weirdo 003 was the first to be constructed and encapsulates the psychological theory of intentional activity, namely goal setting and to a lesser degree, mindfulness (through flow state). The goal-setting theme was then deployed for myself and the user, where the chair was to be made of found material exclusively, had to be finished within a single eight-hour period, and the occupant would be asked to balance for as long as possible which I believe to be either highly difficult, or bordering on damn near impossible.
The materials were gleaned from a neighbouring dumpster of the community-based woodshop (Ottawa City Woodshop) where I mostly work. Collecting usable material proved difficult however I set to work after approximately 30 minutes of rummaging. The seat and fulcrum were milled and glued first as they would require considerable gluing time to be viable. Flattening, trimming, and planing to desired and uniform thickness ran the clock down about 30 minutes as well, with gluing eating up another 15. The backrest and crest were then constructed in tandem, which of course meant more milling, trimming and flattening. The spindles of the backrest required extra thought and a somewhat creative solution to uniformity with the lathe as a natural option however, the speed at which I was moving led me to use a filleting bit and a router table. By this point, the seat had been resting for approximately one hour and could be dressed and cut to accept the fulcrum. To round the base of the fulcrum a lathe was used in a somewhat unconventional manner, a term known as off-axis turning which I will go into more detail when describing weirdo 010 . I checked the clock and 55 minutes had passed totalling five hours. “What?! That can’t be right.” It is amazing how much time can hemorrhage away from you while changing blades, explaining to confused onlookers that this is a rocking chair and is about goal setting and joy, you’re desperately looking for glue, and cursing a forgotten pencil across the room. With the holes drilled to accept the backrest into the seat and into the crest, and the fulcrum sized appropriately to be laid into the base of the seat, I pre-sanded all components and then glued it all together. All in all, this chair took seven and a quarter hours to complete and the users of the chair adorned nothing but smiles despite falling drastically short of their goals. Success!
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on site review 44 : play ©
Harrison Lane
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