The last weirdo to be completed was weirdo 010 and it is representative of this Emanuel Kant quote: ‘Unfortunately, the notion of happiness is so indeterminate that although every human being wishes to attain it, yet he can never say definitely and consistently what it is that he really wishes and wills.’ 1 For Kant, happiness isn’t really there, mostly because we can’t define it for what it is. What a bummer. The results of this construction were then determined to be indeterminate, sort of. I devised a game which, by chance, would dictate what I made through off-axis turning on a lathe. Six intersecting lines at either end of a square piece of lumber were randomly assigned numbers by Michael Utley and Evan Kettler and would become corresponding positions between points on the lathe. Cards were then drawn which would dictate the position, causing the piece of lumber to swing closer and then farther away than the depth of cut by the chisel held by yours truly. In the end, the sculptural form was enjoyably made by chance, is objectively pleasing to look at (as determined by the fact that people keep offering to purchase it from me), and yet serves no real purpose and while they are sought after, I have also been asked multiple times what exactly they are.
Well, that’s it, so to speak. I am by no means a philosopher nor psychologist and these interpretations may prove to be really, really far off according to any authority on the subject or upon reflection some years down the line. Despite this likelihood, I embarked on this journey to synthesise these diverse perspectives and theories through tangible manifestations— enter the weirdos, to better understand what may be the most complex faculty of existence. In the end, as I reflect on the joy found in the creation of these unconventional, sometimes useless pieces, I am reminded that joy itself is somewhat of a weirdo; resilient, ever-evolving and pretty hard to define. It is in our acts of resistance, our pursuit of meaning amidst absurdity, and our willingness to embrace the unexpected that joy finds its most vibrant expressions. So, as we continue to navigate the complexities of life, let us carry with us the spirit of the weirdos—an ode to joy that resists, questions, and, above all, persists.
Long live the resistance.
£
HARRISON LANE is a furniture designer, builder, and currently completing a Master’s thesis in architecture at Carleton University. instagram: @hdslaneoh
1 McLaughlin, Jeff. ‘Immanuel Kant - On Moral Principles’ Jeff McLaughlin, editor. The Originals: Classic Readings in Western Philosophy . Kamloops/Victoria, BC: Thompson River University, 2017. pp, 276–77
63
on site review 44 : play
Made with FlippingBook - PDF hosting