craftsperson explores the ways in which working with our hands reveals the essence of both our humanity and our relationship with the natural, material world.
In our present age of computer-assisted design, mass production, and machine precision, the traditional skills of the maker or craftsperson are hard to find. Yet the desire for well-made and beautiful objects from the hands (and mind) of a skilled artisan is just as present today as it ever has been. Whether the medium they work with is wood, metal, clay, or something else, traditional makers are living links to the rich vein of knowledge and skills that defines our common human heritage. More than this, though, many of us harbor a deep and secret yearning to produce something - to build or shape, to imagine and create our own objects that are imbued not only with beauty and functionality, but with a story and, in essence, a spirit drawn from us.
In Material, Kary takes listeners along with him to visit some of the places where modern artisans are preserving, and in some cases passing on, the old craft skills. His vivid descriptions and eye for detail make this book a rich and delightful listen, and the natural and cultural history he imparts along the way provides an important context for understanding our own past and the roots of our industrial society.
Personal, engaging, and filled with memorable people, landscapes, and scenes, Material is a rich celebration of what it means to imagine and create, which in the end is the essence of being human and native to a place. As Kary puts it, “Wood and words, trees and people, material and ethereal - it is here I love increasingly to dwell.”
In our present age of computer-assisted design, mass production, and machine precision, the traditional skills of the maker or craftsperson are hard to find. Yet the desire for well-made and beautiful objects from the hands (and mind) of a skilled artisan is just as present today as it ever has been. Whether the medium they work with is wood, metal, clay, or something else, traditional makers are living links to the rich vein of knowledge and skills that defines our common human heritage. More than this, though, many of us harbor a deep and secret yearning to produce something - to build or shape, to imagine and create our own objects that are imbued not only with beauty and functionality, but with a story and, in essence, a spirit drawn from us.
In Material, Kary takes listeners along with him to visit some of the places where modern artisans are preserving, and in some cases passing on, the old craft skills. His vivid descriptions and eye for detail make this book a rich and delightful listen, and the natural and cultural history he imparts along the way provides an important context for understanding our own past and the roots of our industrial society.
Personal, engaging, and filled with memorable people, landscapes, and scenes, Material is a rich celebration of what it means to imagine and create, which in the end is the essence of being human and native to a place. As Kary puts it, “Wood and words, trees and people, material and ethereal - it is here I love increasingly to dwell.”
- GenresNonfictionCrafts
Audible Audio
Published September 24, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 28, 2020
When I went to college and university I learn how to make things out of metal to greater and greater precision on a variety of tools. When I got to work we were taught how to use one of the very first CNC machines that were that old that they used punched cards to program the machine. Now days an engineer doesn’t even need to venture out onto the workshop floor to see a piece being made to very high precision.
Whilst we need high precision for some things, I can appreciate the care and attention that has gone into a hand made and beautiful object. There is something about the way that these items are crafted, that each is unique in its own special way and that there are still people with the skills to turn, wood, metal or ceramics into useful objects. Kary knows this process intimately, he began as a designer, manufacturer and supplier and now is a designer and maker of his own furniture from local hardwoods near to his home in Devon. His style has changed from what he learnt as an apprentice, rather than remove all the imperfections of the raw material he now works with the flaws to make them part of the finished piece.
His journey to find others who share his philosophy on making things with his hands will take him to basket makers, boat makers, a riddle maker, bodgers, ceramic specialists and foresters. With each of these people, he sees how they are taking the raw materials, working with those materials to transform them into something functional, useful and yet still beautiful.
Hard labour it would be, yet within it, to really make it work, there is something that transcends labour, a spirit which connects the human, the task and the transformation. There is magic here.
For a number of people the things that these artisans make, are not going to be affordable, which is why he has been involved with camps and teaching people who would not have had the opportunity to learn these crafts otherwise. Even though he is a master craftsman, he still finds techniques and skill that he has not yet come across. I really liked this book. Each chapter is preface with the beautiful illustrations of Lou Tonkin. Kary writes in a gentle and subtle way, teasing out the stories from the craftswomen and men that he meets on his journey around the country, whilst expanding on the principle, it is not what you are making, rather it is the process of making that we need. It is a similar philosophy to that of Peter Korn in his book, Why We Make Things and Why it Matters: The Education of a CraftsmanWhy We Make Things and Why it Matter (which I can also recommend).
