O-Kay -doke-
tiered of traditional? and tired of the ground breaking thread at “Tired of Traditional thread?
This is your spot. Want to talk about BEER? – or Chocolates from EUROPE, or more importantly the New England Patriots? THIS IS YOUR THREAD!
For the creative mind – you, that can carry a conversation in both fine wood working, finishing, and some how focus on beer, chocolate, and Football. Well, it is your time to sparkle!
What do the Gods of woodworking have to say………….
Best,
A HUMBLE SERVANT OF THE CURVED SPATULA,
jIM
I know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
Replies
I think I need a drink. That's what I say. I'm not a fussy drinker, but please don't pass me a can of that gnat's piss Bud rubbish. Slainte.
Richard Jones Furniture
tt,
How BOUT those Redskins!??
Ray
Dear cripple, ya really know how to hurt a guy, I will follow Richards lead, make mine a Sam Smith's oatmeal stout. Paddy
Padraic,
Ah, Cowboys fan, are we?
Have a wee dram o' Red Breast, and rub your sad spot til it gets glad again.
Ray, the cripple, but not yet invalid
Ray, I root for the Titans and any one who plays the Patriots!!! I WILL have a dram or two of those very fine pot still drippings late this evening after my salute with the .54 cal Hawken off the back porch(no ball only 80 gr. and a felt wad.) HAPPY NEW YEAR to all.
Padraic the Yankee.
I second that, How Bout those Redskins!!!Kaleo
http://www.kalafinefurniture.blogspot.com
Gibbs has proven he is an incredible leader and motivator of men.
Go 'Skins!!!!!!!!!!!
CH
Especially when the cowboys lie down and let him wim:)
Hay Ray,
There good but - how about those Patriots!
Best,
JimI know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
Jim,
Just 3 more to go!
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Can't wait.
I guess you live no where Boston?
Best,
JimI know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
tt,
I live in northern NH, just this side of Canada.
A Patriots fan,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
A Patriots fan!I knew I liked you. Of course I'm also from upstate NH originally (Lyme). Spent the first 17 years there and the next six in Portsmouth while getting my BS and MS at UNH. Go Wildcats!What's the feeling there with regards to this coming Tuesday?
We're slowly seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, hopefully it's not an oncoming train! As for the boffunery, AKA Primary, it will be good to get a repriese from the water torture bombardment from the politicians.
I mean the same adds over and over and over. I've even resorted to watching DIY! At least Amy Williams is fun to look at, and has a brain!
Yes I know, I didn't answer your question. Gawd their madness has permeated us commoners! Now we're acting like them! OK, well they've finally resorted to the he said, she said stage so we've all decided to write in Pat Paulsen.
Is he still alive!?
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Well, good luck to you. Give us the best of the lot will you. It'd be nice to have someone in office who's primary concern wasn't blowing my paycheck on stroking his ego. Is there a single candidate who's in favor of small government?
Pedro,
Wouldn't it be great to elect someone with at least a ½ ounce of common sense or some sense of reality!?
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 1/5/2008 8:59 am ET by KiddervilleAcres
Ah! You're a starry eyed idealist.
I suspect it's more likely to be remnants of the wrestling match last night with a Capt. Morgan, chilled outside in the snowbank with shaved ice!
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Wouldn't it be great to elect someone with at least a ½ ounce of common sense or some sense of reality!?Why I never ran for Office!
Will,
re:Wouldn't it be great to elect someone with at least a ½ ounce of common sense.What do you cut that with Turp or alcohol?
Best;
JimI know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
It's already been cut with alcohol and who knows what else, I recommend examining it in direct sunlight.------------------------------------
It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore
Dave,
I think you meant single barrel scotch!
Best,
JiimI know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
Bob.. As for the boffunery..Your full of it and.. Great reads!
Will,
Oh the plot thickens.
Yesterday we received 8 phonecalls from these folks, 3 during the football game. SPIT! Then 4 more during dinner! Can't offer expletive as I'd lose my Knots priveleges! I told one of them, "for Gawds sake can't you guys at least take Sunday off!?" "I have company and we're trying to have dinner if you don't mind."
