Max Lamb at the Domaine de Boisbuchet - Part I

Tue, 2009-07-28 20:11 — Anna Rojahn

Max Lamb is running a workshop at the Domaine de Boisbuchet this week, and we'll be running a little daily documentary - so stay tuned!

There are 18 participants from Cyprus, France, Canada, Switzerland, Italy, USA, Kasachstan, Germany, Spain, and Portugal, and the workshop started yesterday. This was the initial brief from Max:

"Real Wood ...

Wood is a raw material used to light fires, build houses, bridges, furniture, cutlery, and make paper. Wood is flat, straight, smooth, square and long. Wood comes from trees, but wood is processed to such a degree that its roots become untraceable. The story of the tree in the forest, the garden or on the brow of a hill growing for a hundred years, or more, is lost to the functions of everyday life. How often does one think of a tree when sat on a chair, dining at the table, opening a door? We see product not material, function not value. These objects no longer resemble a tree and thus all association with the naturally grown, living material disappears.

But to cut into a tree, to slice through the outer bark and remove a section of the tree, not only reveals the internal beauty and warmth of the wood within, but the diary of the tree’s life – where it stood, the direction it faced, annual rainfall, sunlight and climate, environmental change, and when it was felled – is also be told.

In January 2009 a mature oak tree standing in the woods at Boisbuchet was felled and the first 3 metres of the trunk was milled into floorboards for the renovation of the historic mill. Having served its purpose the remainder of the oak tree lay where it was felled and given time will eventually rot away to nothing. This valuable oak tree is free for you to use as raw material. Work with the tree, respond to the tree and transform the tree by hand and tool into functioning furniture or other objects of utility, celebrating the beauty and history of the wood within whilst respecting the external character and inherent structure of the tree. The wood will become useful but the tree’s past will be preserved. The spirit and provenance of the tree will continue to grow."

Max Lamb: 26.07. - 01.08. 2009, Domaine de Boisbuchet