If you listen to NPR, or get Scientific America, or are breathing
-you've heard of Black Matter. And you've heard the Art Speak
phrase Negative Space (to describe a hole in some Positive Space).

Well here are some more - this time from the back cover of the
February 2007 (aren't we still in 206?) isssue of Woodwork
magazine. Here are some of the new Art Speak phrases
contained in William Hunter's description of his piece, titled
"Creation"
- deconstruction (the piece blew up on the lathe)
- reconstruction (I stuck the pieces back together)
- wood/space relationship (I didn't fit things together well)
(this next one's my new all time favorite)
- the presence of abscence (you'll notice the absence
of the pieces I couldn't find)
- complexity of visual references (you may get a
headache trying to figure out what I was trying
to turn when things went all to hell)

From the photo of the piece it lookes like he mounted
a gnarly jarrah bowl on his lathe and tried to get two
bowls out of it with a "bowl saver" set up (curved gouge
that cuts down on waste and hollowing time by allowing
you to basically scoop out bowl blanks from a large
chunk of spinning wod)
\ \ \
) ) )
/ / /
The first, smallest bowl blank came out ok.
The second almost came out - then broke into three
or four pieces, leaving the rest of the burl with a
broken hole in it. The pieces were put together,
avoiding having any parts line up with each other,
the bowl he did get sits in the middle of the remaining
pieces of wood.

When I hear FOX news misuse words, abuse words
and use terms and phrases that make you go "HUH!??"
it comes as no surprise. And when I hear the
president of the United States repeatedly say
"I'm the decider." you soon come to expect that he's
going to say, and subsequently repeat, something
that's going to make every english teach or professor
he ever had want to hide under a rock, or perhaps
want to hit the guy WITH a rock - while yelling "Decision
Maker!" or "It's my decision!" I wonder if any 4th
grade teacher is torturing his or her students by
telling them to look up the definition of "decider"
in the dictionary?

Now Woodwork magazine exposes their readers to
some of today's Studio Woodworkers, so I expect
the wording in articles and captions to be more
artsy than techie. But "the presence of absence"?
The William Hunter piece was obviously turned -
did they have to use "spin" in the description as
well?

Maybe it's just that my 2006 Bull**** Tank is
full and My Cup Runneth Over.

charlie b