_make handcraft work sample
DESCRIPTION
_Make handcraft work sampleTRANSCRIPT
xox chair
xx table
chinese mason’s stool
10,000 year lamp
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all work copyright m. strong and associates 2012
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MATERIALS: WHITE OAK
XOX CHAIR
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the barrel seat of the xox chair consists of 20 coopered staves cut from a single plank of white oak using a progressively increasing cut angle. once cut, fasceted,
and glued together the staves create a radiating grain pattern in profile that shows visually how the barrel performs when subjected to humidity changes. namely,
the barel is able to freely expand and contract tangent to its surface, mitigating any internal bending or tensile forces that might arrise along glue joints in any
other orientation.
the back and legs were made of 2x4-inch boards of 4 foot long white oak which were steam bent using a steel and plywood bending jig.
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MATERIALS: CLARO WALNUT, BRASS
xx table
xx table is made of solid claro walnut. where the xox chair is composed mostly of soft curves, the xx table consists entirely of planes and angles.
faceted legs are live tennoned to half-lapped stringers and live-doweled to the table top. the table top uses an s-curve joint and floating tenons to mary two
crotch-cut sister boards that exhibit a superbly unchecked flame pattern. in addition to its floating tennon construction, three battons brace the underside of the
table to prevent it from bowing and are secured with slotted brass hardware to allow for expansion and contraction over time.
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materials: 4 steel brick holders, 2 hutong bricks, rope tied in noose knot
chinese mason’s stool
the chinese mason’s stool is built from materials and tools that one finds on every construction site in china rearranged into the semblance of a furniture
typology just as ubiquitous as the low folding stool from which it borrows its form.
beyond the obvious conjunction of associated parts into a familiar form, the stool operates using the logic of its components. the brick holders hold bricks.
the rope binds and ties off. the bricks form surfaces. here the bricks are held by the holders, but only after the handles are bound by the rope. similarly, the rope
holds the handles of the bottom brick holders, thereby extending the feet. in this way, the parts to whole relationship is not just one of associated components
assembled into a desired form, but an explication of the component functions and relationships which serves to justify its own assembly.
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materials: 13 pairs of scissiors, 1 light bulb, red thread, electrical wire
10,000 year lamp
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mao zedong is quoted as having said “the zhang xiaoquan knife and scissor company should not be abbandoned, even after 10,000 years.” zhang xiaoqan was the
oldest continuosly operating company at the time, dating back to its founding in 1653. the 10,000 year lamp is made with the materials it is made of. scissors were
used to cut the thread that bind the scissors that appear to be just about to cut the thread that holds them together.
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additional materials available by request
contact matt strong