The last one really made me irate! Someone called for Hillary at 9:30 PM! The FBI will probably be making a visit today!
This morning a friend of mine who lives in Dixville Notch called and told that he got 14 calls yesterday! They must be getting desparate for the 16 votes there!
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Yeha,
You have to be fascinated with the Patriots. If you live in Texas you hate em, Your in the orbit of the New England!Good school, I graduated from University of Hartford; were close enough to trade wood!
Best,
JimI know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
Were close enough. I'm in Indiana now. Which is absolutely wonderful by the way. Nice solid conservative state. Great people. Cost of living is such that a middle-class family can live wonderfully well.But the Colts are a thorn in my side. I promised my students in a moment of hubris, that I'll shave my head if the Patriots loose the AFC championship to the Colts again.
Well, that is a demonstration of gravetos! Kudos!
Your hair will last through, 2008 - good luck in 2009!Best,
Jim
I know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
"ground breaking"?? LOL
Yep,
Ground breaking is the issue of the thread!
Read on!BEST,
jIMI know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
Pontificating about design theory in the abstract is a lot of wanking. Not that wanking doesn't have its moments. Enjoy.
Quality is the goal - and I kinda doubt this discussion will get you there. Good luck nevertheless.
For what it's worth, my magic 8-ball says all furniture in the future will consist of energy fields defined and controlled by super powerful quantum computers utilizing dark matter and string theory type physics (i.e., the power to maintain the fields will be provided by other universes). Furniture-making will become a test of one's imagination, since if you can imagine it, the cyberhelmet can write the program that generates the fields. I think it's rather ironic how imagination will, just as it is today, remain the sin qua non for to producing quality pieces even in this advanced - almost unrecognizable future world. Que twilight zone music ....
Samson;
I appreciate your passion , and I can say that your comments that seem to deviate from wood working; well I also love Cosmology and am very interested in VSL theory (variable speed of light theory to replace the theory of Inflation - which could replace the Einstein equasiion of E equals MC Squared) Well whatever.But thats not the point. The point is future theory (or you can use any word to replace "theory") Of wood working.Look, there is no thread on future design. Those that try to express themselves are not considered part of the fold.Those that expresses themselves are beautiful.Best,
JimI know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
Samson;
OK here is the theory I think works:E=MC square/ 1+/ mc squared divided by EpBut lets get back to wood working theory....do you believe there is a theory going forward or is it all 1700's stuff?
Best,
JimI know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
do you believe there is a theory going forward
This is a silly question. Imagine a painter sitting in a bar with a group of feloow painters in a moment just before the first impressionist or cubist or (insert your favorite style here) and asking your question. The answer is always that artists of any sort who are serious about makng quality in their own time that matches or surpasses that which has gone before will be driven to break new ground.
Samson
you said:The answer is always that artists of any sort who are serious about makng quality in their own time that matches or surpasses that which has gone before will be driven to break new ground. The only word that trips me up is "quality" - I think concept works better, because quality is a given if your talking about the craft.; but It sounds like you are saying the same thing I am saying. I think we agree!
Best,
Jim
I know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
"...because quality is a given if your talking about the craft"
I don't think that's true at all. There seem to be a lot of people who have a good sense of the "art" of woodworking, and can come up with some brilliant ideas, but who aren't very good at all when it comes to translating the concept into an actual piece.
And then there are those pieces that are skillfully executed, but couldn't possibly work in practice (e.g., a chair that would collapse into kindling the first time a 200-lb person tried to sit down).
-Steve
Ever read Pirsig? Something close to his metaphysics of quality is what I'm referring to:
"Quality", or "value" as described by Pirsig, cannot be defined because it empirically precedes any intellectual constructions. It is the "knife-edge" of experience, known to all. "What distinguishes good and bad writing? Do we need to ask this question of Lysias or anyone else who ever did write anything?" (Plato's Phaedrus, 258d). Likening it with the Tao, Pirsig believes that Quality is the fundamental force in the universe stimulating everything from atoms to animals to evolve and incorporate ever greater levels of Quality.
Samson,
I have an idea. Post your new cabinet and let the designers all have a go with it. It to me is a design I have never seen B4. Who knows, you may be on to a new style, Samsonian!
