While reading "In Praise of Shadows" my attention was called to how attentive the author, Tanizaki Jun’ichirō, was to the details in his environment. I am farmiliar with the feeling when your favorite resturaunt changes something about it. My favorite resturaunt, Panera Bread, recently changed its dishwear from light weight to heavy. This makes it difficult to carry food from the pickup line to a table. Jun’ichirō describes how his favorite restuaraunt changed from candlelight to artificial light. This discomforted him because the candle light played off the laquerwear in a more beautiful and meaningful way than the artificial light. I have never experienced the sight of the candle light against laquerwear but I imagine it looks better than with artificial light.

candle light sets a different mood than artificial light

In Adolf Von Hildenbrand's essay "Hand Work- Machine Work", he describes that the importance of an object lies behind the way it was made, not by how it looks. It is the artists background, past and intentions for the object that make it beautiful. Pieces that are made by hand vs. in a factory are much more meaningful and beautiful. Manmade pieces can become generic.

Joy Tanner- Green Carved Mug

Works Cited:
Tanizaki, Jun’ichirō (1977). In praise of  shadows. (T.J. Harper and E.G. Seidensticker, trans.) Sedgwich, ME:
     Leete’s Island Books, Inc. (original work published in 1933).
Frank, Isabelle (editor) (2000). The theory of decorative art: An anthology of European and American writings 
     1750 – 1940. New York: Yale University Press.