Tables Tables Tables  

That would help but if you + ...
That would help but if you + screen the ledge (magazines, what?) isn't really ply but a simple lamination which I wouldn't want to stress either, you never know with board prodcuts quite what you're getting, diluted glues etc.
Sorry you got in before me, well I guess if you feel its ok then it could be fine.

lol i understand they are works of art...im a photography major I understand how gallery shows work but one thing you learn is the frame is part of the work and how the viewer will see it. That being said these cinderblocks do nothing for your work. So if it were a critique for a class you would get an A+ on your work but the presentation would be more like a C...Cinderblocks are just ugly and take away from your showing. I would have found a more upcycled alternative. Maybe red brick would have been more complimentary I just know this combo is not appealing to me.
like I said above though it is amazingly great work and I really like everything you made.

your concern is definetly a valid one
For instance I would never cantilever single ply bamboo perdendicular to the grain of the lamination. I considered using a 3 ply lamination for this application, but I find the single much more elegant.

@ waywardvintage I got criti...
@ waywardvintage
I got critiqued heavily on this show for multiple classes, and yes there was a lot of negative responses about the cinder blocks. But for the most part the negative responses were coming from persons whos practice revolves heavily around craft and not concept. Those with a conceptual/theoretical predisposition to art recieved it quite well.
Unlike you, I am not a photographer. I took all the pictures and I dont think they do the show justice.

Calling a table art and...
Calling a table art and putting it in a gallery doesn't make it so. Not to be hard on you but I sort of think you wanted a realistic critique of your work.
I think its clear that you put a lot into these tables and that they are in fact works of art, but not fine are to be sure. It's also interesting that you would post them on a design site and ask for opinions as you yourself are making the same point.
juxtaposition or not the cinder blocks don't work other then to muddle up the pieces.
I really don't mean to be hard on you, I think what you are doing has potential, but you should think about it's context a little more and consider if you want to make furniture or art. They really are not the same though they can both be beautiful.
Good luck!

I apreciate your feedback,...
I apreciate your feedback, but it's slightly naive.
There are countless world class museums and galleries all over the world that exhibit furniture on a daily basis. What more uniformly accepted truth about whether furniture is fine art do you need. If the institutions that govern the world of fine art and its relevance have deemed it so.....
The mere fact that an object can serve a function does not exclude it from the realm of fine art. I do not pretend to have figured out all the issues with my work. This is a life long process to explore the display,context and position of my work.
I posted on a design site, because although I consider myself an artist I still have a great apreciattion for the aspects of formal design.
Thank You.

Heath and Adam are spot on...
Form follows function. These designs seem to be straddling the line between furniture and prop. Not to be harsh either. But I think the quote "Nothing useless can be truly beautiful" applies. As Adam said, you need to decide where you're going in concept. Furniture can certainly be art. But art for art's sake is most times redundant, no?

good luck
but I think we both know that you see your work as craft and there is nothing wrong with that but to call it something else is unfair to your viewers. Museums are great and so are galleries, but when we don't need them to define what art is and when we use what they show as justification for our arguments it's just silly and might I say a little naive.
A critique in the classroom is helpful but by no means the holy truth either what I say but what I say I can assure you is what I think, can you say that (honestly)?

my posts were intended to be...
my posts were intended to be constructive, but in a firm manner. I remember people in school who made things and talked about the as if they were making something meaningful, but all they were doing was making more unnecessary objects. Once you cut threw their BS you came away with noting, I was trying to steer you in a direction that wasn't BS without taking away your dignity and then you had to personally attack me.
I think you are a good craftsman but if you want to be an artist I suggest you learn to take criticism especially when you are asking for it.

Interesting you would say...
Interesting you would say that. The title of this show was "Function Follows Form"
The age old adage "Form Follows Funtion" is to say that an objects form is defined by its intended use. To be frank, these tables suck as tables. They are cumbersome, heavy, slightly precarious and fagile in ways. It was in no way my objective to make the best functioning tables. Thier functionality is in essence a biproduct of thier form.

Adam,
I absolutly want...
Adam,
I absolutly want feedback about my work. I share your feelings about the BS artspeak that is thrown around in school, but I assure you I truly believe what I have said here.
There is a difference between being firm and being rude. You explicitly told me I was not an artist in the fine art sence. That my friend is what riled me a bit.
Since when does doing something well make it just craft? I just came out of a sculpture program where 90% of the objects were put together with hot glue and duct tape, but that would of course be considered fine art.

I think you're confused, Leslie...
And that's the point Adam was making. At least I think it was...
Either you're a designer or an artist. If you're designing furniture, you're a designer or at best an artisan(whatever the hell that term really means these days). If you're creating works of art, you're an artist. Simple as.
You need to decide which you want to do. Or if you want to do both, you need to separate the two I think.
Despite being as hopeless a design addict as I've ever met, I cannot say that I consider any of my favorite and most revered designers artists. There are a couple who managed to combine the two in a very few works, most of those being textiles. But to do so is truly some feat, very rare.
This notion that art encompasses all is such nonsense.
A table is not a piece of art. It's a piece of furniture. If it serves its purpose and is both well conceived and executed, it can then be considered a good piece of design. Same with architecture for that matter. Any knowledgeable construction grunt can draw a layout and build a house. It requires vision and good judgement however to create a successful work of architecture. But even so, you'll not find anyone who knows their oats calling it art.
I mean, you hear announcers referring to brilliant footballers as artisans these days. What utter drivel. The next time I hear someone refer to a loin of duck as a work of art I may completely lose it. Seriously.

I'm not confused at all....
I'm not confused at all. Agree to disagree.
Artist, artisan, craftsman, designer, architect....are NOT mutually exclusive terms.

To you they may not be...
But reality disagrees with you, dear.
Why do galleries and auction houses distinguish between art, objects and design then?

Les, you can debate this 'til the cows come home,
but that would be boring. Works such as yours are classified as "decorative arts" in the art museum world. No curator worth a damn would ever call it fine art, no matter how cleverly devised or finely crafted.