James Nelson, Plywood Set (STUDENT 2024)

Student:

Tertiary

Name of school or tertiary institution, name of woodworking teacher (if you have one), and name of photographer:

San Diego State University - School of Art + Design. Professor: Adam Manley. Photographer: James Nelson

This small set of furniture was designed entirely out of 3/4" Baltic Birch plywood, and used exactly 3 sheets with minimal waste. The original concept for this piece was to design a robust seating arrangement. With this chair, one can sit in 6 different positions, depending on how the chair is oriented. The small side table/foot rest/stool was made out of the scraps left over from the larger U shapes, and is hollow on the interior for weight reduction. This piece can be sat on in two different orientations, used as a foot rest in two orientations, or be used as a side table. James was inspired by Dutch Modernism, and artists of the De Stijl movement, like Gerrit Rietveld, Piet Mondrian, and loosely, Kazimir Malevich. Gerrit Rietveld's furniture has been described as "the end of comfort", and all artists work comprises of the reduction of form and color to the basic and primary. These aspects were partially a guiding principal in this Plywood Set. Picture frame is made from an extra five layers of plywood rings from the side object.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.