experimental project
November 16 — December 15, 2018
Stitching Proportion
2018, ash, cherry hardwood
Trees grow until the last minute of death. The process is slow but steady, mostly well exceeding my life span.
At a visit to the Morton Arboretum, I could hear from Arborist Brian Malatia about the history of the forest from old growth stands to present iterations as unmediated wild sites and manicured and maintained experimentation. I was fascinated by medullary rays a.k.a pith rays. Medullary rays are cellular structures that appear as radiating lines from the center of the log. The rays are running perpendicular to the growth of the tree and go all the way out to the bark. They are the strength of the tree. The more ray-lines a tree has the stronger it is. When a tree, like pine, doesn’t have a very involved system of rays the top part will be snapped clear off from the wind.
Although the rays are essential for allowing organic substances to flow across the trunk and giving the rigid structure for survival, the lines are vulnerable to develop into splits once the trees turn into material for humans. In some old furniture like plain sawn tables, we often witness cases with cracks following along the rays.
This project is to uncover and respect the structure of a piece of ash board.
“Cutting logs entails a great responsibility, for we are dealing with fallen majesty.” (George Nakashima)