Micro Expedition

micro expedition

traversing Greenland, 1930 (image: public domain)

I am truly honored that Russell Baldon, acting Chair of CCA’s Wood/Furniture Program, invited me to be the ‘Wornick Visiting Distinguished Professor of Wood Arts’ for Fall 2010. I’ll be teaching a studio-based ‘Atelier’ course for the semester that will give me an opportunity to share my studio and field research with students; the process will be cumulatively documented on these pages. It has been over seven years since I’ve taught at CCA and I’m excited to work collaboratively with students to prototype new ideas in woodcraft related to planning and executing a micro-expedition. Here is a brief course description:

MICRO EXPEDITION

Expedition into the unknown has played a perennial role in human history. Whether in the service of survival, expansion, inquiry or piracy, people continue to explore the world through the vehicle of expedition.

MICRO EXPEDITION will be a meditation upon the nature of exploration, with specific focus upon framing a contemporary sense of the unknown and developing the vessels related to a particular expedition, with emphasis on woodcraft. During the semester, students will plan a waterborne expedition, build a small fleet of craft appropriate to the waterway and intended goals, as well as any peripheral gear suitable to wood construction. The class will work as a collaborative atelier, learning the basics of wooden boat building through the construction of minimalist craft, to be launched for a 2-3 day voyage, with destinations determined collaboratively. Guest lecturers will include a Bay Area naturalist, a maritime historian and a naval architect.


Adams Angling

adam's angling

‘Adams Angling’ is my favorite catalog for thinking about planning an expedition

The transition to fair weather from a long and gray, chilly wet season always has me dreaming about excursions to the wilder reaches of Northern California, testing my wits in the face of a more bare mode of survival. While it’s been years since I’ve acted on the impulse, I consider myself well-prepared for the opportunity should it present itself, hopefully when I am not so (gratefully) burdened with Projects. ???? (???? ????)

Meanwhile, I’m content with the vicarious thrill of thumbing through the pages of Adams Angling, my favorite catalog of antiquarian books and gear related to hunting, fishing, wilderness survival and Natural History. Somehow, the act of reading the catalog is almost better than the books themselves, and brings me closer to the actual experience I desire. ????? ?????? Just knowing that this obscure body of knowledge exists and is accessible placates my wanderlust, and I can shift my focus from ‘thinking about planning an expedition‘ to the demanding tasks at hand.

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Fish Sculpture Progress

fish sculpture skinningEne works with Tami Stewart to apply the first coat of concrete to the rockfish sculpture

After Kevin Cherry welded up the steel armatures for our two fish sculptures, they were hot-dip galvanized and delivered to our studio compound for final shaping and completion. We have hired our friend Tami Stewart, a Berkeley-based sculptor/artist, to help ‘skin’ the armatures with expanded metal lath and then apply layers of resin-impregnated, fiber-reinforced concrete, the substrate for a ceramic tile mosaic. Tami has been building natural science exhibits with Academy Studios for over 20 years, and we’re grateful to have her on board at this critical phase.

anchovy sculpture frame

the anchovy sculpture’s galvanized steel armature, before the metal lath skin is applied

To follow the development of the wowhaus Abundance Project, commissioned by the SF Arts Council to be installed at the Ortega Branch of the San Francisco Public Library, please click here.


Treehouse Report

treehouse concept1

sketch of my original concept for a stair tower within a mock, old growth redwood trunk

I still think of the new cabin I’m designing as a treehouse, even though it will be more of a house on stilts nestled in a fairly dense, second growth redwood grove, making no attachment to any tree. My original idea was to camouflage the structure by making the stair tower resemble an old growth trunk, consisting of coopered redwood timbers housing a spiral stair (see above drawing). For practical and economic reasons, we’ve opted instead for an open, timber framed stair tower, more like a fire watch, with more emphasis on the the interior experience of the perched cabin itself.

I’ve enjoyed researching watch towers and houses on stilts, and appreciate my client’s focus and resolve to keep the program as simple as possible. It’s been a wonderful collaboration and we’re close to having a design ready to permit and build. I’m especially thankful to be working with Scott Hunter, Ph. D. P.E., whose design recommendations have added to the minimalist/maximalist ethos of the project. Continue reading “Treehouse Report”

Kohler Arts Dispatch

lakeshoreLake Michigan shoreline along the Kohler-Andrae State Park, south of Sheboygan

The remainder of our week continued to be full of surprises as we mined Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and its environs along the shores of Lake Michigan for activity relevant to our NOMO project. As Ene and I process our research and  interactions and begin to shape it into an exhibition/exposition to be staged at Kohler Arts Center this summer, I wanted to share a string of images and some rambling commentary below:

Continue reading “Kohler Arts Dispatch”

Kohler Arts Residency Dispatch

cooper's decksCooper O’Connel’s hand painted decks will be featured in our NOMO Exhibition

Ene and I are in Sheboygan, Wisconsin this week on the second leg of our residency with Kohler Arts. We’ve been busy developing our NOMO project, which will be a celebration of non-motorized transportation in the region, with focus on DIY skate, surf and bike culture. ivermectina humanos precio colombia NOMO will take place in two parts over the summer- a gallery exhibition and a participatory, outdoor exposition, with community-based events, workshops and demonstrations. We’ve been enjoying curating the exhibition and have tapped into a thriving, ‘maker’ community and surf/skate scene in Sheboygan, which is famous for having one of the best fresh water surf breaks in the world. where to get ivermectin prescription

monty shaping2Monty Stauffer shapes surfboards and paddle boards for fresh water conditions

To learn more about the wowhaus residency with John Michael Kohler Arts Center, please click here and scroll down.
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Managing Craft, Crafting Management

mr. hulot

I feel like Mr Hulot when I need to transition from studio craft to a business mode.

In craft work, quality is the result of acting in a way to increase the likelihood of desired outcomes. A maker is an active agent in each step of the process of bringing something into being, where every step is equally vital to the whole. Planning happens in real time and outcomes are continually adjusted and refined in a kind of feedback loop of sensory data, in response to predetermined criteria- a comfortable chair that lasts a lifetime and is as easy on the eye as it is on the environment, for example.

As my studio practice continues to thrive, my focus has shifted to managing multiple projects in a range of media with overlapping time frames. I’m finding a direct correlation between the management of craft and the craft of management, and have been enjoying applying some of the tenets I’ve distilled on these pages over the past few years, to the practice of business.