Kogei(Craft)
This word has already become a concept. Originally&sbquo it referred to actual things made through superior technology and skills&sbquo or changes in conditions that surrounds the outcome of such technology and skills. In other words&sbquo it has been defined heteronomously through times and depending on the historical skills of the time. In the Chinese classics it was originally used to express excellence in technique and skills in a broad range of activities. including those involved in shooting (an arrow)&sbquo controlling (a horse)&sbquo writing (calligraphy)&sbquo calculating (arithmetic)&sbquo drawing (a picture) and (rafting (work skills) as well as games such as igo that involve winning or losing. From this broad definition it was narrowed down to preserving pottery vessels made through skillful Grafting. Soon it was extended to include wheeled vehicles and ships. In this sense it is extremely similar to arts and crafts of the West. Through these steps its meaning converged on skillfulness in creating pottery vessels through craft work. If we look at a cup as an example of pottery vessels. the function and form of the cup does not&sbquo in essence&sbquo change through time. However. questions arise Once it is perceived as a piece of crafted work&sbquo such as the extent to which it possesses artistic elements and what historical technique and skills gave it form. If its degree of artistic perfection is assessed in value apart from the cup's own conclusiveness&sbquo it becomes a work of art. Considering this relationship between kogei and art brings us to the conclusion that kogel sometimes exists as a field of art. To clearly distinguish it from art we can say kogei is a unified outcome of "function" and "aesthetics&sbquo" and its general definition is established through that action. Just as the field of arts and crafts entered into a descriptive and prescriptive debate on mankind's isolation from and harmony with the mechanistic civIlization brought on by the industrial revolution&sbquo today's kogei will head for new changes through the power of design. We can even say that the border between kogei design and craft design is considerably vague today.