How the Way of Adversity Shapes Reality

The author discusses with himself about the advantage of aesthetics over functionality, and functionality over aesthetics in product design based on his own professional experience. The subject matter is inspired by wooden figurines, designed by the author during his artistic residency in Japan. There, he developed a dilemma – What is more important, function of aesthetics? – which resulted in changes to his design approach. The article demonstrates this transformation and its consequences to the figurines. It refers to the aesthetic contemplations of Yuriko Saito, who attempts to re-include aesthetics in daily life following Arnold Berleant’s assumptions. The author, as a designer, joins in and first presents several examples of ordinary activities, in which aesthetics shapes everyday life, sense of reality, and pursuit of perfection. We are unaware of how aesthetics of the surrounding objects or daily activities affects our behaviour, culinary experience, sense of space. In such a context, the author analyses his figurines and design decisions behind them. Advocating the search for non-obvious aesthetic values within the used material, he demonstrates how to reveal the hidden aesthetics, consequently influencing our daily experience, and thereby – the shape of our lives. Keywords: craft, wooden figurines, Japanese aesthetics, functionality vs aesthetics