Whilst we need high precision for some things, I can appreciate the care and attention that has gone into a hand made and beautiful object. There is something about the way that these items are crafted, that each is unique in its own special way and that there are still people with the skills to turn, wood, metal or ceramics into useful objects. Kary knows this process intimately, he began as a designer, manufacturer and supplier and now is a designer and maker of his own furniture from local hardwoods near to his home in Devon. His style has changed from what he learnt as an apprentice, rather than remove all the imperfections of the raw material he now works with the flaws to make them part of the finished piece.
His journey to find others who share his philosophy on making things with his hands will take him to basket makers, boat makers, a riddle maker, bodgers, ceramic specialists and foresters. With each of these people, he sees how they are taking the raw materials, working with those materials to transform them into something functional, useful and yet still beautiful.
Hard labour it would be, yet within it, to really make it work, there is something that transcends labour, a spirit which connects the human, the task and the transformation. There is magic here.
For a number of people the things that these artisans make, are not going to be affordable, which is why he has been involved with camps and teaching people who would not have had the opportunity to learn these crafts otherwise. Even though he is a master craftsman, he still finds techniques and skill that he has not yet come across. I really liked this book. Each chapter is preface with the beautiful illustrations of Lou Tonkin. Kary writes in a gentle and subtle way, teasing out the stories from the craftswomen and men that he meets on his journey around the country, whilst expanding on the principle, it is not what you are making, rather it is the process of making that we need. It is a similar philosophy to that of Peter Korn in his book, Why We Make Things and Why it Matters: The Education of a CraftsmanWhy We Make Things and Why it Matter (which I can also recommend).
February 11, 2025
If you have any appreciation for fine things—furniture, pottery, even everyday things like drapes—you will enjoy this book. If you have any appreciation for rich, embodied writing, you will come through this book to appreciate all the rest.
Many basic human needs for community, for extended family, etc. have been researched by sociologists and anthropologists. How about a basic human need to wield tools and make things? That's the postulate behind Material. I'm not sure it's an essential human trait, but Kary shows that it's crucial to at least certain people. He succeeds in making me (who's all thumbs and failed as even a home handyman) want to be a creator. If Kary didn't have a craft, "My fingers would itch...for purpose, for meaning..."
Each chapter opens your eyes to a new aspect of material creativity. I never imagined the enormous resources and the skills marshaled to make ships. As with all the other practices discussed in this book, Kary discusses ship-making as a pre-industrial (or perhaps proto-industrial) craft.
The claims in this book are not novel. Appreciating the local natural uniqueness of each geographic place, learning to adapt one's creativity to the quirks of the material, taking pleasure in seeing something physical take shape—those are familiar themes. And there is a certain repetitiveness to the interviews with different makers. (If you chafe at the book's slow pace, you are not ready to accept the author's insights into your life.
This book grew on me, like the slowly fashioned objects it discusses.
Many basic human needs for community, for extended family, etc. have been researched by sociologists and anthropologists. How about a basic human need to wield tools and make things? That's the postulate behind Material. I'm not sure it's an essential human trait, but Kary shows that it's crucial to at least certain people. He succeeds in making me (who's all thumbs and failed as even a home handyman) want to be a creator. If Kary didn't have a craft, "My fingers would itch...for purpose, for meaning..."
Each chapter opens your eyes to a new aspect of material creativity. I never imagined the enormous resources and the skills marshaled to make ships. As with all the other practices discussed in this book, Kary discusses ship-making as a pre-industrial (or perhaps proto-industrial) craft.
The claims in this book are not novel. Appreciating the local natural uniqueness of each geographic place, learning to adapt one's creativity to the quirks of the material, taking pleasure in seeing something physical take shape—those are familiar themes. And there is a certain repetitiveness to the interviews with different makers. (If you chafe at the book's slow pace, you are not ready to accept the author's insights into your life.
This book grew on me, like the slowly fashioned objects it discusses.
March 2, 2022
There's a good book somewhere in here. Unfortunately that book is smothered and hidden by the seeming lack of any proof reading or editing that went into this book which makes it a hard read and ultimately a dissatisfying one.
