Reflection on Woodworking class

The semester finally ended and it is somewhat of a bittersweet ending for me I am glad that I am finally done, and yet sad to leave and not have access to the woodshop anymore. When I first started I had zero experience with anything wood related and was terrified to even go near a bansaw, but as the semester progressed I learned to be more comfortable with working with wood and I actually enjoyed working with wood. It also gave me a greater appreciation for woodmaking and furniture from experiencing first hand on how time consuming it is to make something that could be overlooked like a picture frame or a small end table. I have to honestly say that there is a very slim chance of me working with wood again, but not because i did not enjoyed it. Its just that since i am graduating having access to the woodshop will not be that easy anymore. But having taken this class helped open and broaden my horizon on what kind of materials I am capable of working with. Now I have the knowledge and knowhow to (if i wanted to) to work with wood and know how wood works and what kind are available to me. I went from knowing nothing to knowing how to making a table and a decent looking frame. I would definitely recommend this class to anyone artist or not.

I.M. Pei

The person that I have decided to research is not a furniture designer but rather an architect by the name of I.M. Pei., he went to M.I.T wanted to study engineer, but was convinced to study architecture. His role model and influence came from Frank Lloyd Wright. Some of his notable and recognizable works are The Louvre's glass pyramid and the spiral staircase, Bank of China (in Hong Kong) and the John F. Kennedy Library. I find I.M. Pei's work to be amazing and awe inspiring, his works are all very geometrical, clean cut and although it looks very minimal in the design aspects its elegant yet sturdy. Pei's style has been described as modernist with a cubist twist. Besides the obvious geometric shape usage in his designs I also noticed that he also likes to work with glass, He does not really explain why he uses the materials he uses, but it did mention that he likes to find balance in his works, which i think he does. Most if not all does not look too bare or too excessive.

As an artist dealing with environmental issues, one quickly realizes that what material you choose to make your art out of becomes a major issue. Almost everything we touch today comes from non-environmentally friendly sources. Perhaps, the best way to be an environmentally friendly artist is to just not make art? This was an interesting topic to think about in relation to this woodworking class.

I decided to look into George Nakashima, after remembering the slide show at the beginning of the semester showing his very natural looking furniture. I thought his work was interesting because of the way that he would leave much of his wood in its sort of original state, and how he would try to play up the natural beauty that was already present in the wood.

In doing some reading on him, it was interesting to read that he only ever worked with large furniture designers twice, each time being problematic for Kakashima. This was because the large designers would create short cuts and use artificial grains to make the furniture. Obviously this would not work for furniture designed specifically to draw upon the natural anomalies in the wood.

This relates to a conversation that myself and a couple other students in the class had in regards to furniture, such as Ikea, versus furniture made out of hardwood, like the tables we made. This circles back to the question of which is better for the environment. One maybe tempted to argue that Ikea furniture, being less wood intensive is better. It certainly is cheaper. However, as someone who as a poor college student bought Ikea furniture, I would argue that it is definitely not environmentally friendly. Ikea furniture is not designed to last. It is highly functional, which plays towards its appeal, but I’ve already broken a TV stand, and most of my furniture from Ikea will not make it past their life as college student furniture.

While going home for Thanksgiving break, I saw all the hardwood furniture my parents have. Much of it is a couple of generations old. Hardwood furniture will outlive us. This fact clearly shows that hardwood furniture, though perhaps not completely environmentally friendly, would have the lower environmental impact. If you’re hard wood coffee table is going to outlast you, how many are you possibly going to need to buy, right? This in comparison to Ikae furniture, which seems to need replacing fairly regularly. Of course, one has to consider price, and why a place like Ikae would do so well.

Ikae is based on functionality and inexpensive. (Though I sometimes wonder how inexpensive they really are.) The fact that they are inexpensive is very attractive to anyone with a limited budget. If you are trying to furnish an apartment on a limited budget, you are going to buy perhaps five pieces from Ikae instead of the one hardwood piece that same budget would.

Hardwood furniture seems to be what you buy when you get older. My parents either inherited pieces, or bought their own, when they finally could afford it. These pieces are all classics, and will outlast me assuming no unknown forces happen.

