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Essay / William Morris: Art and Work
Artisan producer of furniture objects, poet, novelist, affiliated with the Pre-Raphaelite artistic brotherhood, utopian and prophetic socialist. Very rarely in the work of a committed researcher from the end of the 19th century, we find, lucidly underlined and refuted, the juxtapositions and contradictions of the workers' movement of the 20th century: the failure of the model of authoritarian socialism, the acquiescence social democratic with regard to the rigidity of roles desired by bourgeois power. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get an original essayMoreover, Morris developed themes that posterity has not even dared to confront, probably for fear of appearing naive, naive , misaligned: the desire to create a world where work is joy and artistic creation, the nonchalant criticism of the overwhelming power of science and technology, the revaluation of the natural environment, the other great victim, with man , capitalist degradation and exploitation. One of his great admirers, Oscar Wilde, recounted a confidence given to him by Morris himself: "I tried to make each of my workers an artist, and when I say an artist, I mean a man. Born into a wealthy environment, Morris found the university town of Oxford to be the ideal place to become fascinated by a myriad of different cultural and artistic interests, and perhaps that is why he did not follow any regular study program. To the Christian socialism of Charles Kingsley, then temporarily abandoned in favor of bourgeois liberal radicalism, was added the decisive influence of John Ruskin, who instilled his love for architecture. In Labour, useful and useless effort, Morris shows that he wants to clear the table of a whole series of commonplaces concerning work, before moving towards theorizing a new conception on the subject. According to Morris, it is wrong to enthusiastically say that every job is a blessing in itself. Congratulating a lucky worker for his work is especially suitable for those who live behind others. In fact, not the entire population is dedicated to work, quite the contrary, there are enormous differences in this regard. There are the rich, the aristocrats. Then there is the upper bourgeoisie, the class Marx defined as "owners of the means of production", who engage in unbridled and fierce competition, internally and externally, for the accumulation of wealth. , with the sole aim of being able to abstain from work, and therefore become unproductive, as aristocrats have been for centuries. After the mass of employees and soldiers, here are the workers, obliged, and this becomes the central point of Morris's reasoning, to produce "luxurious and extravagant objects whose demand is linked to the existence of rich and unproductive classes, objects that those who lead a dignified and intact life would not even dream of wanting, Morris therefore maintains that the taste of his time for the objects of everyday life - furniture, curtains - appears twisted, poisoned by the harmful mechanisms of exploitation. economic of man by man. This falsification of taste spreads to all levels of society, since the poor produce for their personal use objects which are ridiculous imitations of the luxury of the rich. designing and, consequently, considering the things produced comes from the disharmonious structuring of the social body: an idle class of unproductive people maintained by a large number of slaves giving hope to man, instead of causing him. pain and suffering? It must guarantee him the hope of rest: as pleasant as it may be, it nevertheless involves a certain animal suffering..