Turning - The Fuzzy Edges Form Of Woodworking?
 

I would say you are in the "Fuzzy Edges" when you are no longer turning the
complete piece. Using a router, or sculpturing holes in certain areas and
things like that would fall into sculpturing.

Tim
"charlieb" wrote in message news:...
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2007 13:53:24 -0700
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No, this isn’t about “What is the boundary between Art and Craft?”.
It's more about
Turning - The Fuzzy Edges Form Of Woodworking.

I’m playing with multi-axis turning, doing both circular cross section
as well as intersecting arcs stuff - specifically simple stylized
standing human forms. You’ve probably seen them - the legs and hips
turned on one axis, the waste, torso, neck and head turned on another.
When viewed in profile the results are recognizable as a standing human
form. Viewed from the front or rear things get less recognizable -
humans not being symetrical about just one or two axis (axisese, or is
it axi?).

So I added an additional axis, allowing the stomach and the front of the
chest to be flattened a bit. Then I added two more axis, their centers
being 90s to the three. Ib line, axis already turned. The latter let me
flatten the sides of the thighs, hips and derriere to get more of a
trapezoidal cross section rather than a circular or oval cross section.
Another axis and just the face side of the head was changed, making it
less rounded.

That’s when it occured to me - “Hey, this isn’t turning anymore - it’s
carving.”. Then I thought of the works of Bin Pho, Malcom Tibbet,
Escoulen, Sfirri, Hunter - carvers/sculptors - some also painters - the
lathe and turning being only one of many tools and techniques used to
create their pieces - the wood often merely one of the mediums in their
works.

And that raised the question - when does a piece go from a turning to a
piece of sculpture? If you aren’t cutting all the way around the piece,
are you still “turning” - or are you carving?

Of all the forms of woodworking, “Turning” seems to have the least
defined boundaries. Turning - The Fuzzy Edges Form Of Woodworking.

charlie b

and here's the evolution of my Nude Dudes idea - so far.
http://web.hypersurf.com/~charlie2/T...umanForm1.html

Turning - The Fuzzy Edges Form Of Woodworking?
 

tdup2 wrote:

I would say you are in the "Fuzzy Edges" when you are no longer turning the
complete piece. Using a router, or sculpturing holes in certain areas and
things like that would fall into sculpturing.

But, given enough axis options, you can take off a little or a lot of
wood at very specific places, just as you would doing "normal"
carving. Check out some of Mark Sfirri's pieces in the picture
of the shelves full of "stuff" on this page.
http://www.lynneyamaguchi.com/wordpr...80%99s-july-8/

Hell, take just about any piece on that page - all technically
"turned" - but they sure look like sculpture to me.

With a special Escoulen ball chuck you have an almost infinite
number of "centers" you can use to remove wood almost
anywhere you want to. Granted, it may take a lot of
head scratching and maybe a brain cramp to do it -
but once you go beyond single axis turning there are
plenty of options available

If you do integral "feet" on a bowl, and that requires some
work with some wood rasps and/or a grinder, is it still
a turning?

What about charring then wire brushing or sand blasting
the surface, or some of the surface, of the turned piece?

Hunter turns a piece, then bandsaws it up and places the
pieces together in a different way. Sculpture or turning.

Malcom Tibbet(t) turns two identical bowls, cuts each
into equal parts, flips parts and stick things back together
again to create mobius strip type pieces. Turning or
sculpture?

charlie b

Turning - The Fuzzy Edges Form Of Woodworking?
 

They look like sculpture to me too but id you're using your lathe to turn
them, wouldn't it still be turning?
K.

"charlieb" wrote in message
...
tdup2 wrote:

I would say you are in the "Fuzzy Edges" when you are no longer turning
the
complete piece. Using a router, or sculpturing holes in certain areas and
things like that would fall into sculpturing.

But, given enough axis options, you can take off a little or a lot of
wood at very specific places, just as you would doing "normal"
carving. Check out some of Mark Sfirri's pieces in the picture
of the shelves full of "stuff" on this page.
http://www.lynneyamaguchi.com/wordpr...80%99s-july-8/

Hell, take just about any piece on that page - all technically
"turned" - but they sure look like sculpture to me.

With a special Escoulen ball chuck you have an almost infinite
number of "centers" you can use to remove wood almost
anywhere you want to. Granted, it may take a lot of
head scratching and maybe a brain cramp to do it -
but once you go beyond single axis turning there are
plenty of options available

If you do integral "feet" on a bowl, and that requires some
work with some wood rasps and/or a grinder, is it still
a turning?

What about charring then wire brushing or sand blasting
the surface, or some of the surface, of the turned piece?

Hunter turns a piece, then bandsaws it up and places the
pieces together in a different way. Sculpture or turning.

Malcom Tibbet(t) turns two identical bowls, cuts each
into equal parts, flips parts and stick things back together
again to create mobius strip type pieces. Turning or
sculpture?

charlie b

Turning - The Fuzzy Edges Form Of Woodworking?
 

Using labels to put the elements and variations of something into pigeon
holes is usually a first step in recognizing the relationships of parts
to the whole. This can result in progress, but I think divisive
descriptives can also be a misstep that can be counterproductive.


Separation of wood turning and wood sculpture into questionably distinct
efforts can inhibit our appreciation and best use of both ends of
woodturning's broad spectrum. On a larger OT scale, witness the problems
that separate federal departments can cause in dealing with
international terror.

Again OT, but comparable; I remember when the major effort in managing
psychiatric problems seemed to be concerned with labelling patients as
distinct clinical entities and assigning them to separate diagnostic
pigeon holes. That probably hindered true understanding that would have
led to better therapy for many sufferers. You could suffer from
schizophrenia or from manic depression, but like the old song advised,
they didn't "mess with Mr. In-between".


If woodturning and wood sculpturing had been restricted to separate
disciplines as some would have had us do, think of what we would have
lost. Making artistic and/or useful wooden shapes is a continuous
endeavor and wood turning isn't fenced off from wood sculpturing. I just
stopped in time to avoid saying, "and neither is turned craft fenced off
from turned art". :)


Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter


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