15th meeting - Come modify some wood

The form of wood, for instance, is altered if a table is made out of it. Nevertheless the table continues to be wood, an ordinary sensible thing. But as soon as it emerges as a commodity, it changes into a thing that transcends sensuousness. It not only stands with its feet on the ground, but, in relation to all other commodities, it stands on its head, and evolves out of its wooden brain grotesque ideas, far more wonderful than if it were dancing of its own free will.

- Karl Marx,

from 'the Fetish Character of the Commodity and its Secret' , Capital, 1873

Marx is known to have relaxed from his activities in economics and philosophy by solving problems from differential calculus. At BTWC 15, we suggest relaxation not with the swooping and turning infinitesimals of calculus, but the flowing and streamlined wood grain.

Fish by Nick.

Pip´s stuff


Little Jack made a lady hugging a horse.

Cut of the Week

On our last meeting Ben B cut him self really bad. I mean REALLY bad! You can not tell from the fuzzy picture above which is good, because although it did not bleed much and the blade missed important ligaments, this one was so graphic even thinking about it makes me sick. Apparently he was having some heated conversation at the time of the accident. I later examined his piece of whittling and there was a definite dangerous path for the knife in it.

6 hours at the A&E next to drunk city-boys. 3 stitches.

be ware

take care

Lou

This is some pieces I whittled a couple months ago for Lou Dalton's AW2011 menswear show. I used reddish pear-wood for a change from the bland lime-wood and it was surprisingly pleasant to work with. Pear is harder and more dense then lime so the detail comes out really nice and there is hardly any burr in tight spots. It is of course also harder to work, thus more blisters.

Hugo

Hugo is a very skilled weaver that usually makes scarves and other things. He carved this pattern in a block of wood when he was visiting some time ago. I used it to print on some paper, but I guess it could be used on textiles too. If we ever create a new Bauhaus, Hugo will be in charge of the textiles workshop.