"Wood is good for the soul"

The meaning of time and place is blurred as electronic communication expands and becomes more and more universal. A busy modern-day person can fly from the other side of the earth to Italy, where in a beautiful Tuscan landscape he or she can sit under an olive tree, and suffer from jetlag there. It is known that on his journey to Italy in 1787 Johann Wolfgang Goethe spent a moment under the same tree, which is still growing. The idea that a tree can hear, see and preserve historical experiences in living form is unrealistic yet fascinating. The historical perspective calms busy modern man to see his place among the long succession of trees.
The forest reflects renewal on the temporal plane, and the tree in it the individual experience in history. We need forests in order to understand the passing of time.

Man’s problem is awareness of death and a longing for eternity. It is introduced in such strong measure in objects that the conflict is often striking. The fear of change is crystallized as an undue emphasis on durability. Nonetheless, we want to see the marks of life on objects, to admire old worn surfaces, the ageing of a natural material, and the creation of patina. This message from one person to another, reaching beyond generations, is communication with the language of objects. It is required by the human condition.

Man’s relationship with the forest contains many dimensions. Trees as plants and forest can be compared to man in chronological terms. Like man, a tree starts to grow from a seed. The seed is borne by the wind and it carries the genetic code of its species. After falling to the ground and striking root it will remain in place for the rest of its life. It will grow and it may be tended. It will struggle for its existence much harder, but with fewer opportunities, than man. It will grow to its full height in the same time as a human being. It can retire and enjoy old age to an ever smaller degree.

This message of birth, growth and death tells of trees and timber as a renewable natural resource and of the ongoing cycle of life. It also tells of the abundance of species and the importance of diversity.

As a renewable natural resource and organic material, wood imparts values of human and psychological importance to our technologically oriented relationship with materials and our way of thinking. To make these values available to mankind through craft and manufacture is a cultural mission. We have taken upon ourselves the right to utilize nature, and that also entails responsibility.

Markku Kosonen