moving beyond the junk in American life

An essay in the New York Times by David Brooks alerts readers to the "Junkification of American Life." He doesn't mention the role that crafts can play in altering our American culture, but I wish he had. The junk he's discussing is not of the hand-crafted stuff you can find on Etsy, but instead the diet of empty calories we find on our phones, in our choice of foods and in overly shallow relationships with each other.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/05/opinion/entertainment-junk-psychology.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Ik4.Y1GA.ZQGFRevK-i1-&smid=url-share 

In my shop I've been working on wooden hinges to be used in making small wooden reliquaries, these not for holding samples of Arkansas woods, but that folks might use in housing and celebrating things of great value to them. You may think of them as shrines that folks can use to cherish and celebrate precious things. The chapel shape will alert to what one might find inside.

But the real value is not in the finished product, or even in their use, but in the shaping of myself... my refinement of self into higher form. In simple terms, it's about the value we discover in our own aspirations. 

Otto Salomon had noted that the value of the carpenter's work is in the objects the carpenter makes, but the value of the student's work is in the student. One should never think that carpenters are not learning and growing for they are students themselves. In the ideal life, learning, making, growing and offering value to others must be affirmed as a thing with no seams between.

Yes, I'm sitting on the porch with my dog Rosie, with the flat screen of my laptop staring me in the face. I'm also looking up to see the beauty of the world staring me in the face. I'm preaching (forgive me), just as one might from inside a reliquary of wood. Position yourself if possible to live in the real world that exists beyond your own head.

Make, fix and create.

obsequious observance of flat screens

 There's a story of Captain Cook having arrived at an island, and his arrival was not noticed by the natives on the beach until his men disembarked into smaller boats. Up until that point, the billowing sails of the ship were observed in the familiar as clouds.

A reader reminded me of something I'd written a few years back about Huxley's Doors of Perception and the role that the hands can play in that. I wrote pretty well back then.

https://wisdomofhands.blogspot.com/search?q=doors+of+perception

These days due to our obsequious observance of flat screens, will we see nothing that's not flat? In the meantime, I'm sitting on the porch with Rosie. The woods are alive in quiet sounds. Rosie's nose is lifted to catch scents from which I can only imagine.

making wooden hinges

In the shop I'm setting up to make small wooden hinges. Unlike those I've made in the past, these are made with thinner stock and utilize 1/16 in. brass rod as the hinge pins. My plan is to use the wooden hinges on small white oak reliquaries. The hinges will fold in two points, allowing the sides and roof sections to fold flat giving easy access to the samples of wood within.

I'm working from a picture in my head so the plans may evolve. My first test hinges are reasonably robust. Even in a smaller size they appear clunky. But don't worry, they can be made much more interesting and beautiful.

This link is to my article in Fine Woodworking #234.

https://www.finewoodworking.com/2013/06/06/wooden-box-hinges

Make, fix and create. Assist others in learning lifewise.

A reliquary of wood

I've placed the wood samples in the reliquaries for display. Now it's time to move them out into the world.

I'll begin looking for places they can be displayed or sold. I'll take suggestions. 

Each contains 25 samples of native Arkansas hardwoods in their natural colors. The reliquaries are made of white oak, and based in part on a small tin reliquary in the Nelson Atkins Museum, and also on a Sunday School finger game, "Here's the church, here's the steeple. Open the doors and see all the people."

Make, fix and create.

wooden plant trivets

In 2002 I made some wooden porch and deck trivets to lift our potted plants, provide air circulation and protect the wood underneath.  Being over 20 years old they're ready for replacement. I made these from cedar, so when the year is done and planters are put away the old ones will be composted and the new ones will be ready for the next 20 years. 

wood samples

I've finished labeling and finishing wood samples for the reliquaries. The photo shows 28 different species of wood, all from Arkansas. I turn them to look like little people that children might find in a set of blocks. But later editions of the project may take a simpler approach allowing me to have the names of the woods laser engraved on each piece. My old man handwriting is not as legible as I would like. 

One of the things you may notice in working with Arkansas woods is that they may not be quite as colorful as some imported tropical woods, but they still offer enough variety of color to do interesting things. And we know where they grow, and can devote some resources in making sure they'll be around for the next generation to enjoy.

Make, fix and create...

wood comes to life

I've applied an oil finish to the reliquaries, and had the pleasure of watching the natural color of the wood come to life. The quarter sawn white oak is radiant.

On the radio this morning they were discussing the problem of boys in schools, but would have benefitted by knowing about John Amos Comenius for he had the problem with boys solved in the sixteenth century.

John Amos Comenius, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Amos_Comenius was born in 1592 and was considered the father of modern pedagogy (the science of education). He observed: 

"Boys ever delight in being occupied in something for the youthful blood does not allow them to be at rest. Now as this is very useful, it ought not to be restrained, but provision made that they may always have something to do. Let them be like ants, continually occupied in doing something, carrying, drawing, construction and transporting, provided always that whatever they do be done prudently. They ought to be assisted by showing them the forms of all things, even of playthings; for they cannot yet be occupied in real work, and we should play with them."

What better play can we find for either boys or girls, than the activities found in woodshops? The most important point buried in Comenius' quote is the phrase, "now as this is very useful, it ought not be restrained." And the point is that our best leverage on boys learning is to make use of their most natural inclinations. We can say the same for girls as well. There's a saying that you can't push a rope. You can pull one to very great effect. By ignoring the nature of the child, we create education that is destructive, ineffective and least efficient. But if we were to use their natural inclinations to our best advantage, schooling would become efficient, effective and undamaging. If a great teacher in the 16-17th centuries could understand children so clearly, and if subsequent educational leaders like Pestalozzi, Froebel, Comenius, Salomon and Dewey understood children so well, why has education fallen so far off track?

Admittedly, having children do real things in service to their families and communities requires having smaller classes, more teachers and greater preparation than having large number of students sit idly at desks while lessons are administered. And so we have schools where the primary objective has become classroom management rather than learning and development. And now, according to Republicans and folks from the NRA, classroom management should include ready access to guns.

I have another new tool to be used teaching woodworking to kids. Anyone with experience woodworking with kids and the tiny nails required will know that nails get spilled and wasted, and it takes time to pick them up. The small square of  cherry, as shown in the photo, has rare a earth magnet embedded in the surface and provides an easy means to supply the necessary nails  for a project. Since my students liked working in close proximity to each other, one magnetic block can be shared between two students.

Make, fix, create, and adjust schooling so that students learn lifewise.

 

How refreshing.

I have the reliquaries assembled, ready for signing and finish. Each will display with 25 samples of Arkansas hardwoods. These are absolutely impractical objects, but my hope is that they will end up in museums or in places where their message may have transformative effects.

I submitted an article for publication in an online journal and was told that they'll evaluate it when the staff returns from a no internet retreat. What a refreshing idea. We are each, I think, overwhelmed by too much meaningless and distractive overly shallow connectedness, when getting off the usual online stuff would provide greater insight.

When Arificial intelligence first began to threaten schools by allowing AI services to do student writing I had a simple idea. Require the students to write directly about the things they know from personal experience... Not the BS you find online. In other words, avoid the Kardashians unless you are one.

One of the advantages I've had as a writer is the gift of doing real things. Seek that gift.