ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT
Yeo also told me that the company has also been commissioned to make the classical harp. On this occasion, they were unable to make use of local wood, using imported birch plywood instead. The harp, like the grand piano, is a musical instrument that can hold its own as an impressive item of furniture in any home, studio or art museum. Panels & Furniture Asia has also featured before the work of Dave Hickson — artist, sculptor and art teacher based in northern New South Wales, Australia — as he too maximises the use of discarded timber to turn these pieces of waste into works of art. 2 He features birds mostly in his wood sculptures, with less than subtle references to environmental concerns. The nearest thing he has done to incorporate musical instruments in his work is to place his first amazing Plover bird sculpture — made from reclaimed and recycled local timbers from a discarded bed base — on a disused piano stool. The sculpture’s inspiration was the devastating floods ravaging northern NSW two years ago. As Dave Hickson told me: “Following the unprecedented floods, a pair of Plovers nestled beside our local canal, squawked and flapped around in the night as the rising flood waters engulfed their eggs.
In addition, I checked in with my Singapore wood craftsmen friends at Roger and Sons and discovered they have recently made musical instruments, as well as beautifully- made furniture and wall decorations for home and office.
“It is a microcosm of the disaster that unfolded in our region…and we need to do all we can to prevent the worst extremes of our climate.” As most of Dave’s art materials are sourced from salvaged timber or recycled furniture, he is a big fan of wood, as it has lots of applications. “Whether for carving or construction, it is fun and inspiring to use, and when it comes to creative expression, it has intensive qualities unmatched by any other material. It is just like having a 3D canvas to work on.”
The latest is the Kalimba, made from local wood — raintree, khaya, or angsana.
For the uninitiated, I am told the kalimba is an easy-to-play instrument that originates from Africa. Of course, it is made from wood, but the instrument also has long metal rods that are capable of playing high-pitched notes when plucked. As Roger and Sons does not believe in keeping wood craftsmanship to themselves, Morgan Yeo told me the company also organises corporate workshops, including classes on making the Kalimba from locally-discarded wood. We have mentioned before in Panels & Furniture Asia that his Singapore company is committed to The Local Tree Project, an initiative that salvages wood from trees that have been felled, and approved by National Parks Board (NParks), a Singaporean statutory board. It rehabilitates these abandoned logs by turning them into durable, future-proof objects and furniture. 1
Music to my ears in more ways than one.
And to conclude the Dave’s story on the Plover project, the original bird sculpture and its younger sister, standing on her own legs, can now be seen in a garden in southern New South Wales, Australia; sculptured garden furnishing, no doubt. Besides the work of Dave Hickson and Roger & Sons, where they turn wood waste into works of art, musical instruments and/or furniture, we do hope that the wood used is responsibly sourced or comes from sustainable forests. Even though I doubt very much whether all purchasers of musical instruments or furniture think about the origin of the species of wood. Which reminds of the story about what became known as ‘the case of the meth maple guitar’. Distortions in maple wood grain can create patterns known as “figuring”, prized by woodworkers and used particularly in the musical instrument trade to make unique guitars. When milled, a single log of figured maple can be worth tens of thousands of dollars —making it a tempting target for thieves. Cases of bigleaf maple theft in the US State of Washington have also been linked with methamphetamine use, giving illegally procured wood the nickname “meth maple”. The US Forest Service (USFS) estimates that at a minimum, hundreds of thousands of US dollars’ worth of bigleaf maple wood was being
Dave Hickson’s Plover’s Predicament on disused piano stool (Image: Dave Hickson)
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2024 | PANELS & FURNITURE ASIA 23
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