michael penck, wooden boxes (BOWLS, BOXES 2021)

a chance meeting with an old english speaking italian cabi- net maker on the way to europe encouraged me to think about a socio- economic project. He was complaining about the lack of interest shown by the young people in his mountain village. a wealth of cultural and professional knowledge was offered them by the old trades people but they only saw the bright lights on the horizon... this gave me an idea: to design and make ‘families’ of at- tractive small items, produced with an absolute minimum of machinery, using non commercial timbers with ‘personality’ and highly aesthetic appearance, which could become col- lectors items and an encouragement for further activities in their communities. the sizes of my designs are based on a handspan. they are made with timbers from my environment, burls from broken trees, leftovers from projects, pieces from his- torical buildings etc . all boxes have one thing in common: the edge detail which creates a common theme. some timbers have very interesting stories to tell, going back hundreds and even thousands of years. each box is oiled several times and accompanied by a de- tailed description and history. all are unique and individually crafted designs.

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