I stick my nose into the odd woodworking magazine and have allways been very impressed with the materials, finishes and technical skills of a lot of people but have allways been really uneasy about tha actual work they produce, much of it is just incredibly bizaare, most of it seems to come from the US.
If its craft it only respects tradition so far, if its design its hardly rational and its certainly not art so what the wtf is this stuff? Its all so willful and inelegant and I didn't have to search long to find these pictures. In pomo parlance I think its called contemporary craft.
Very tame examples!
I...
Very tame examples!
I believe it is more global than you would think. The US just has more
magazines for various crafts. Woodworking has passed down for generations.
Working in NYC and often around dozens of carpenters, nearly half speak
english as their second language. Coffee break and lunch often the lathe is
running,
and personal small bench projects are worked on. Just a pure passion for
wood. A few are often playing instruments they have made but most often
discussing politics and gas mileage. An educated bunch. But often not open
to the art world. If an art or design magazine slips in, it is often dismissed as rubbish
or 'my kid could do that'.
The magazines you mentioned are in the bathrooms, dog eared and ratty.
Some spend months on a chair or table at home and sure enough bring in
a stack of photos, usually film, not digital. Charming but odd.
An Eames shell chair is a sturdy perch for adding door hardware or a
handy step-stool for trim detail. Nakashima is well known, Eames, saarinen, no.
It is one in a hundred that joins the crew, usually from art school that says,
'i can't believe we are using Eames chairs as sawhorses'.
Back to your comment, it is overwhelming how visually odd some of these pieces are.
A dollar an hour in labor cost? Proportions are sometimes off, and defying gravity. Seems an honest
obsessive passion and love of the material. A grey area when it comes to good design.
Every artistic craft seems to have a magazine. And every one of them has a
commercial repetitive side and a more fine art sculptural side. I'm not sure how
this is determined. I can have a cup of tea in a stunning cup and enjoy it as much
as a painting or sculpture i own. Or given the choice, i may choose this cup or a
small carving over some of the furniture i've seen in these magazines.
The beauty of design? Surrounding ourselves with a personal collection of objects?
I've been given some pieces over the years. Some valuable, some not. Some as good as
firewood but charming and thoughtful.
What is it? I'm not sure. The chair you posted is rather beautiful, but if i owned it i would
tilt my head a bit at every glance. If a dear friend made it, it would be treasured like a good
friendship.
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