Turning Trend - Ontology Recapitulates Phylogeny - In Reverse?

In Biology, there was a theory that all organisms, as they developed
from conception to viability, along the way, exhibit a characteristic of
a lower Phylum - ontology recapitulating phylogeny. From my sophomore
biology class the Phylum start with single cell animals, Protozoas, and
progress to Chordata - having a central nerve core and spine.

Recent trends in woodturning seem to indicate that this theory applies
in reverse - Phylogenic Regression. Think about it. From chunk of wood
to “board” to “plate” to “bowel” to “vessel” to “hollow form” - from raw
material to more and more functional, specialized wooden objects.

This process appears to have begun with attempts to turn “hollow forms”
from perhaps the most interesting wood - burl. Burl, unlike woods from
other parts of a tree, is heterogenous, having grain running every which
way and often with voids and inclusions - bark, dirt, rocks, etc.. Some
turner was, no doubt, almost finished making a beautiful “hollow form”
and just had to make that one last “finishing cut” - which happened to
expose a void, or rock, or bark inclusion, destroying what was an almost
perfectly smooth exterior surface.

Rather than kiss off what was otherwise a beautiful turned piece, he/she
mixed up some sawdust with glue, plugged the flaw and sanded things back
to smooth and shiny. No one, except a very discerning fellow turner
would every notice the subtle fix.

At some point, a turner chose an exceptional piece of wood full of voids
and inclusions - too many to hide with sawdust and glue. But the shape
of the piece was just too nice to kiss off - and the flaws were kind of
interesting, making the piece stand out from it’s less perfectly shaped
bretheren.

“To hell with the flaws - this piece is a Keeper!” said the turner and
placed it in a prominent location in the house - for all to see - and
appreciate.

Again, biology comes in to play - birds of a feather flock together
after all. A turner friend sees the piece and finds that what would
normally be thought of as fatal flaws are, in fact, enhancing the
interest level of the piece. So he goes home, gets out a decent, but
not outstanding, piece - and “creates” “flaws” in it. This including
obvious wood flaws thing has possibilities! And what had been crappy
wood, good only for the fireplace, becomes sought after - special.
Piercing becomes the rage.

Now is often the case, a turner begins roughing a blank and at some
point in the turning, notices that if he/she had selected a different
turning axis, a discovered while turning grain patterns or color would
kick up the interest level in the piece a few notches. So the piece is
recentered to exploit that possibility. As the turning resumes it soon
becomes obvious that, in order to keep that interesting feature, the
piece will be asymetric (you have turned through the interesting wood
while regaining a symetric outline - right?)

Again, the obviously flawed piece would have gone to the Burn Pile. But
again, the piece is otherwise really quite nice. So it escapes the fire
and becomes a Keeper, so good as to become a display piece - in the
house.

Over the decades this process reooccurs - with ever more variations.

Now some where in the distant past, well before the invention of stone
tools, some ancient ancestor discovered that charred wood was easier to
remove than sound wood. If you had a chunk of wood and wanted a
depression in it to hold “stuff” you could place a hot coal on it where
you wanted a depression, let it burn and char the piece, then, once it’d
cooled, scrape out the charred wood - with a stick. After repeating the
process several times a concave hemisphere could be produced in an
otherwise good piece of wood, creating
a nice place to keep stuff that was difficult to contain otherwise.

Eventually, this char and scrape method was applied to the “outside” of
the chunk of wood, thus making the “container” lighter and more easily
transported. The Bowl Was Born.

Now think about some of the turnings appearing in woodturning magazines
and in galleries. Notice the fascination with “negative space/ the
presence of abscense”? Notice all the “texturing” - sandblasting, wire
brushing, piercing and carving - charring? Notice the ever increasing
lack of single axis symetry? Notice the use of stains and dyes - and
PAINT - to make an otherwise bland wood look what had previously been
called “punky wood”?

Is turning progressing - or regressing - or is it aspring to become -
ART!?

Just asking.

charlie b

Hi Charlie, Another good post that makes us think. Is this an
interesting forum or what!

It isn't only woodturners reversing the classic embryology-- evolution
recapitulation: Witness some of the present day cretins (aka
politicians) that masquerade as statesmen of generations past. Auto tail
fins and big horsepower are out at present, but we are starting to dig
out and resharpen our old hi-carbon tools.

I think the reversals in turning trends swing like long pendulums.
Slowly changing from the ornamental turnings of French aristocracy to
ornate Victorian spindles to plain & simple bodger chair legs to the
practicality of the arts and crafts movement to prim "less is more" to
sophisticated art nouveau to KISS and now to the present state of wood
art; the mayhem you so nicely describe.

Remember we adapted "Tipperrary" to Biology 101: "It's a long way from
aphioxus, It's a long way from there. Goodby to fins and gill slits,
hello teeth and hair. It's a long, long way from amphioxus, but _you
came from there!"