From Chapter 2 onwards it is just too badly written to read. Sentences are either missing words which would clarify what the author was trying to say or have unnecessary words, other times, they literally just make no sense at all as they seem to be missing their beginning and ends. Tenses shift from sentence to sentence. Is he in the past? The present? When? What's going on? When that's happening repeatedly it makes for a very jarring reading experience and eventually causes one to disconnect. The writing is also really quite purple and a bit too try hard. Much of it reads like a creative writing class student's exercise book. Again, a good editor (and more honing of the prose) could have helped here.
All of which is a shame as I think the author has something valuable and meaningful to say both about our relationship with the material world and about 'flow'. The writer seems to be attempting to take us on an almost magical realism tour of changing histories and landscapes and the idea is great. Unfortunately his writing just isn't quite up to that and the jarring of his sentences disrupt the same flow he is trying to create.
From Chapter 2 onwards it is just too badly written to read. Sentences are either missing words which would clarify what the author was trying to say or have unnecessary words, other times, they literally just make no sense at all as they seem to be missing their beginning and ends. Tenses shift from sentence to sentence. Is he in the past? The present? When? What's going on? When that's happening repeatedly it makes for a very jarring reading experience and eventually causes one to disconnect. The writing is also really quite purple and a bit too try hard. Much of it reads like a creative writing class student's exercise book. Again, a good editor (and more honing of the prose) could have helped here.
All of which is a shame as I think the author has something valuable and meaningful to say both about our relationship with the material world and about 'flow'. The writer seems to be attempting to take us on an almost magical realism tour of changing histories and landscapes and the idea is great. Unfortunately his writing just isn't quite up to that and the jarring of his sentences disrupt the same flow he is trying to create.
June 28, 2025
An homage to all aspects of craftsmanship. What is creativity when it is curbed by practicality and limited by growing skill? Is it more about the journey or the destination? No matter what you are making, what do you owe the materials you need to make it? How can you better respect the lumber, clay, etc that you have taken to create the thing you want to make? Is the form of creating more about the addition of materials or the removing of materials? Lots of cool meditations about how the physicality, mentality, and spirituality of crafting deserve more intentional thought in this fast-paced world.
The writing is beautiful, but I think I would relate to it more if I knew about how materials are sourced in the UK. I’m just unfamiliar with the geography and the landmarks referenced, so I feel like I’m missing some of the appreciation there.
The writing is beautiful, but I think I would relate to it more if I knew about how materials are sourced in the UK. I’m just unfamiliar with the geography and the landmarks referenced, so I feel like I’m missing some of the appreciation there.
January 30, 2022
Lots of good thoughts herein, but I would have liked to see more dialogue and the individual voices of the different makers that the author visits in writing this book and exploring the questions of why people engage in making. Most of the chapters read more like journal entries, with the inner musings of the author - which is fine, but doesn't quite live up to the suggested promise of the subtitle, as there isn't a central thesis that it builds up to. Where I felt the book finally found its form was in the last three chapters. So, if you bog down in reading the book, rather than giving up, I suggest you skip ahead and read on from the "Heritage" chapter. You'll miss descriptions and histories of various crafts, yet find the core of the book and its essential material.
July 28, 2020
This book was not what I expected but was still a wonderful reflection on the heart of an artist. This book is more in my opinion a memorable walk through why and how the author chooses what materials to use in a variety of applications. I enjoyed the layers of historical information about the original tools or materials used for that purpose and how they changed over time.
I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.
I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.
October 7, 2020
This book is a deeply thoughtful and personal meditation on what it means to 'make' in the traditional sense using natural and 'found' resources and a celebration of the many people who have chosen to incorporate the act and art of 'making' into their lives in order to enrich it or to honour the old ways.
February 20, 2025
Although sections were beautifully written with great imagery, it lacked structure and was not what it said on the tin. I was expecting a description of the history of different crafts but was presented with a man's love of wood.
December 23, 2022
A lovely poetic exploration of craft and craftspeople, Material was a lyrical journey through the landscape of making. Less insightful and rather more romantic musings.
November 17, 2025
Thoroughly enjoyed listening to this while participating in my own craft. A good reminder to craftsmen of all kinds of why we do what we do.
May 17, 2021
A very touching reflection on craftsmanship, identity-making (literally), and our ever in-flux relationship to the ‘natural’ world.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews