Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees A Book by Lawrence Wechler & Robert Irwin lawrenceweschler.com Sonorisms IMore than just a machine that runs alongNobody was doing anythingNYLAAggressively Zen+31 More The Small GroupInfinite varieties of contextsYour only language is visionTo see is to forget the name of the thing one seesRobert Irwin: A Conditional ArtThe Finish Fetish ArtistsPhenomenal: California Light, Space, Surface artlifecraftseeing
Holistic and prescriptive technologies Holistic technologies are normally associated with the notion of craft. Artisans, be they potters, weavers, metal-smiths, or cooks, control the process of their own work from beginning to finish. Using holistic technologies does not mean that people do not work together, but the way in which they work together leaves the individual worker in control of a particular process of creating or doing something. The opposite is specialization by process; this I call prescriptive technology. Here, the making or doing of something is broken down into clearly identifiable steps. Each step is carried out by a separate worker, or group or workers, who need to be familiar only with the skills of performing that one step. This is what is normally meant by "division of labor". Ursula M. Franklin, The Real World of Technology That which requires caring craftprocessmaking