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Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Monday, November 20, 2017
Living Willow, Furniture And Sensibilities
The Innovators: growing solid wooden
furniture without the joins
Gavin Munro of Derbyshire-based Full Grown explains how moulding trees into one-piece chairs, lamps or mirror frames is far more eco-friendly than felling
This is no ordinary furniture showroom. In a field on the side of a hill 15 miles north of Derby lie row after row of perfectly maintained willow, oak, ash and sycamore trees. What clearly mark this field out from a regular forest are the blue-and-black plastic moulds that are training the trees in pre-defined routes, where they are gently and expertly manipulated into the exact shape of a chair, a table, a lamp or a mirror frame.
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This one-hectare (2.5 acre) field in Wirksworth is home to Full Grown, a company that later this year will harvest pieces of furniture, each made from one solid piece of wood – with no joins – following a project that was launched almost 10 years ago by its founder, Gavin Munro, now aged 39. ............ Each of the pieces have grown from one tree, planted specifically for that reason, its limbs guided in an exact shape and later grafted together to produce the unique pieces of furniture, which he hopes are the pioneers of a new method of sustainable, efficient and ecologically aware production.
............. “When you look at it from a manufacturing point of view and from a design point of view, it actually makes total sense. Why would you grow trees, chop them down with all the faff? Why don’t you just grow the shape you want and it is eminently scalable? You can make thousands of these in the same way as you can make 10, but each one is unique,” said Munro. ............ The idea for the method came when he was working as a gardener in California and making furniture from washed-up driftwood on the side. He recalled how a bonsai tree his mother had when he was a child outgrew itself to resemble a throne. “Why do we need to bring all of these things together – chop the trees down, make them small, stick them back together again. We can just start from growing the tree from the beginning.” ............ Some of Munro’s initial attempts at what has been termed “botanical manufacturing” were scuttled by a herd of cows who walked over a very young forest. A prototype chair was eventually developed using four trees, which each grew from a leg into a stable single piece of wood............. Read more here https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/mar/29/the-innovators-growing-solid-wooden-furniture-without-the-joins#img-1
LINK: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1118162081/full-grown-trees-grown-directly-into-art-and-furni
LINK: http://fullgrown.co.uk/
Uncommon Ground at Yorkshire Sculpture Park: ‘looking hard at real things’
CLICK HERE
Italian Tying Willow
Tasmanian 'Garden Guru' and 'Apple Collector', Bob Magnus, was gifted this willow plant which is regular use in his garden tying his espaliered apples etc. With a garden like his this plant gets a real work out. Bob wonders about this willow's origins and usefulness as basket material but seeing it in action it seems unlikely that it'd be useless. Indeed, it'd be stronger that a great many of the rushes and reeds common in use in basket making and also used as a tying materials in gardens.
(Pers Com Annamaria Magnus)
Sunday, November 19, 2017
Rustic Italian Wicker Weaving
GO2 ... https://www.etsy.com/listing/195181361/vintage-italian-wicker-basket
rusticitalia Rustic Italia L’Aquila, Italy 1101 Sales On Etsy since 2012
L'Aquila is a city and comune in Southern Italy, both the capital city of the Abruzzo region and of the Province of L'Aquila. As of 2013, it has a population of 70,967.
rusticitalia Beautiful and original rustic, vintage and traditional furniture, architectural salvage and objects mainly from Italy: hand-crafted, artisan produced, honest, simple and a wonderful addition to your unique space's character. Rustic Italia can source and provide a collection of pieces for a restaurant or public building, or single items to complement your own home's style.
Whenever it was in the 1990s that I visited that house on West Tamar Road with the sign reading, simply, "Willow Baskets" I had no idea about what I would find except, hopefully, a present for my wife. I met Leandro Di Lullo [1] who was in something of a hurry to tell me that he wasn't making baskets anymore "because the Council had killed the trees (his trees) and I cannot." He had four left for sale, I liked them all, I bought the lot, job done, gift found.
We've enjoyed the baskets, and telling this story, albeit quite oblivious to the depth of their 'backstory' until recently and having told it again – this time there was no rolling of the eyes. This time I was kind of sent on a search to find out more even though I knew that this basket maker, who I now know to be Leandro Di Lullo, was highly unlikely to still be alive in 2017. We now know he died some time ago and that he has two daughters living in Launceston. As they say watch this space.
So it seems that, albeit inadvertently, I bought into something when I bought those four baskets that I was only subliminally aware of. When I GOOGLED 'Italian wicker basket' and the Etsy shop Rustic Italia came up with a basket just like one that I had bought from Leandro Di Lullo I somehow knew that 'serendipity had turned up'.
It turns out that Leandro had come to Tasmania from Abruzzo and that his life and culture was just that which is being celebrated by, and marketed to, a global market via Rustic Italia and the Internet. It also turns out that in the 1970s I'd had an exhibition at the Sadler's Court Gallery in Richmond and that gallery's owner, Alice Krongaard, would buy "every basket my father had available" (Rosanna Ieezi, Leandro Di Lullo's daughter, Pers. com 2017) So more pennies drop into place and it turns out that there's more and more stories yet to be unfolded. Not the least amongst them are the narratives, and personal convergences, to do with Leandro's loss of the willows he'd been caring for, and harvesting his willow from, and the Landcare movement's reimaging 'willow as an invasive woody weed'.
WILLOW THE WEED ISSUE??
http://www.lfnc.org.au/PDF%20files/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20June-July%202007.pdf
Outing 7 July: North Esk River Restoration Project
To follow up on his talk on the North Esk River Ribbon of Blue project Gus Green
escorted members to the sites along the Esk River where his work with the North
Esk Landcare Group commenced in 1991.