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 1/4/2008 8:10 am ET by KiddervilleAcres
My cabinet idea is nothing so strange or original. And it certainly remains to be seen whether it will "work" as a piece when complete.
But your point about naming styles after the fact is worth noting. It is only in retrospect that we define and pigeon hole. What would it have meant to anyone in 1900 if I wrote a newspaper article predicting that some rocking chairs in the future, while having all the typical parts, would be cut, sanded, and assembled in a "new" way to yield what I will refer to as a "Maloof" rocker; or that a cabinet on a stand would be built in a "Krenov" style; or that a body of furniture would have a "Nakishima" style; and on and on with all the new styles that have been recognized as original in some respect and of high quality over the last century?
Samson,
or that a cabinet on a stand would be built in a "Krenov" style; or that a body of furniture would have a "Nakishima" style;
Not to nitpick but I would say that I don't see a Krenov or Nakashima style but rather a Krenov or Nakashima design. That word style gets missused and I think that adds to some folks confusion, at least it does to me.
It seems to me that style refers more to periods of furniture that have certain design elements in all the pieces attributed to the given style or period. Witness William & Mary, Queene Anne, Chippendale, etc. I also see, in the case of Chippendale, more of an evolution from Queen Anne, starting with embellishments to the Queen Anne style.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
TOE - MATE -OOO ; TOE - MOT-OOO ; let's call the whole thing off!
When 10,000 woodworkers in the decades following Maloof's or Krenov's originals produce similar works - though not reproductions per se - does it become a "style?"
Attributes of designs make up a style, genre, class, category, species, etc. etc.
In short, call it what you will. It's a distinction without a difference, no?
Samson,
I believe whenever you talk about predicting anything it is hard because you talking about stuff that is not in the shop and on the work bench. In that regard, and because I am not very talented, I do look for new ideas.However I must confess a fascination with those people that comment on the matter. There are so many threads on which tool should I buy, how do I use shellac and the rest. Once you've read the question a hundred times, I believe you look for something new.Now there is absolutely nothing wrong in any way with any thread on the site.....however it it is interesting to ask probing questions and hopefully do so in a non confrontational way that, still push the conversation (and I can tell you pushing the conversation is hard!). Even better is to get those with an eye on things to debate the issue.
Thanks Samson for the post.Best,
JimI know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
I think you need to rethink and refocus your query. You are trolling for ideas as to what new directions will emerge that match movements like "Arts & Crafts" or "Mission" or "Federal"? Is that it? What new gestalts will propel woodwork into new bodies of stuff?
I think these queries put the cart before the horse. These things do not emerge fully realized, but instead are the work of evolutionary progressions as per Lataxe. There are indeed folks like Morris in Arts & Crafts, who can act as catalysts and innovators. Morris may have had ideas that led him to react to industrialization with aesthetic, production, etc. themes and methods that we came to call a movement when adopted by many. The trouble is that these themes are like the different colors on an artists' pallette - the choice of those particular colors will indeed effect the outcome of the individual pieces, but are very unlikely to predict the likelihood that the pieces will be good - to judge "good," you need the pieces themselves.
If you are stuck in "tried and true" styles of the past, try some exercises that are driven by a challenge (a dresser with no 90 degree angles; a cabinet that takes its shape from a jack in the pulpit plant), a limited "pallette" or set of tools, or some abstract dictum (lines from nature - informed by local mountains or terrain - a testament to water wheels or smokestacks or ...). These sorts of things drive innovation and fire your muse.
Hi Samson;
This is open to everyone.I don't think I responded to your thread....
You wrote:
I think you need to rethink and refocus your query. You are trolling for ideas as to what new directions will emerge that match movements like "Arts & Crafts" or "Mission" or "Federal"? Is that it? What new gestalts will propel woodwork into new bodies of stuff? Indeed I am trolling....I am asking specifically is (I wish I could use the word "are") there (a)new design movement(s) like Mission or Federal? I have found a question that is a Void, a Black Hole, a Legend which became a Myth.
