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“In My Minds Eye”. by Lin Elkins
Welcome to The Splinter Report, where I gather the assorted interesting and amusing things I’ve seen in the woodworking world. This week we’re looking at woodworking art, AI confusion, and how much history sucked.
Tool News Quick Bites
Ryobi Releases New 10″ Chain Saw: The new saw features a brushless motor, and promises 30% faster cutting (compared to what?). Still though, not a bad choice for a light-duty tool.
Blue Spruce Has New Card Scrapers: A few years ago Blue Spruce released a set of card scrapers that were .062″ thick. And while that more hefty style has its fans, there was demand for ones that could flex. Answering the call, Blue Spruce has added .032″ and .015″ thick versions of their 6″ card scraper. Currently, the thinner sizes are only available in a bundle, but if they’re popular enough I’m sure we’ll see them proliferate.
Rockler Adds Template-Routing Compression Router Bits:
Winter Residency at the Museum for Art in Wood
The Museum for Art in Wood (formerly known as the Center for Art in Wood) is one of the few museums in the United States dedicated entirely to the wood arts. We’ve covered several of their exhibitions in the past: Out of Bounds: The Art of Croquet, Extra-Human: The Art of Michael Ferris, and Making a Seat at the Table: Women Transform Woodworking. As a museum of contemporary art, they are heavily invested in the creation of new work, and in 2021 launched a winter residency program with NextFab, a local maker space. Here’s a bit more about it in their words:
The Winter Residency Program is a collaboration between the Museum and membership-based maker space NextFab. Each year, the two organizations assemble a jury of makers and educators to award one fellowship to an artist in the region who works either solely in wood or other materials in combination with wood and demonstrates technical proficiency with woodworking equipment. The fellow receives a stipend for project materials and access to NextFab’s workshop space. Reflecting the Museum and NextFab’s support of environmental stewardship, reclaimed wood must comprise at least 50 percent of the fellow’s work during the residency.
This year’s Fellow is Philidelphia-based artist Lin Elkins. Her residency runs from January 5 to March 5, with a solo exhibition on display at NextFab from March 12 to May 12.
From Lin’s website:
Her interest in creating objects to positively impact people’s lives led her to attend Appalachian State University to study Industrial Furniture Design (’20). Post graduate, Lin has been a Fellow at UNC Asheville, a craft education intern at North House Folk School, the Staff Fellow and Media Coordinator at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship. She also has assisted and lead education courses at a variety of institutions, including Penland School of Craft and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.
She is driven by the dichotomy between the natural and the built environment and how that tension affects the spiritual and physical connection we have to ourselves and the world around us. She explores this through purposeful functionality, playfulness, and art, creating opportunities for moments of comfort, wonder, and curiosity.
“Vantage Point”
As someone with an art/design background, I’ve always enjoyed seeing how people use wood as an artistic medium.
AI Hellscape: Temu Edition
I received another example this week about how confused social media algorithms are by the concept of “woodworking” when I started seeing this Temu ad everywhere.
Technically yes, that is a machine for working wood. Well, it would be, except it’s some sort of unholy abomination. Oh sure, it bears resemblance to a firewood processor, but it’s all… wrong. It has leveling feet like a stationary tool, a hitch and trailer jack like a mobile one, and some sort of M. C. Escher-esque thing going on with the fence and fuel tank. I remember when I did my short-lived Pop Wood asks AI series, the image generators really struggled with tool functionality (see below), and it looks like that’s still the case.
Out of Context Christopher Schwarz Quote
Video of the Week: Things Change
I’m always game for a different perspective on things. There are some woodworking authors out there who really romanticize the history of the craft, but the truth is a little less glamorous. While there certainly were craftpeople back in the day who were true artisans of the craft, for a lot of people it was just a job. I’m not going to spoil anything else though, you’ll have to watch Rex Krueger’s video.
Anything interesting I missed this week, or that you want me to highlight in a future Splinter Report? Let me know on social media or drop me an email at cknoff@aimmedia.com.
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