My review of Making is connecting

Making Is Connecting by David Gauntlett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The title sums up the book, but it is still a really good idea to read the book and explore the way the ideas are presented.

A key quote is:
"Why is everyday creativity important? Because I feel that it's incredibly important - important for society - and therefore political...But it is the fact the people have to make a choice - to make something themselves rather than just consume what's given by the big suppliers - that is significant. Amplified slightly, it leads to a whole new way of looking at things, and potentially to a real political shift in how we deal with the world."

The author brings together many examples of making, using examples from social media (including Flickr and Youtube) but also using some offline examples of making as well. Gauntlett has a very interesting discussion about art/craft encouraging people to rethink how they think about them, and his discussion is very interesting.

He also looks at Ruskin and the work of William Morris, and this adds a very helpful viewpoint to the discussion. It also highlights the need to explore examples of good practice. Making is very much about making yourself as part of making things, and about our place as citizens. To quote from Ruskin, and this book 'do what you can'. It is also about thinking about consequences for our actions, including the environmental consequences. "Crafting can be a reclamation of the power of life".

I enjoyed reading this book and it is adding to the ideas which I am exploring in this area. It was an entertaining and interesting read where stories were used effectively to illustrate points.

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