East Lake? Ask Morris.

Method:

44 sheets of William Morris’s Wikipedia Entry; reduced down to 5 pages through questions.

William Morris is translated to a first person narrative.

How was your upbringing?

I was born at Elm House in Walthamstow, Essex, on 24 March 1834 and raised into a wealthy middle-class family. I was named after my father, a financier who worked as a partner in the Sanderson & Co. firm, bill brokers in the City of London. My mother was Emma Morris.

I was largely housebound at Elm House, and spent most of my time reading. Once my father died unexpectedly the family relied upon continued income from the copper mines. 

While at Marlborough College, I was bullied, bored, and homesick. My peers called me "Crab”. I used this time to visit many of the prehistoric sites of Wiltshire, such as Avebury and Silbury Hill. The school was Anglican in faith and I found myself developing an enthusiastic attraction towards the Anglo-Catholic movement and its Romanticist aesthetic.

As a founding member, how did the Arts and Crafts Movement develop?

I emphasized the value of traditional craft skills that seemed to be disappearing in the mass industrial age. I referred frequently to medieval motifs. In 1891 I founded the Kelmscott Press, which by the time it closed in 1898 had produced over fifty works using traditional printing methods, a hand-driven press and hand-made paper. I also invented three distinctive typefaces – Golden, Troy, and Chaucer, with the text being framed with intricate floral borders similar to illuminated medieval manuscripts. I enjoyed restoring a number of dead techniques, and insisted on the use of good quality raw materials, almost all natural dyes, and hand processing.

How did the Medieval influence your designs?

My mind was fascinated with the idyllic Medievalist depictions of rural life which appeared in Rossetti’s painting. Medieval tapestries I considered the noblest of the weaving arts. While living in Oxford I had a keen interest in Medieval history and Medieval architecture. I viewed the Medievalist movement as a form of Romanticism, which rejected many of the Victorian industrial capitalism values. The Middle Ages represented a preferable era with strong chivalric values and an organic, pre-capitalist sense of community. My attitude was compounded by reading Thomase book Past and Present (1843), which championed Medieval values as corrective to the problems of Victorian society.

How was your relationship with Rossetti?

Rossetti persuaded me to take up painting. Rossetti had some of the very greatest qualities of genius, most of them indeed; what a great man he would have been but for the arrogant misanthropy which marred his work, which killed him before his time.

How about the art critic John Ruskin?

Ruskin wrote The Stones of Venice I would consider it one of the few necessary and inevitable utterances of the century. I incorporated Ruskin's philosophy of rejecting the tawdry industrial manufacture of decorative arts and architecture in favour of a return to hand-craftsmanship. Artisans I saw as the same status of artists. Art should be affordable and hand-made, with no hierarchy of artistic mediums.

The designs seem game like?

I invited friends to visit me at the Red house, most notably Burne-Jones and his wife Georgiana, as well as Rossetti and his wife Lizzie Siddal. We spent time playing tricks on each other, enjoying games like hide and seek, and singing while playing the piano. They aided me in painting murals on the furniture, walls, and ceilings, much of it based on Arthurian tales, the Trojan War, and Geoffrey Chaucer's stories, while I also designed floral embroideries for the rooms. 

How did you work against capitalism?

My time in London was fascinating, but I was dismayed at its pollution and rapid expansion into neighbouring countryside. I used to called it a spreading sore.  I had hoped to reinstate decoration as one of the fine arts and push forward an ethos of affordability and anti-elitism. With this goal in mind, I employed boys from the Industrial Home for Destitute Boys in Euston, central London, many of whom were trained as apprentices

There was little opportunity for my workers to display their own individual creativity. I had initiated a system of profit sharing among the Firm's upper clerks which was contrary to what I was trying to achieve since this did not include the majority of workers, who were instead employed on a piecework basis. This unfortunate retaining of the division between employer and employed, failed to live up to my own egalitarian ideals.

I quickly became aware that it was impossible to run a socialist company within a competitive capitalist economy.

How was labor viewed?

Having lived and worked in this industrial environment I gained a personal understanding of production and the lives of the labor class. I was disgusted by the poor living conditions of workers and the pollution caused by industry. I emphasized the idea that design and production of an item should not be divorced from one another, and that where possible those creating items should be designer-craftsmen.

How was your firm’s work publicity received?

The products the Firm created included furniture, architectural carving, metalwork, stained glass windows, and murals. Despite my anti-elitist ethos, the Firm had become popular and fashionable with the bourgeoisie. I remember in 1862 at the International Exhibition I received press attention and medals of commendation. However, I also faced much opposition from established design companies, particularly those belonging to the Neo-Classical school.

Did nature influence your work?

I respected the process of nature, its why I was against historical restoration. In my observation it led to the destruction or major alteration of genuinely old features in order to replace them with "sham old" features. To combat the increasing trend for restoration I founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), which I called "Anti-Scrape". I observed the natural world first hand to gain a basis for my designs, and prioritized learning the techniques of production prior to producing a design. I believe the home should have only what is useful or believed to be beautiful and if a work cannot be done with pleasure is it worth doing? My personal motto is “I can”.

Rosetti said you were sometimes erratic and had a nervous disposition. Did your bouts of seizures impact your relationships?

My Daughter had Epilepsy, so it may have been genetic. I refused to let her be institutionalized. This was uncommon in the period, I thought she should be cared for by the family. My friends called me "Topsy" after a character in Uncle Tom's Cabin. I admit I did have a short temper and at times I did experience seizures and blackouts, so I too may have had a form of Epilepsy. Rossetti took advantage of the situation and taunted me with the intention of enraging me. Sadly, it was for the amusement of himself and our friends at my expense. 

If you could be remembered for one contribution you made, what would be your legacy to the world?

I find beauty in the nature, so I would hope that people in the future would consider thoughtful utilization of materials and consider our environment when further developing the world to heal the “spreading sore” and have healthy and enjoyable living spaces.