It's the same ole tune for woodturning: "It's a long way from simple
turnings, It's a long way from there. Goodby fair curves and smooth
walls, hello charred and bare. It's a long, long way from simple
turnings, but _you came from there!"

(not copyrighted)


Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter


http://community.webtv.net/almcc/MacsMusings

charlieb wrote:
Turning Trend - Ontology Recapitulates Phylogeny - In Reverse?

In Biology, there was a theory that all organisms, as they developed
from conception to viability, along the way, exhibit a characteristic of
a lower Phylum - ontology recapitulating phylogeny. From my sophomore
biology class the Phylum start with single cell animals, Protozoas, and
progress to Chordata - having a central nerve core and spine.

Recent trends in woodturning seem to indicate that this theory applies
in reverse - Phylogenic Regression. Think about it. From chunk of wood
to “board” to “plate” to “bowel” to “vessel” to “hollow form” - from raw
^^^^^^^
Freudian slip?

--
Gerald Ross
Cochran, GA

To be, or not to be, those are the
parameters.

On Fri, 7 Dec 2007 13:46:53 -0500, (Arch) wrote:

Enlighten me, Arch...
WTF did Charlie say??

Hi Charlie, Another good post that makes us think. Is this an
interesting forum or what!

It isn't only woodturners reversing the classic embryology-- evolution
recapitulation: Witness some of the present day cretins (aka
politicians) that masquerade as statesmen of generations past. Auto tail
fins and big horsepower are out at present, but we are starting to dig
out and resharpen our old hi-carbon tools.

I think the reversals in turning trends swing like long pendulums.
Slowly changing from the ornamental turnings of French aristocracy to
ornate Victorian spindles to plain & simple bodger chair legs to the
practicality of the arts and crafts movement to prim "less is more" to
sophisticated art nouveau to KISS and now to the present state of wood
art; the mayhem you so nicely describe.

Remember we adapted "Tipperrary" to Biology 101: "It's a long way from
aphioxus, It's a long way from there. Goodby to fins and gill slits,
hello teeth and hair. It's a long, long way from amphioxus, but _you
came from there!"

It's the same ole tune for woodturning: "It's a long way from simple
turnings, It's a long way from there. Goodby fair curves and smooth
walls, hello charred and bare. It's a long, long way from simple
turnings, but _you came from there!"

(not copyrighted)


Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter


http://community.webtv.net/almcc/MacsMusings




mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

On Fri, 07 Dec 2007 15:12:15 -0500, Gerald Ross wrote:

charlieb wrote:
Turning Trend - Ontology Recapitulates Phylogeny - In Reverse?

In Biology, there was a theory that all organisms, as they developed
from conception to viability, along the way, exhibit a characteristic of
a lower Phylum - ontology recapitulating phylogeny. From my sophomore
biology class the Phylum start with single cell animals, Protozoas, and
progress to Chordata - having a central nerve core and spine.

Recent trends in woodturning seem to indicate that this theory applies
in reverse - Phylogenic Regression. Think about it. From chunk of wood
to “board” to “plate” to “bowel” to “vessel” to “hollow form” - from raw
^^^^^^^
Freudian slip?

Maybe Charlie is making multi-axis bed pans now??


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Mac I can't speak for Charlie, I can't even explain what I wrote. Maybe
it has something to do with "proprioception". Remember Lyn's posts on
that? I sure miss him, anybody know how he is doing and what he is up
to?


Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter


http://community.webtv.net/almcc/MacsMusings

Gerald Ross wrote:

From chunk of wood
to “board” to “plate” to “bowel” to “vessel” to “hollow form” - from raw
^^^^^^^
Freudian slip?

I was trying to avoid my personal biases in what I hoped would
be a non-judgmental observation of where turning seems to
be heading. Guess some of my ambivalence came through.

Part of me leans towards the beautiful, perfectly symetric form
done with the utmost of skill, in terms of the shape and proportions
of the piece as well as a perfect finish, with the wood being a
signif-
icant but not overwhelming component of the overall effect of the
piece. And it's the symetry that the lathe brings to the piece that
separates it from wooden forms created in other ways.

But there's a part of me that feels really constrained if forced
to "stay within the lines". I really like doing multi-axis pieces
with cross sections that aren't just round - and flat areas
are like facets on a gemstone - areas which play with light-
and shadows. Smooth and shiny is nice - put sometimes the
nature of the wood begs to leave - or bring out - it's texture.
And there are some woods which turn beautifully - but have
no visual interest - that almost plead to be made more
interesting. Smooth and shiny are so very predictable.
Texturing introduces shadows to the surface of the piece
and can make the look of the piece change significantly
as the vantage point changes.

