The way makers and designers have shifted boundaries of traditional materials by employing new and cutting edge technologies, has come to shape much of the territory of contemporary design that we find in galleries and museums. Wood is included. Now, the Center for Art in Wood in Philadelphia presents an exhibition that comes to explore the intersections of wood and those technologies that allow intriguing ways of working the materials. You will find here wood worked with CAD or CNC routers, laser cut, and other methods of digital design, all making us think differently about wood and design. Curated by Anne Carlisle (with Glenn Adamson as an advisor), the show comes to celebrate the seminal 2001 exhibition ‘ Wood Turning in North American Since 1930,’ by presenting innovations and amazing fabrication methods utilized in the studio work of those designers and artists included. Above: Ahmed El Husseiny/AE Superlab, The Diwani Chair, 2015; Atlantic birch plywood; @Ahmed El Husseiny/AE Superlab.
Adrien Segal, Molalla Meander, 2013. Carved plywood. Courtesy of the Artist. 2016.AS.01. Photo: Courtesy of the Artist METHOD: LIDAR maps, CNC router, hand carving
Wendell Castle, Spiritual Fruit, 2016. Ash. Courtesy of the Artist and Friedman Benda, New York. 2016.WC.01. Photo: Adam Reich, Courtesy of Friedman Benda, New York METHOD: CAD design and six-axis CNC milling tool
Joris Laarman, Maker Chair (Voronoi), 2014. Walnut. Courtesy of the Artist and Friedman Benda, New York. 2016.JL.01. Photo: Friedman Benda, New York METHOD: Digitally fabricated 3D parts, CNC milling machine
Yuri Kobayashi, Being, 2005. Ash. Photo: Courtesy of the Artist, METHOD: Initial drawing done by hand. Woodworking machinery: jointer, planer, table saw, and mortise. Bent-lamination. Fine-tuned with hand tools
Alexander White. Monroe Chair, 2016. Maple veneer, Wenge veneer, birch plywood. Photo: Courtesy of the Artist METHOD: Veneer guillotine, veneer press, CNC router, electric sander, drill, clamps
David Nosanchuk, Butterfly Asteroid, 2016. Beech veneer, bronze, fiberglass, LED illumination. Photo: John Carlano METHOD: Laser engraving and cutting, CNC router, 3D scanning and printing, lost wax casting, hand applied fiberglass, hand applied finishing
Bud Latven, Spiral Impact 3, 2007. Mexican cocobolo, American tiger maple. Courtesy of the Artist. Photo: Robert Reck; METHOD: Schematic drawing: CAD, mathematical renderings of material components: Excel, table saw, band saw, thickness planer, stationary sander, thickness sander, pressure clamping, wood lathe, rotary carvers, hand and air file sanders, finish sanders, buffers
Christopher Kurtz, Singularity, 2013. Hand carved basswood, milk paint. METHOD: Joined and hand carved from multiples of square stock basswood. Carved with chisels, gouges, knives, hand planes, spokeshaves and miniature violin makers carving tools.
Elisa Strozyk, Wooden Textile, No 1, 2010. Apple wood, cherry, beech, maple, silk. METHOD: Laser cut veneer wood, placed by hand