There appears no collective of artists doing new-united work like Bauhaus or Memphis. There appears no wood working collectives that are edgy and a hard break from the past such as Andy Warhol did in art. From what can figure out, and this excludes folks in construction or kitchen cabinet work, the following:1. those that follow the classics - from Queen Anne to Federal - an extremely limited market, as frankly, If you want those designs and have a lot of money - buy the antiques.
2. those that let the art of woodworking escape the world of reality and design technologically challenging designs with very limited practicality.
3. the novice that aspires to simple case construction.
4. A hand full of talented artists that haven't broken through the commercial glass ceiling.I am still poling around this issue, and hopefully prodding, those that can really add to the conversation but are holding back. Infact if you guys know someone that can add to the conversation - prod him or her to respond. There has to be a Rennie McKentosh out there!Best,
Jim I know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
jiM,
You are not taking this 21st Century Design subject seriously enough! I'll have you know I've been re-reading my Dennett in an effort to come up with sufficient evolutionary theology to enable the composition of an essay describing how the design-space of furniture stands today and what the significant furniture-ecology factors are right now.
This will allow us to predict the evolutionary trend and fit right in with out future cabinet-making efforts. It may be necessary to cull all furniture not meeting the exacting design standards revealed, of course. Still, it's quite chilly at the moment and a nice bonty will warm the toes and enable us to toast this or that delicious morsel.
Nor have I forgotten to consider the set of all furniture designs that might have been but (for one reason or another) never became actual. It is a sad fact that once a design-space has been occupied by a successful actual design, many of the other possibilities are thereby prevented from evolving.
So, if only some fool had not invented the chair, we might all be drinking beer whilst kneeling on a twoddle-stool, whereby one's personage is supported on both knees, one elbow and the opposing little finger. After all, why should our gluteous maximii have to take all the strain?
Lataxe, somewhat confused but covering it up bravely.
After that bit of verbal diarrhoea on your part Lataxe, I definitely need a drink, just to understand what you said. Pass the Port. Slainte.Richard Jones Furniture
Richard,
Have you offered your contribution to the latest poll on dovetails? How about a new twist or two?
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Sorry Bob. I haven't got involved in that one. But there again, I haven't contributed to any of the other polls that I've seen in the last eight or nine years.
I thought I needed a closing line with a pithy but impenetrable meaning, so I added one, see below. I owe the inspiration for the idea to Lataxe-- my hero of windy but meaningless verbiage. We Brits; we're all full of shi__, er, uhm, I mean, ...it.
A curmudgeon I may be, but with the saving grace of being thoroughly unpleasant with it. Slainte.
Richard Jones Furniture
Edited 12/31/2007 4:18 pm by SgianDubh
Do I correctly assume you hold office in the Bulwer-Lytton Society?
Not yet Jimma. Not even a member. Don't I need to be proposed by an existing member? You're not thinking of putting my name forward the next time you attend a meeting of the society are you, ha, ha-- ha, ha, ha. Slainte.Richard Jones Furniture
Naaaah -- they wouldn't let me in as they said I was overqualified having actually read some of his stuff during my early effete period.
Richard,
We Brits; we're all full of shi__, er, uhm, I mean, ...it.
Surely you meant swill! I'd venture to guess that if the Jolly Biscuiteer were to get into carving he'd no doubt make one in the Greene & Greene style.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob,
Hmmmm - a G&G swill. It would require dangle-lanterns with them hat-like roofs; and perhaps some stained glass inserts for the chicks or suckling pig to look out of. The handle would have to leather, running through a complex wooden part for the shoulder.....
Is this some kind of evolution via unnatural interbreeding , do you think?
Lataxe
regarding your comments to Lataxe
You have to be kidding.
Your comments can't reflect your honest opinion.
best,
JimI know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
tt,
I'm a bit confused......... Not sure what comment you are referring to?
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Consider it passed, drink up!
Best,
JimI know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
Good words! ;-)
Better life through Zoodles and poutine...
Hi LataxeYou said
"in an effort to come up with sufficient evolutionary theology to enable the composition of an essay describing how the design-space of furniture stands today and what the significant furniture-ecology factors are right now."
