“Wherever nature works there will be beauty”
William Morris
Throughout history, humanity has looked to our natural surroundings for inspiration. From William Morris to the Arts and Crafts, design movements have been created over the adoration for the greener areas of life.
So too have these movements stood the testament of time. Humanity looks back on these periods with fond nostalgia for a time when humanity was seemingly a little more in touch with nature. Take a trip to a garden centre, and you will surely find a William Morris-inspired mug or plate. Naturally, this nostalgia has created a discourse that calls for a revival of naturalistic forms for our commonly found objects.
Whilst it may be true that many who call for this do so on an aesthetic-based basis, there is something more profound. An intersection of arts and the environment evokes more than just enjoyment from fancy-looking pieces. In learning from past movements, there are solutions to issues of overconsumption and harmful production that have become a staple of modern society.
William Morris’ design
Any conversation about British crafts and environmentalism cannot occur without first discussing William Morris. Working in a period marked by the Industrial Revolution, it was important for Morris to maintain the practices of traditional craftsmanship that were being swallowed up by industrial production.
Victorian industrialisation surged the level of environmental degradation through mass deforestation and an increase in harmful pollutants. Meanwhile, Morris detailed exactly what was being destroyed by industry. Take a look at English stately homes and you will likely find walls adorned with intricate original William Morris wallpapers. Hallways are filled with strokes of colour that evoke a sense of looking toward the landscape, where birds wander freely amongst the painted trees.
Morris’s environmental lens for crafts were intertwined with his political ideals. He eagerly aimed to create goods that were readily available and did not add to the burgeoning environmental degradation of the time. By producing furnishings created outside the industrial method, Morris sought to battle the dangers of mass production.
A radical change
This mission to change production stemmed from Morris’s own ecosocialist beliefs. He warned that the working class would feel the effects of the environmental crisis first and foremost. In reducing people’s access to nature, the working class would be forced into areas with polluted air, open access to harmful waste, and no escape from the growing industrial city. The worker was forced into a system that only exacerbated both environmental and bodily harm.
It was essential to stop this grim path that society was being guided down. For Morris, this could come about by transforming the production of goods. The revolution was in the wallpapers Morris made and the paintings he created. In writing about Morris, Anna Mason summarised that “social revolution restored to mankind those things which were a gift of nature.”
It cannot be understated how relevant Morris’s assertion is to today’s production of goods. In a time of unfettered capitalism, it is undeniably the working class that bears the brunt of environmental degradation. The Global South is disproportionately affected by the climate crisis that is exacerbated by Western industrial production and overconsumption. Moreover, many working-class families cannot obtain eco-friendly goods and produce as they are more expensive than mass-produced goods. The reality of our situation is still a life forced into consumption of environmentally damaging goods.
Design within the Arts and Crafts Movement
Developed by Morris, the Arts and Crafts movement focused heavily on anti-industrial production and environmental-based inspiration. Characterised by its natural flare, many pieces of this movement stressed the inherent value of the landscape by bringing the outside in.
Paintings depicted peacocks, leaves and flowers growing in abundance. Glasses and decanters were shaped to elicit the curvature of vines and the strange shapes found in woodlands. To bring the outdoors inside, many of those who belonged to the Arts and Crafts movement used nature as their muse to create a sense of reverence for our landscape. Whilst this may seem purely aesthetic-based, the importance of such design cannot be understated.
How can we protect something if we are simultaneously ignorant of its destruction? In the UK, our access to nature is constantly shrinking, constrained to urban spaces and swallowed by concrete design. In increasing the salience of nature through natural-based design, people can be made aware of how beautiful nature is, and how egregious it is to be destroyed. A refusal of such design is a refusal of our reality.
Increasing longevity
The Arts and Crafts movement also aimed to overturn societies’ unethical production by increasing the longevity of products. Furniture was made on a smaller scale, using machinery only when required for a cleaner production process and a longer-lasting product. The goal was to reduce the amount of waste produced by both consumers and producers.
It is due to this that the importance of the Arts and Crafts movement cannot be understated. This promotion of the reliability of products is more essential now than ever. Several reports suggest that the lifespan of electronic goods are shrinking, causing severe environmental damage. The question, “Why could this last for ages back then, but only two years now?” is more relevant than ever. If the ideas of the Arts and Crafts movement were to gain popularity, then the longevity of products would become a staple in modern design. The environmental implications of this are incredible, suggesting a decrease in waste of 70-90%.
How to learn from the past?
We undeniably live in a time of mass production and harmful consumption. From the major ecological issues of fast fashion to the growing environmental dangers of AI. Some would argue that, as individuals, there is nothing we can do to stop the climate crisis.
This said, there are ways to learn from the lessons of Morris and others who followed similar missions. There are countless ways to reduce our addition to the crisis and to lighten our load by practising ecological lessons. Combat the strains of overconsumption that Morris saw as damaging; buy second-hand and reduce adding to an endless cycle of production and waste. Recycle your clothes, pick up furniture from a charity shop; fix appliances, don’t abandon them. All the while seek out fellow-minded people to swap lessons of craft, your community will always help you. Spreading ecological practices gives us power over our own choices in the climate crisis.
Perhaps, with enough sway in a change of our attitudes, we stand a chance in convincing the powerful to listen to our demands of radical change. In this, we can be hopeful that the lessons of past artists can surely inspire us to achieve change and reduce the cycle of industrial production that is damaging our planet and take inspiration from nature once more.
Be Curious!
- Check out other interactions between the environment and movements of design such as https://curious.earth/blog/problem-with-minimalism/
- Look for local donation areas to get older furniture, from flea markets to charity shops. Buying second-hand is only a Google search away. Try websites such as Vintage Home Stores!
- Read further on William Morris and his pieces. Take a look at specific pieces to see how the environment shaped his design
- Support local crafts if you can, from furniture makers to potters on websites such as Etsy.
- Try to take up a creative hobby! Why not try out knitting a scarf or sewing your own cushion covers? It provides both mental relief and reduces overspending on short-term goods!
Photo by Alina Belous via Unsplash
