Digital Archaeology | Anne
The Anne designs were the first in a body of work which I have since entitled ‘Cut and Groove’ Originally designed in 2007, these piece sought to challenge the perception and positioning of craft within the design and art debate, through its form and the methods of its construction.
The First in the series was a console table contained within this contemporary rectilinear American Walnut side table, was the ghost of its past, a 1730 Queen Anne side table. The Queen Anne period was the first chapter in design, within English furniture and was a perfect point to reflect upon within the contemporary design
The table’s design is subtle, only in certain lights and at various angles is the idea evident. Originally the table was designed on a computer and made on a small bench saw, as a limited edition of 5 in 2007 for ‘Collect’ at the Victoria & Albert Museum and provided proof that great expenses on application such as cnc were not required for prototypes just time and patience.
However the laborious nature of the process of making this original piece drew me into the digital debate, as I engaged in the technology and continued to explore this relatively unexplored territory, Little was I aware of where this theme of investigation would lead and the challenges of using such an industrial and mass producing machinery on a bespoke scale might present. This steep learning curve also started to inform the design process.
Did aesthetic beauty really lie in the repetition of a computer generated aesthetic? Or in the true nature of the hand process behind it?
Traditionally worn became the second as the pieces were constructed they were then deconstructed as if through the erosion of time the fossil of its past, begins to be revealed. These designs has a rugged sophistication again only in certain lights and at various angles was is evident the commode is cut through the block. Through presenting evidence of intervention of hand carving techniques, and chance, traditional craft, and contemporary design merged.
My current research continues this theme of exploration though the merging of traditional craft techniques and digital technology.