That sounds fascinating. Can you expand on any of your thoughts? I think the furniture-ecology factors have been in play for some time and there are simple examples from changes in finishes to no import rule of certain woods to alternative replacement from everything like aluminum 2 by 4's laminates, adhiseves, paints, to deck material made from corn husks (I think it's TREX)
Given the spike in energy costs this will really inflate the ecology trend.Anyways can you post any of your thoughts on what you are researching?I also got a kick out of your comment about the chair. I think your right one major design innovation closes down a lot of creativity.Best,
JIm
I know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
Jim,
Despite the digs and pricks of that blasted Scotsman with his wee dirk, I am continuing to ponder the Deep Matters of furniture design via (the admittedly somewhat orthogonal perspective of) evolutionary theory. As you note, it's the ecological context of current furniture design that's undergone a very large change in recent times. But it isn't just the physical ecology that is radically different now but also the metaphysical context....
Once a furniture maker produced stuff in a relatively narrow and slow-moving tradition. Many of us continue to produce in this fashion; I am still stuck in Arts&Crafts whilst others are under the foot of the scuttle-leg or even the ball in the claw, so to speak.
However, the market for furniture and its function, look, style et al is now vastly wider than it used to be. Furniture makers therefore have a much greater design-space into which they can evolve many new "species" of furniture than was likely heretofore.
The design-space for evolving furniture (design ideas and their physical manifestation) is suddenly expanded because of the increasing globalisation of information and a consequent vast range of style ideas or lifestyles; but also because of the availability of new materials and processes.
At the same time, some of those restrictions (economics, resource-depletion etc) you mention are also stimulating the evolutionry process.
When the ecology is in flux, evolution takes off. New forms are able to survive, prosper and spread to take advantage of the new resources (styles, materials, markets and every other aspect of the modern world). Your question is an attempt to anticipate and participate in this accelerated evolution.
One approach is to just wait and see what evolves. Evolution (whether in the physical world or in the world of ideas) proceeds automatially via its very mechanical and unintelligent algorithm. But we self-concious beings cannot help but theorise. Naturally, we get the theories wrong and the essentially chaotic (new sense of that word) process goes off unpredictably here and there.
But it is fun to try and anticipate evolution; or at least to identify the important ecological factors within the design space that is curently available but unfilled - the ecological factors that are highly stimulting to furniture design.
Of course, the identification of ecological factors (and even more so, their likely effects) is the hard part and I am till pondering myself. I was hoping Knots folk might begin (as you have) to list those important ecological factors, as they see them. Here are a couple of examples (one metaphysical, one physical):
1) The stability of classical tinking has been largely supplanted by modernism, which expects and demands ever-accelerating change. How will furniture styles of the bespoke maker respond to a market-demand that no longer values longevity but also wishes to spend as little as posible for as much as possible? Perhaps one emergent survival strategy of modern furniture will be its inherent re-configurability (think Tansu) or at least recycleability (think knock-down or modular costruction). This as opposed to the Ikea survival strategy, which is essentially "cheaply-made and throw-away".
2) Technology has produced many WW machines and proceses that allow wood and wood products to be formed in ways that were not possible or easy once. What potentially lies beyond current modern forms (eg of vacuum-pressed flowing surfaces and similar) as a consequence of developing technology?
There must be hundreds of factors such as these now at play.......?
Lataxe, loquating like mad.
Ah, Lataxe, but you've got to admit the digging and pricking keeps you on your toes. Happy New year to you. Drivel on! Slainte.Richard Jones Furniture
Richard,
And a very Happy Hog to you too sir!
I do like to be dug and pricked on occasion, but it is best when such teasing is performed by the ladywife in them black leather [message put into the naughty-bucket]
Lataxe, only a bit perverse and never on Wednesdays.
Your essay reminds of a most unfortunate trip I made to Paris many years ago in the company of an architect cousin and his school chums. Would up spending hours listening to such talk about design while searching for a synagogue designed by the same bloke that did the Metro stations. I was young, and single and the enchantments of wine, woman and song where being ignored for a bunch of design dribble. I tell you it was a crime against humanity. I bought a 7 franc bottle of wine and swilled it while trying to figure out where in the hell I was in that damn city and how to get to more pleasurable pursuits.Dan Carroll
Dan,
You were in Paree and didn't seek out The Situationists!? Now them lads knew how to write obscure and heavy-sounding prose of the most esoteric yet facinating kind. Theirs is the concept of The Spectacle - the great theatre of human society, its mad plots and posturing players (and of course, we the audience, the folk who pay at the door to keep them Actors in fancy costumes and public relations money, despite the fact that they do not always entertain us too well).
