傳統與現代科技的交纏：以日本第三代民藝工作者為例

A Third-Generation Mingei (Folk-Craft) Potter's Use of Traditional and Modern Technologies in Japan

日本民藝運動始於1920年代，而此乃是建立在一種想像之上——即前現代東亞的鄉土工藝傳統代表著真正的過去，而純真與實用美學是其村社和諧的體現。正如其它典型的被發明的傳統，此種認為工業化前的社會與技術具有高貴特性的想像，自始即存有許多矛盾，而這是因為民藝的物質與象徵文化再生產均植基於現代技術及資本主義。民藝運動發展出三種類型的民藝：東亞「不可考」藝匠的「古老民藝」、具藝術感而兼融傳統與現代，並具類似師徒傳承的默會知識技藝的「工藝家民藝」，以及改良式的農人工匠小規模工廠製造的「新式民藝」。本文探討民藝運動及此三種民藝，並分析第三代民藝陶藝家如何在這些矛盾中進行協商。作者指出「地方」之於實現民藝技藝的意涵，及默會與明會知識在製作、鑑賞及行銷民藝的重要。

The Japanese mingei (folk-craft) movement began in the 1920s based on the notion that the rural crafts of premodern East Asia represented an authentic past of innocent utility and beauty among communal folk. Typical of invented traditions, this romantic vision of pre-industrial community and technology was contradicted by the modern processes of its material and symbolic reproduction. Three types of mingei emerged: old mingei attributed to “unknown” craftspeople of premodern East Asia, art-craft mingei created by individuals who used modern technology and apprentice modes of tacit learning, and new-mingei based on reforms in small-scale factory goods manufactured by farmer-potters. This article examines this movement and the three types of mingei, and then analyzes a third-generation mingei craft-artist’s negotiation of these. The author highlights the significance of place in materializing mingei craft, and the importance of both tacit and explicit knowledge in making, appreciating, and selling mingei.