So - I'm disturbed by some of where turning seems to be
heading - AND - excited and inspired by some of the unusual
directions some turners are taking. And that, to paraprhase
The Martha, is probably a good thing.

charlie b

ps - Multi-axis bedpans, now there's a form to explore.
If the Da Da ists could hang a urinal and title it
Fountain why not a bed pan titled Pool - or - nah.

On Fri, 07 Dec 2007 17:30:58 -0800, charlieb wrote:


But there's a part of me that feels really constrained if forced
to "stay within the lines". I really like doing multi-axis pieces
with cross sections that aren't just round - and flat areas
are like facets on a gemstone - areas which play with light-
and shadows. Smooth and shiny is nice - put sometimes the
nature of the wood begs to leave - or bring out - it's texture.
And there are some woods which turn beautifully - but have
no visual interest - that almost plead to be made more
interesting. Smooth and shiny are so very predictable.
Texturing introduces shadows to the surface of the piece
and can make the look of the piece change significantly
as the vantage point changes.

If I get your drift, Charlie, I agree completely..

I've seen bowls at shows that were technically perfect in shape, finish, wall
thickness, etc... and they were not only boring, they looked like plastic..

I've new to professional turning, but I've found that imperfect, knotty, bark
included, holes, etc. out sell nice round bowls every time..
They can buy some really nice bowls at Wal-Mart if that's what they're into..

20 or so years ago, I used only kiln dried blanks and if I got a crack or know,
it was a disaster..

Now, partly because of Mr. Feltmate's excellent pages on turning firewood, I
have gone way off to the other end of the spectrum... If I'm going to glue and
clamp a crack, instead of using matching shaving and trying to hide it, I've
been saving plastic bags of shavings from different woods that I turn..

Sometimes, a crack in a white ash bowl that's been filled with bloodwood or
ebony shavings looks better to me than a perfectly blended patch job..

I try to find a shape and style that accents the wood, not my work, and is
pleasing to the eye and touch..
If I can do that, I really don't care if it sells, it might be special enough to
give as a gift..

I don't do a lot of beads and stuff but there is a definite place for them...
sort of why most cars have body-side molding..

I haven't got into texturing or multi-axis, but if I stay alive and healthy for
a few more years, they're on my list of things to learn...

Right now I'm nursing my hands and pride after turning 3 wing bowls this week...
OUCH! thump, thump, OUCH...


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

mac davis wrote:
On Fri, 07 Dec 2007 17:30:58 -0800, charlieb wrote:


But there's a part of me that feels really constrained if forced
to "stay within the lines". I really like doing multi-axis pieces
with cross sections that aren't just round - and flat areas
are like facets on a gemstone - areas which play with light-
and shadows. Smooth and shiny is nice - put sometimes the
nature of the wood begs to leave - or bring out - it's texture.
And there are some woods which turn beautifully - but have
no visual interest - that almost plead to be made more
interesting. Smooth and shiny are so very predictable.
Texturing introduces shadows to the surface of the piece
and can make the look of the piece change significantly
as the vantage point changes.

If I get your drift, Charlie, I agree completely..

I've seen bowls at shows that were technically perfect in shape, finish, wall
thickness, etc... and they were not only boring, they looked like plastic..

I've new to professional turning, but I've found that imperfect, knotty, bark
included, holes, etc. out sell nice round bowls every time..
They can buy some really nice bowls at Wal-Mart if that's what they're into..

20 or so years ago, I used only kiln dried blanks and if I got a crack or know,
it was a disaster..

Now, partly because of Mr. Feltmate's excellent pages on turning firewood, I
have gone way off to the other end of the spectrum... If I'm going to glue and
clamp a crack, instead of using matching shaving and trying to hide it, I've
been saving plastic bags of shavings from different woods that I turn..

Sometimes, a crack in a white ash bowl that's been filled with bloodwood or
ebony shavings looks better to me than a perfectly blended patch job..

I try to find a shape and style that accents the wood, not my work, and is
pleasing to the eye and touch..
If I can do that, I really don't care if it sells, it might be special enough to
give as a gift..

I don't do a lot of beads and stuff but there is a definite place for them...
sort of why most cars have body-side molding..

I haven't got into texturing or multi-axis, but if I stay alive and healthy for
a few more years, they're on my list of things to learn...

Right now I'm nursing my hands and pride after turning 3 wing bowls this week...
OUCH! thump, thump, OUCH...


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

I was turning a large (for me) elm bowl with a loose knot and some
punky wood around the knot inside. I picked out the soft wood and
filled the crack around the knot with black epoxy inside & out. On the
inside I added some turquoise chips to the epoxy.
This was the first bowl I sold at the Arts Alliance Christmas sale
this year. Also sold a couple I had experimented with a textured band on.

--
Gerald Ross
Cochran, GA

To be, or not to be, those are the
parameters.