This is not Memphis

28 April - 26 May, 2018

Melbourne, VIC, Australia

This is not Memphis - Daniel Poole - Wandel Dining Table & Chair - photography by Lillie Thompson

About

Hosted at Craft in Melbourne, Adam Markowitz, Bern Chandley, Bryan Cush, Damien Wright, Daniel Poole, and Laura McCusker showcase their work in an exhibition like no other.

It’s no secret, no new idea that we live in a fast-paced world. Bombarded with an endless stream of visual stimuli we seek an anchor in what is familiar, creating an ongoing cycle of the same image, the same object, re-styled and re-presented. This familiarity comes to stand for quality and worth, and as a consequence something valuable is lost.

“Our work is about an authenticity that can be tested by the metrics of skill, discipline, time, process, ingenuity, virtuosity and beauty. It demands a connection between the head, the heart, the hand, and the land. And it stands its ground against a complacency and complicity in consumption and waste in our culture.

We believe that intellectual and physical quality matter equally. Making and designing are one. This is our vision of what it means to design and make in this country right now.”

Craftsmanship is a language. It speaks of techniques distilled and refined through process and time; profound material knowledge combined with resourcefulness and adaptability; and a deep respect for the role these objects play in our lives.

Here is furniture that honours the power of the lived object. Respecting the past this work stands firmly in the present and looks passionately to the future. It tells stories of concepts born in wood, and crafted by hands that speak fluently. It is made to live with and to live well. It is unapologetically made to last.

Date and time: Saturday, April 28 9:30 AM to Saturday, May 26, 10:30 AM

Location: Craft, Watson Place Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia

Entry is free.

About the artists:

Adam Markowitz is a practicing architect, furniture/lighting designer and educator. He has trained in furniture design & making in Hobart, as well as internationally at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Art and the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine USA. His work has been exhibited both locally and internationally. He was awarded the ACE Emerging Design Prize in 2015, Vivid Emerging Design Prize in 2014 and 2016, and was shortlisted for the Australian Furniture Design Award in 2017. He was awarded the Dame Joan Sutherland Travelling Scholarship to undertake further craft training in the US in 2014/15. Since 2015 he has operated independent design studio, markowitzdesign, from the Meat Markets in North Melbourne. He currently teaches a furniture design subject at the Melbourne School of Design, The University of Melbourne.

Bern Chandley handcrafts Windsor chairs using both traditional and modern techniques, devoting himself to the task of creating pieces of heirloom quality. Windsor chairs have incredibly strong joinery allowing them to endure generations of punishment. There are numerous original chairs up to nearly 300 years old. All Windsor chairs have solid hand carved seats into which all parts are round tenoned. The leg tenons are tapered at 6 degrees matched by the mortices which are drilled through the seat then reamed at 6 degrees. When glued in place a wedge is driven into the top of the leg creating an immensely strong and durable joint. The structure of these chairs allows for an almost endless variety of designs. From decorative traditional to simplified modern and anything in between. The chairs are finished in water based paint, natural oils and wax. His work also includes all manner of tables and cabinets with an emphasis on hand finished details thus ensuring unique characteristics to each and every piece of furniture.

Sawdust Bureau was founded in 2012 by Belfast born Graduate Architect, Bryan Cush. Architectural studies took him to Strathclyde University (Glasgow) and TUe (Eindhoven), before finishing up his Masters Degree at University of Melbourne. From 2008 to 2014 he was employed as a Graduate Architect for Tandem Design Studio Architects, working on projects ranging from The Polly Woodside Maritime Museum to Albert Park’s Lakeside Stadium and Fitzroy’s Charcoal Lane Restaurant. His designs have been influenced by a broad spectrum of designers ranging from legendary Finnish architect, Alvar Aalto, to the more humble reclamation and regenerative designs of Sam Mockbee’s Rural Studio. In 2014, upon being awarded a City of Melbourne Start-up Business Grant, the dream of being a full-time furniture maker became a reality. He was shortlisted by the Australian Furniture Association for 2015 Emerging Furniture Designer of the year for his work on the Østberg Bench.

Damien Wright is an award-winning Melbourne craftsman working in wood. His practice involves a unique blend of Australian timbers, traditional joinery techniques, organic finishes and contemporary design. Damien seeks to explore the beauty and bounty of the Australian landscape through furniture and sculpture. He specialises in the use of Ancient Redgum, a rare 15,000-year-old petrified material. The use and abuse of Australian timbers inform his artistic and political discussion of environment, belonging, design and material culture. Damien is represented internationally in public and private collections, including the National Gallery of Australia. As a designer/maker, Damien works on a commission only basis, either directly with his valued clients or through architects and interior designers. Damien’s timeless pieces include tables, chairs, desks, bookcases, sideboards, low tables, beds, lighting, kitchen fit outs and sculptural pieces.Since 2010 Damien has worked with Bonhula Yunupingu on their collaborative design and making project ‘Bala Ga Lili’ (Two Ways Learning).

Daniel Poole aspires to create furniture that reflects a true synergy between design and workmanship, where neither process dictates the other but rather allows for dialogue between the two the result of which is balanced and considered work that delivers both aspects in perfect unison. In producing any piece, Daniel first seeks to understand the individual requirements and desires of the client, prior to commencing work. In turn, he creates standalone pieces that are born of their environment and from the ideas of those who live within them. Daniel is based in North Coburg, Melbourne, Australia.

Laura McCusker is an international aaward-winning furniture designer/maker based in Hobart. Her work is in collections in US, UK and Europe and has been commissioned locally by both TMAG and MONA. Over the course of 2018 to 2021 her work will travel throughout Australia as part of the ADC’s travelling exhibition Obsessed: Compelled to make. Described by David Walsh as his ‘furniture designer of choice’, Laura has become well established in Tasmania where, since moving with her family in 2003, she now finds the majority of her clientele. Her designs are recognisable from the clean aesthetic and mid-century influences, and a pragmatic approach to problem solving some of the most challenging commissions has meant that demand for her work continues to increase locally, interstate and internationally. Laura is an educator and advocate for the Visual arts, Design and Contemporary Craft sector in Tasmania and its community of makers.