In fact, I believe you Americans are about to reach one of those periodic little crises in your local Spectacle, any November now. Already The Players are preening and making ham-like speeches or gestures, not to mention wild promises and dire predictions. :-)
Check out Guy Debord, should you enjoy wild philosophical ranting of early post-modernist flavour. He was the most manic Situationist and eventually drank too much then did away wi' hissel, in a fit of pique at the silly world and its doings.
***
Of course, all designers today really should bone-up on evolutionary theory and the related hard science. That stuff is Universal Acid on just about every classical version of human understanding and philosophy. I loves to see it bubble and hiss on the daft old ideas! There goes another dearly-held belief of olde wifeys everywhere. Huzzah!!
Lataxe, also an admirer of Paris Metro architecture
Lataxe,
I assume you mean our little theatre of the absurd, aka our election. And as for 'actor' it is truly amazing the get folks to pay good hard earned money to watch them. Of course, if you have seen any of the campaign finance reports, maybe the actors and politicians are both species of the same sort of fraud. Dan Carroll
Dan,
This thread is obviously not for you.. so please do not take offense..The intent is to explore design theory, which, from my observation, has not been done on this site, and certainly does not deserve to be diminished.I personally thirst for comments like these as opposed to "new methods of making "Shaker Knobs" (see FWW curent issue)
Best,
JimI know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
Oh but it is -- I reject the idea of 'design theory' as mostly hot air that will not produce a stick of furniture and if embraced will in fact get in the way of producing a pleasing form. It is all in the 'eye' of the maker and the beholder. God given talent is what matters, not some hot air theory. Dan Carroll
Dan;
your probably right on that. Theory is prediction. So the question should be what is on the workbenches now that is innovative.
Best,
JimI know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
Dan;
There is a great example of design theory that changed the world of design. This would conflict with your opinion.Bauhaus; Located in pre-world war 2 Germany, Bauhaus was a "college" that included the like of Groupius (architecture) Van der Rohe(architecture) Kandissky (art) Breuer (furniture) Mahole-Nage (lighting) Paul Klee (lithography), Erich Brendel (furniture), Henrich Bussy (wood carving) Oskar Schlemmer (stage) Annie Albers (tapestry) Herbert Bayer (Graphic arts) Theordore Bolger (pottery)Hitler hated Bauhaus, and the teachers left and moved to Chicago, USA and started the Chicago institute of design.To me this is the most obvious example of design theory dominating 30 years of everything.There are other examples I am sure; I wonder if Rhode Island School of Design or Rochester Institute aren't doing the same thing as we type thise threads.......Best,
JimI know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
regarding your comments to Lataxe
You have to be kidding.
Your comments can't reflect your honest opinion.
best,
JimI know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
when such teasing is performed by the ladywife in them black leather My wife looked more than beautiful in Cotton Jammies with them feet covers!
Richard,
I've been curious for a while now. I assume you are Scottish, so I was wondering what your whisky of choice would be. On a recent visit to Scotland, we stumbled across a distillery near Pitlochry called Edradour. We loved the tour--but not as much as we love the non chill-filtered single malt that we brought back with us. The only problem is--we can't get any more of it here in Texas. Oh well, at least we've got our Shiner Bock.
Go Cowboys.
"You may all go to hell. As for me, I'm going to Texas."
Davy Crockett
No particular whisky for me doorboy. I'm not a fussy drinker so anything will slide down, some a bit easier than others. I just prefer beer really. Slainte.Richard Jones Furniture
Lataxe,
I am blown away.I have tried to get the pros to respond, and I will say I have been unimpressed with the responses. I have to take pause, as you were direct and to the point.I am impressed with your response, I hope others will notice and consider. I hope Fine Wood Working will give your thoughts consideration.Well done, extremely well done.Best,
JimI know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
I have reread you comments and again find them extraordinary. So many people respond in humor, so few respond in clarity.Again my thanks for your comments and again - can you say more?Really, say a lot more!Best,
JimI know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
Hmmmm... I can see that mass-produced furniture, consumed by the masses, may act like an evolutionary system. However:
Custom furniture, consumed by the few, is not subject to the same selection forces. Unless a business-minded furniture designer were to team with a mass producer, his creative-minded style forces would be too small.