So the question could then become, how do you turn pieces like George Nakashima’s hardwood masterpieces, that use local woods and are clearly more environmentally friendly, into pieces that the masses can consume without going bankrupt? After working on the table for this class, it is clearly not an easy question to answer.

The stand and stool I built for this final project is in the Mission style. Besides the rectilinear aesthetic appeal of Mission furniture I also love the sensibility of its design. Each piece is designed with a particular function in mind. For instance my project is based on the Telephone table and Stand. You'll notice that the shelf in my desk is almost awkwardly narrow (approximately 5"), but the intention of this mission designed stand is merely to store a phone book, in which case the shelf is appropriately scaled. Foot Stools, Ladies Writing Tables, Fern Stand, Serving Tables, Magazine Table, Library Table...the list goes on. I love this philosophy, maybe it's a bit ocd but I simply like for things to not just go somewhere but belong somewhere. While reading a bit into Missiom Style it wasn't surprising that there were underlying social principles. Gustav Stickley described his design as being based on honesty and simplicity with sound qualities that led to honest men and good citizens. Like certain japanese architecture philosophies I appreciate the thoughfulness behind the style, regardless of whether I think parallel lines make for good citizens!

The End Table With A Little Twist

Creating an End Table for a final project was probably one of the most exciting task I've had in my undergraduate career. Not that it's exciting to create a table, but the idea that I get to use it long after it is built and that I can have something to hold onto after I graduate.

For this piece, I decided to use Cherry Wood due to its higher acidic level over other woods. Having a high acidic level in the wood content is important to me because sometime in the near future I would like to give the table an ebonized finish, and without the higher acidic content it would not be possible.

As for the little twist, I decided to use the shop's laser printer to etch out a Horde symbol, which represents my favorite faction from a computer game known as World of Warcraft (a game I'm currently into). I thought that using the laser printer would make the table a little unique, since I am part of the Digital Media program.

African Mahogany

I thought that it would be nice to find out something about the wood that we're using for our frames this semester. So here's a very short biography on African Mahogany:



African Mahogany is also known as Khaya senegalensis. It is native to Africa and Madagascar.
It produces little yellow flowers and bears wood-like fruits in the summer.



The African Mahogany is resistant to termites and wood rot, so African Mahogany was very popular and used often to build cabinets, door frames, and boats. The African Mahogany was used in the the early 18th century by American colonist to make furniture because it was durable and easy to work with as well as beautiful.

I tried to find out where this wood is harvested, but I had no luck.

More information about the African Mahogany: http://bft.cirad.fr/cd/BFT_236_43-56.pdf

George Washington Jack

Sideboard
George Jack (1855-1932)
60 1/2 inches (153.7 cm); Length: 84 1/4 inches (214.7 cm.); Width: 29 1/2 inches (75.0 cm)Mahogany, ornamented with marquetry.

George Washington Jack is Scottish-American born in New York and grew up in Glasgow. Later, Jack moved to London and in 1880, Jack was hired by the Morris & Co. a furniture company that was established by Philip Webb a furniture maker and William Morris an artist and textile designer. His central role in designing for Morris & Co. started in 1890 when Phillip Webb retired.
The distinguishing characteristics of his works are that they are very slender, delicate, and graceful.
Most of his influence comes from Phillip Webb, but his designs were also influenced by the Queen Anne era, which was different from Webb’s designs.
Jack worked in wood but designed for a lot of different materials like stain-glass, mosaics, and cast-ons. He was very talented in wood carving and later became a professor at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. He is also the author of The Fine Art Society Story.
What I like about his occasional table is that it’s really cute, and slender. It looks delicate and beautiful, but it’s strong. I want to make my table top something like that, but it’s my first semester here and I don’t know if I’m capable of it.


References:

Rodel, Kevin P., Binzen, Jonathan. Arts & Crafts Furniture: From Classic To Contemporary. Newtown, CT: The Taunton Press, Inc., 2003. 24. eBook.

"Occasional Table." The Victorian Web. Web. 30 Sept 2010. .


Occasional Table
Designer: George Washington Jack (1855-1932)
Manufacturer and retailer: Morris & Co.c. 1885
31 inches (78.5 cm) diameter; 27 inches (68.5 cm) high
Mahogany with central sunflower carved boss and 'pie-crust' top and six carved legs
Exhibited: London, The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, 1889