Other Wood Pieces

Exhibition Text:

When we build with wood using just a few species sawn into a few formats, we directly contribute to the simplification of forest ecosystems around the world. If we could re-diversify the ways we build with wood, we could actively encourage the re-establishment of healthier systems.

This exhibition presents twenty-three pieces of uncommon wood, including bends, a fork, cookies, burrs, salvaged beams, and a piece of root. At least ten tree species are represented, such as beech, butternut, fir, maple, and oak. Among these are pieces I have acquired by many means: found in a grocery store parking lot, cut from the forest, passed on by my grandfather, and more. Each piece has been obsessively prepared: dried, sawn, planed, peeled, carved, and sanded. Each is presented in the hallway as raw material to be considered for use in future designs.

Together with several large format drawings and short texts, Other Wood Pieces is part of an ongoing project to reflect on and share lessons gained over twenty years of work as a designer concerned primarily with materials found within trees. Supported by many, my own approach has slowly grown.

My engagement with trees is rooted in wonder: here are the oldest living beings whose bodies are self-optimizing, self-repairing structures that embed the environmental systems they require for life. Trees and their relatives terrestrialized the earth, their rings record our planet’s history, and their products have been critical to each moment of human technological development.

• More about lecture and discussion with Valerie Trouet
• Cooper Union web page