The trend is definitely not just seen in Ikea, but now it seems that every furniture and design shop is peddling the latest plywood designs. The rebirth and appeal plywood design is obvious; its clean and organic lines, simple joinery and (theoretically) it’s at a minimal cost. Who couldn’t resist an Eames knock-off chair in their living room?
Bent Ply – The Art of Plywood Furniture (2003) by Eric Pfeiffer and Dung Ngo is a fantastic little book devoted to the history of plywood in modern design. The book spans from the earliest uses of wood veneers, through the Industrial Revolution, to design today, covering everything from how plywood is made to how it is molded into furniture. A detailed look into the making of the Wave Desk is explained from begining stages of harvesting and selecting the trees in Eastern Europe to the final stages molding and finishing of the plywood in Italy. The contributions to plywood design by Alvar Aalto, Michael Thonet, and Charles and Ray Eames is clearly explained and illustrated. But of equal importance is the presentation of this book; incased in an extremely striking hardcover made from plywood itself.
My first year in the MFA photo program at Mass Art resulted in three silver gelatin prints shown above. Althought many more photo projects where worked on during this first year, these three are the only ones worth showing. Non of the projects, including these three were ever completed. No digital techniques were used in the process of creating these images. Most of the materials used in the process of making each of these images are listed below.
untitled 1, 2004
+ materials used: tape, plexiglass and paint on paper.
untitled 2, 2004
+ materials used: marshmallows, wax, tape, plexiglass and paint on paper.
untitled 3, 2004
+ materials used: chalk, tape and wax on found Polaroid.
My final year at Mass Art ended with a series of drawings form my thesis show. Click here to view the thesis show.
While writing this post I came across the web site for Paul Lowry who was my professor from undergrand that introduced me to this process of working.
+ www.paullowry.com
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Intertidal, a new monograph of photographs by Jesse Burke has just been released by Decode Books. Intertidal is also availible as a limited collector’s edition, which comes with a signed 16″ x 20″ photograph. The book and the collector’s edition are available at: Decode Books and Platform Gallery
"As young boys growing up on the shores of New England, Jesse Burke and his friends would spend days exploring and sifting through the rocks and shells of the intertidal zone—the area of land that exists between the high and the low tide marks. In his photographs in Intertidal, Burke explores the complexity of masculine identity, which is in many ways analogous to the intertidal zone. His images capture those moments "in between," with the idealized notion of manhood on the one side and actually being male on the other. His photographs of men and their landscapes hint at sweetness, but they also embrace the heroic idea of masculinity. Burke is drawn to the tension of vulnerability (be it a rupture or physical / emotional / metaphorical wound) and grit ("no pain / no gain"); to the space between strength and tenderness. Sometimes these images capture the fleeting moment between events. Sometimes they capture the concrete event itself. Always, the photographs are working in the ambiguous space of the intertidal zone."
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Links
www.jesseburke.com
www.decodebooks.com
www.platformgallery.com |
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During the last seven weeks I found myself bouncing from Poland to Canada and back again. And for the last seven(ty) minutes I’ve been battling with what delightful insights about the trip to post here. A couple of photos is a good start, but a helping hand from a friend only way to go:
“Canada is one of those places that you can never leave behind…yes, it may appear to be somewhat dull and ordinary to some, but to those who have experienced it, it’s so much more. I told myself that it was about seeing the sights and experiencing nature again, but if I was really honest with myself (and my parents) I’d say that it was 100% about seeing my beautiful and witty friend Monika. My best friend in the whole world for whom I’d cross over burning coals and swim across an ocean. If it wasn’t for the convenience of flying I actually would have swam across the Atlantic for this spectacular person…”
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Needless to say, it was great seeing Monika, friends and family. The seven week and seven city tour was amazing and flew by too quickly. For more photos can be found on: Flickr. Slowly but surely, I’ll be adding more images from the trip.
Now that things are settling back to normal here in Krakow, a couple of projects that will hopefully be done in the near future:
+ Michal Kowalczuk – Drawings
+ JK Fotografia
+ Budonis
