The Medium is the Message
“Wow, she just jumps right in there, doesn’t she?” our friend Debrah laughed, looking at me with a smile. We were watching SaRa jump behind the pottery wheel with the master potter at the ceramic workshop in Turkey. They were collaborating over gestures and smiles, shaping the mug together to create one of the signature ceramic pieces that will be sold in a set at Adorn.
Watching SaRa interact and collaborate with people across lingual and cultural divides is a joy. Seeing a piece going from a raw block of material to a handcrafted item always feels like a small miracle. In one of our recent trips to meet with makers in Turkey, I saw SaRa’s hands covered in clay, I saw her crouched down intently over some damaged rugs, brainstorming with the rug salesmen about what could be crafted from the remnants; I saw her whimsically wipe off a saw dusted piece of scrap paper to draw a design idea with two Syrian woodcrafters and muse over what could be done with the scraps of root left over from the olive trees.
Marshall McLuhan, Canadian Communication Theorist once said, “The medium is the Message.” Throughout my time with the Adorn Co., this phrase always pops into my mind. We know that how we operate communicates what we believe. This is true for all of us in our own lives, and it’s something we are sincerely conscious of at The Adorn Co. We want to ensure that our values are present in the process of how we do business at every level.
We believe in conscious and sustainable sourcing of raw materials for all of our goods. When we begin in a new region, we are always asking the question, what is readily available? At Adorn, we are intentional about trying to use every bit of material available, mitigating as much waste as we can.
We believe in collaboration. We love working with our artisans + makers to design everything uniquely in such a way that creatively combines traditional craft with a modern aesthetic. When we collaborate, it’s immersive-- we believe in getting our hands dirty and co-crafting + designing each piece together.
We believe in integrity and wholeheartedness. We know that we are loved by God, and that each person is crafted uniquely to reflect his image. We believe that we are called to take care of one another and treat one another with love and fairness. We know that this is the most important expression of Mcluhan’s theory and we pray that the medium of how we operate embodies the message of Jesus.
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