As has happened in the past, a group of artistes could start a movement by joining their forces. (I see Samson mentioned Cubists whilst I was composing - LOL) Try predicting human groupings.
Knowing the requirements (i.e., consumer tastes, material commodity futures, buzzwords du jour) does not predict the problem being solved (i.e., a furniture need), nor its solution (i.e., the furniture).
As a Software Engineer, I have heard far too many Quality [1] experts tell me that if only we could define the (creative) Design Process, we would be able to incrementally improve it until even the most stultified Programmer (i.e., Wood Butcher) could produce a Thing of Beauty. Hmph. A Thing of Correct Function, perhaps, but not a Thing of Beautiful Form.
> Perhaps one emergent survival strategy of modern furniture> will be its inherent re-configurability (think Tansu) or at least > recycleability (think knock-down or modular costruction).
Isn't the best survival strategy to be a Well-Built Thing of Beauty, both enduring and endearing? I guess I'm just in my cynic phase:
Your own citation of Tansu was amusing, as it is an old thing which is both reconfigurable and modular. For knock-down, please consider ancient man and his table: a table top on saw-horses, from which we get the phrase, "set the table."
So... Forget the factors. Creativity is, by definition, unpredictable. If we want to enchant, amuse, comfort and awe, we must learn to, respectively:
capture the gaze of the viewer by doing the unexpected and triggering a pattern search with self-similarity;
introduce humor with unexpected, non-threatening sequences;
maintain balance; and
push the boundaries
Woodworking technology may let us incarnate our Thing in new (or simply easier) ways, but obviously the Idea comes before the Thing.
/dev, the UNIX directory for device[2] drivers, staunch believer in divine[3] inspiration (like DanCC), enjoying this thread, anticipating nothing and ideating like mad.
--------------[1] Quality, as in "without defects", not as in "value."
[2] de·vice [di-vahys] - noun
1. a thing made for a particular purpose; an invention or contrivance, esp. a mechanical or electrical one. 2. a plan or scheme for effecting a purpose. 3. a crafty scheme; trick. 4. a particular word pattern, figure of speech, combination of word sounds, etc., used in a literary work to evoke a desired effect or arouse a desired reaction in the reader: rhetorical devices. 5. something elaborately or fancifully designed. 6. a representation or design used as a heraldic charge or as an emblem, badge, trademark, or the like. 7. a motto. 8. Archaic. devising; invention.
[3] di·vine /di-vahyn/ <snipped>
6. Informal. extremely good; unusually lovely: He has the most divine tenor voice. 8. of superhuman or surpassing excellence: Beauty is divine. 13. to discover or declare (something obscure or in the future) by divination; prophesy. 14. to discover (water, metal, etc.) by means of a divining rod. 15. to perceive by intuition or insight; conjecture. 16. Archaic. to portend.
Hi Slashdev,
Not intending to interfere with your post but I was struck by your concise definition of creativity. It sounds so precise that I can't imagine there could be a point 5.
Best
Jim * capture the gaze of the viewer by doing the unexpected and triggering a pattern search with self-similarity;
* introduce humor with unexpected, non-threatening sequences;
* maintain balance; and
* push the boundariesI know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
go sooners
Beer, chocolate, and the New England Patriots. This wouldn't be directed at anyone in particular would it?
Hi;
Yes - it is directed to all the good guys that like woodworking, the PATS, beer and chocklet. Did I leave anyone out?Best,
JimI know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
What do the Gods of woodworking have to say.............
buld the ARC and I forgot to ask what a CUBIT was!
Will;
I understand you flux, you got to ask Bill Cosby that whole thing about a cubit!
Best;
JimI know less than half of you, half as much as I should Like;
I like less than have of you, half as much as you deserve.
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