A branch is cut from a living tree, then chiseled and painted to make a ritual vase. The leftovers are thrown away as rubbish. Everyone says that the vase is beautiful while the leftovers are ugly. I say both the vase and the leftovers are ugly, because they are no longer the natural, living tree.Chuang Tzu was actually contemplating the nature of human beings and our motivations, but I can't help but ponder the nature of woodworking and art in general.
Why are arts and crafts so often paired? Woodworking is most definitely a craft, but it can also be art. Where the distinction lies, I'm not sure. Does craft imply a certain functionality of use? A Degas painting has no function, so we agree that it's art. I have seen outstanding wood sculptures that serve no practical function, but wood carvers are true craftsmen.
We see leftover wood as ugly and a finished vase as beautiful because the beauty stems not from the death of the tree, but from the life of the man who created the vase. In this respect, woodworking is a unique art: it must begin with a destructive act. Nothing need die to create an oil painting or compose a symphony.
Out of death springs life, so in this sense I disagree with Chuang Tzu. True, a tree that dies and decomposes creates life for new generations of trees, yet a tree that is transformed into a vase has achieved not only an extended life, but has revealed the true nature of its craftsman.
On Friday I'll post a video of three ideas I came up with, but the third one is my favorite so I thought I'd post a picture today. The idea here was to create a candle holder using slices of the log and allow the candle wax to cascade down like a waterfall. Awesomely fun project. It got me to free my thinking from 3/4" lumber and see the nature of the tree.
Nothing need die to create an oil painting or compose a symphony? Where does canvas and the frame for the canvas come from? Where does the paper a symphony is composed on come from. Where do the instruments materials come from?
ReplyDeleteThe cotton plant is a perennial and undamaged during cultivation to produce canvas. Pigments for paints are generally produced from minerals. Frames can be made from a variety of non-organic materials. I suppose strictly speaking, a musical composition doesn't have to be printed on paper, or even printed at all. True about some musical instruments being made from wood, of course, but many are brass or other materials. By definition, Woodworking as an art requires, well wood.
ReplyDeleteI agree about woodworking. It takes creativity, logic, coordination, etc... It's more than just creating art or just creating a functional object. At the same time it doesn't HAVE to, but, more often than not, does.
ReplyDeleteI like the waxfall candle holder idea. If you want to take that waxfall to the next level, you could add a pool at the bottom that doubles as a mold for the wax. when the pool fills up you can remove the wax and have a little 'wax crest' or whatever you have carved in there...
I really enjoyed this post. I disagree with the wise philosopher Chuang Tzu, in that I have saved every bit of scrap, down to the saw dust. I find them beautiful too. I have little containers of wenge dust, padauk dust, maple dust. I have buckets of shavings from my hand planes. I have bags of dust which I have collected with my dust buster (admittedly they are less pretty), but I save them, because I want to find a way to use them.
ReplyDeleteI think wood is beautiful in all facets of its existence.
Obviously Chuang Tzu never saw padauk dust, or he might have thought differently.
I really like the candle holder idea (and all of your videos!). I just had to have a tree cut down. I've split most of the wood, but I'm looking for a log tomorrow to make my own. :) Great idea, and thanks for sharing your work with us newbies!
ReplyDeleteDavid
Art is the endeavor to evoke emotion, craft is mechanical effort to create objects. Not to say that the two cannot overlap but generally art is focused on conveying thought where as craft is about execution.
ReplyDeleteMy idea is that what ever you do can be art.
ReplyDeleteMy efforts are more focused on utilitarian as opposed to purely esthetic results for any of my works to be considered "art". I just found a picture of something I'd made out of a piece of a tree I cut down:
ReplyDeletehttp://img840.imageshack.us/img840/6763/sawh.jpg
To accomplish that I first modeled it in never hardening clay, then traced the model out onto the wood and had at it with a variety of implements of destruction.
I have to admit it is just like the clay piece was except with grain. Fits me like a glove too! But is it art? I don't think so. BTW it is stained and sealed now so it looks a tad nicer than it does in this picture. It still isn't art though.
Well... The word Art, used like, "The Art of Woodworking", I think, means that you take your craft or trade to the next level, you go the extra mile.
ReplyDeleteAnything you craft with extreme care and passion is going to be art to someone. Even if it is just a handle...
But, if you really think about it, art is formed exactly like consciousness is, someone has to initiate it. Art is relative to the person and only exists as art because they think it's art, and for no other reason.
I also disagree with Chuang Tzu and go along with... Nothing can be created nor destroyed; simply moved from form to form. Nothing gets 'killed', I agree with steve when he said, "Death springs life". A catepillar, evaporating water and seeds are 3 different examples of this.
I could be all wrong, but hey... it works for me. ;)
josh b you're getting too deep for me!
ReplyDeleteBut your comment makes me think that gigantic stars had to die in order for us to live. Now I wonder what Chuang Tzu would have thought of that had he known about it?