10: Daily life with objects

In my kitchen, above the worktop, is a rack with my cooking pans, a colander and my frying pans. Eleven in total, all different sizes. One of them, a black frying pan with a lid, is the oldest I have. I bought it when I moved out of my parent's house to go and study in Amsterdam. On an evening in December that year I went with my mother and grandmother to a department store in a nearby village. We collected all the household utensils a student might need. The pan, some other pans -which I got rid of over the years- pegs, a laundry rack, a small plastic tub, cutlery and maybe some other things that I didn't take from my parent's household.

I felt wonderful and scared at the same time. I loved walking with my mother and grandmother through that shop, feeling very close. I loved the idea of moving to my own place in Amsterdam. But at the same time I was scared of that blank future. I hardly had any idea what it would be like; living on your own. Some input came from my friend Pauline who at that time had moved out already and lived in a tenant nurse flat with shared facilities. Staying with her ignited a sense of freedom; we could lie down during our dinner, play music, sleep as late as we wanted and nobody would comment on that. Yeah, we can finally do what we want!

So buying all these household items would allow my to do the same; living away from my family and only myself to comment, correct, encourage. And exactly that was also hard to think of.

When I actually moved into that room in the centre of Amsterdam, arranging all my things, and saying goodbye to my parents, I looked around me with excitement but also with a vague feeling of nervousness and fear. I managed in the end- like most students do; living on my own. 

Now, more than 30 years later, I still use the black frying pan. I also still use the laundry rack and the pegs which are stored in a small basket my grandmother gave me. Nothing sentimental, but the memory of the purchase more or less comes back each time I use the objects.

Now, would I ever throw the pan away? I don't think so. As long as it doesn't break, rust or crashes; why? it's very solid indeed; good quality.

I want to know more about the pan; about the quality standards, the source, the design, the designer. So I wrote to the Hema. Their website shows a page on sustainability issues with a possibility for inquiries. Even when I explained why I wanted to get into contact with them the answer was 'we are approached regularly and unfortunately have to refuse some requests, also yours'. Browsing through the site didn't get me anywhere. A lot of attempts to 'source sustainably', 'being careful about working conditions' and 'our wish to be good to all'. No facts, no real examples. And nothing on circularity, waste management or even waste reduction. What a shame; it could be great if a company like this one, whom I tend to believe, was more open about their business. Trying to go round them I went to check Chinese website of factories that produce cooking utensils for the Europese market. That was a jungle! Pages and pages of pans, spoons, barbecues et cetera, all orders starting at 1000 pieces, like the websites with the gadgets  I encountered earlier. Notifications such as: "eco-friendly", "Ikea and Walmart trust us" or "CE, UL, ISO 9001, SGS, SONCAP certified" ruled the lines, but again no real facts and nothing on the design, the designer or waste management. It shows how little we know about our daily stuff.
That's why I love stores such as Manufactum in Germany and the Oxford store OBJECTS OF USE .

They just sell useful items of which they know the source. Things that last a lifetime. No crap. The pans of OOU are made in Austria, in a family-owned factory called Riess. Looking at the different types of pans I can't find 'my pan' but similar ones are among the designs. On the website are very good explanations of the material, the production, the use and care et cetera. A missed opportunity for Hema not being totally open about their products, I would like to state. 
Objects Of Use has it's focus on everyday archetypes and every item they sell is accompanied by a description of the source. 

From our store in central Oxford Objects of Use provides a source of enduring household tools and functional items. We seek out international archetypes of everyday objects, often items that have been made in the same way, by the same people, for a long time. We believe that having the right tool for the job vastly improves the experience of completing our daily tasks.

We are ‘against throwawayism’, aiming to minimise the environmental impact of our products by offering objects that are built to last (and improve with age), using low-impact production methods and natural materials. We aim to source our products as carefully as possible, with the majority being manufactured in the UK, Europe, and Japan.

In a 1954 essay by Soetsu Yanagi in his book 'The Unknown Craftsman' (19720 Yanagi states: "In reflection, one must conclude that in bringing cheap and useful goods to the average household, industrialism has been of service to mankind- but at the cost of the heart, of warmth, friendliness and beauty. By contrast, articles well made by hand, though expensive, can be enjoyed in homes for generations and, this considered, they are not expensive after all." (p 107)
Among Yanagi's legacy is the Japanese Folkcraft Museum which has been established in 1935. He has been an adamant ambassador of crafts, with a preference to the unknown craftsman, hence the title of the book. Individual artist craftsmen tend to work for their own sake of beauty, and "their work depends upon the personality of the craft rather than the character of the craft". (p 199) In a Q&A he wrote in 1929 he explains why beauty of crafts has no value without use. "The special quality of beauty in crafts is that it is a beauty of intimacy. Since the articles are to be lived with every day, this quality of intimacy is a natural requirement. Such beauty establishes a world of grace and feeling". (p 198) 

Even without knowing anything about the source of my black frying pan, I do recognize the intimacy Yanagi writes about. Maybe that also has to do with the cultural biography of my pan that has grown over the years. I simply became attached to it.