Paper short abstract:

The present paper develops the idea that although efficacy is a central dimension of technical activity, the former is not exhausted in a result-oriented engagement with praxis, but is rooted in an expressive dimension. Luthiery will help bringing the stylistics of craftsmanship to the fore.

Paper long abstract:

From the moment the unfolding of skill manifests what could be called a harmonious efficacy, it could also be said it bears a technical dimension. Such dimension does not necessarily rely on the objects or tools that a given activity profits from, but on the performative quality of the latter. Indeed, efficacy constitutes the main query of technical activities and skills, not only in the result-oriented sense of the term, but also in an aesthetic one, or what could be considered to be an expressive sense. That is the chief issue raised by the notion of harmonious efficacy. It captures a dexterous ensemble of practices characterized by action which satisfies a tacit standard of fluidity and expressive fulfillment. In short, an aesthetics of doing, or a stylistic. Appreciating their efficacy always supposes aesthetic qualifications (fluidity, clumsiness, gracefulness) and drives us back into their expressive dimension. However, technical activity is often seen from the perspective of the objects it produces, without acknowledging the discontinuity in principle between technical activity and utility. By drawing attention to luthiery, I seek to point out the expressive dimension of technical activity. The gestures that engender and perpetuate the craft are populated by values instituted by collective life. The luthier hence perceives the instrument as well as the tools involved as reticulates, that is, knots of aesthetic, mythic, practical and traditional threads.