Gus and Mrs Green were joined by 7 club members for the tour along the banks
of the river from Hoblers Bridge to near Henry St, a walk of about 3 km. The
track is an all weather raised surface, some of which was laid on sawn trunks of
willow removed during the reclamation process and covered with gravel. Some
of it is a constructed boardwalk.
Gus showed us his photographs of the work program where the river had been
almost completely choked by willows, where the crews had commenced work, to
demonstrate the intensity and difficulty of the project, exacerbated by flood
levels and intense cold in which they had to work during the only periods of the
years when labour was available. There were 20 men with 2 supervisors using 6
chainsaws involved at any one time. A difficult and uncomfortable operation
working under such conditions.
We walked from the first activity by the Hoblers Bridge, where the work
commenced in 1991 and where the Lions Club members actually tried to find the
real river course using old pruning and bow saws. This was the first site of the
willow removals from the river banks by hand in December 1991. It was
obvious how difficult this must have been from viewing Gus's photographs. As
the work progressed using better equipment and finance much wood was
chipped and stored in large bins made of milled willow. This was later
transported to areas where mulching was needed around the city. A temporary
dump was also made of sawn willow logs where members of the public were able
to remove it for home heating purposes. It was also in this area where the
remnants of the old bridge were visible. The difference between the conditions
when the work commenced shown in Gus's photographs and that of now is quite
remarkable.
We progressed to an interpretation site where Gus showed us sheltered panels
established to show the public where and how the river banks were reclaimed.
They are extremely interesting, particularly to those of us who had not been
involved. We then progressed along the walking track to about level with Henry
St and under the railway bridge. The track is an all weather placed material
maintained by the Launceston City Council, and along it has been planted
indigenous trees which have made excellent growth during the years since
planting during 1993 and 1999. The whole area has become a most attractive
park land, which no doubt will be of increasing value and interest to the public
and an enhancement to the Launceston City recreation areas.
Gus remarked that this was an excellent time to view this new landscape that
only just a few years ago had been just a dream. However there is still much
work to do continuing the reclamation of the river and eradication of the
damaging willow infestation. Gus and his North Esk Landcare Group are to be
congratulated for the past work and future work to be carried out as time and
finance become available and to the gangs of unemployed workers who had the
time and interest to work on the project. It was such a pity that so few club
members were able to join us on a day that commenced with rain threatening,
but which did not eventuate. An excursion well worthwhile and so close to home.
AP
What?! So, suddenly willows cause erosion?!?
Has there ever been a clearer indication of how the dominance of a simplistic ideology can warp the way we frame reality, than in the case of beliefs around ‘willows and erosion’?In Australia, Salix species were used from the early days of British occupation to stabilise observed erosion. This use continued for around 200 years. Let’s face it, where they are left in place, willows are still preventing erosion to this day. Despite this, for some reason, amongst the lengthy litany of accusations levelled at willows by nativist literature is the charge that they cause erosion! ... https://nonnativistlandcare.org/2014/11/21/what-so-suddenly-willows-cause-erosion/
DECEMBER 11 2016 - 4:09PM Toli Papadopoulos ... http://www.examiner.com.au/story/4347864/community-celebrates-north-esk-river/
PHOTO: TAMAR: Roger Tyshing, Gill Basnett, Gus Green with a 1991 Examiner front page detailing the beginning of the North Esk clean up, Lachlan Macfarlane, holding a Chappell Island tiger snake.
It’s been 25 years since the North Esk River was restored to its former glory, in a major restoration project generating widespread support. On Saturday, a public celebration was called to mark the 25th anniversary, with Tamar NRM detailing the history of repairing one of Launceston’s most important natural assets. The Ribbon of Blue Community Day recognised the work of Launceston Lions member Merv Whybrow and his colleague Gus Green, who began to gather a critical mass in December 1991 to restore the urban waterway. Six months later, fish, birds, and animals had returned to the area, and the project would later garner support from the City of Launceston and various corporate sponsors. Project founders Gus Green said the restoration of the Ribbon of Blue had also set a precedent for other waterway projects in Tasmania and interstate. “The Ribbon of Blue was the largest corporate and community urban Landcare project in Australia,” Mr Green said.
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RIBBON OF BLUE COMMUNITY CELEBRATION EVENT – 10 DEC 24/11/2016 GILL BASNETT
Celebrate Biodiversity and Recreation on the North Esk
Come join us in a fun, free, community event to celebrate 25 years of river restoration and creation of a recreation feature along the North Esk between Hoblers bridge and Henry Street.
Activities on the day will include: free face-painting, kids treasure hunt, interpretive walks, BBQ lunch and photographic display.
“The Ribbon of Blue was the largest corporate and community urban Landcare project in Australia and after 25 years, remains a major recreation and environmental asset.” Founders Gus Green and Merv Whybrow
Event is being hosted by Tamar NRM, NRM North and local Lions Clubs.
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| GO2 ... https://permaculturenews.org/2013/11/12/weeds-wild-nature-permaculture-perspective/ |
BACK LINKS
A Constructed Cultural Landscape Considered
It turned out for whatever reason that the North Esk, Hoblers Bridge, Distillery Creek area became the place where the Ballard family harvested their willow. In the Decade of Landcare the Ribbon of Blue Project set about restoring North Esk River to its "former glory".
Now there are quite a few assumptions embedded in all this along with some subjective value judgements and all are defined by cultural imperatives – past, present and speculative.
The images below arguably reflect a colonial sensibility. Looking back and ahead where might all this go?
Saturday, November 18, 2017
FOUNDplace Launceston (Cane Wicker)
Like all baskets belonging to families they contain stories and narratives that go with them. This one is yet to yield up its stories that talk about place and places, people and places, values and perhaps more ......
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