Replies

1. 
   sapwood | Apr 08, 2008 07:53am | #1

   Their work is not an example of modern. Maybe it's contemporary rustic or other some such conglomeration of terms. Otherwise it's OK. It will appeal to a broad spectrum of people. It doesn't ring my bell and neither does their website. That is convoluted, cumbersome, and frustrating.

2. 
   Elcoholic | Apr 08, 2008 09:09am | #2

   Some of it looks interesting, some just looks chunky. It seems to be designed to look good in a gallery or a nearly empty loft. Dramatic, stark, minimalist. I wouldn't want to sit in any of the chairs for more than 5 minutes. The live edge slab tables are the most organic of the lot. Why do you ask?

   John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking

   The more things change ...

   We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized.  I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.

   Petronious Arbiter, 210 BC

1. 
   sapling | Apr 08, 2008 06:47pm | #4

   I like a lot of modern furniture/architecture.
   I'm just starting out with my own building and am just exploring different looks. This stuff seems to be really popular now.
   -sap

1. 
   Elcoholic | Apr 09, 2008 12:31am | #10

   Well then you'll get this. A Maybeck is interesting to look at, but I'd rather live in a Green & Green or a Prarie.John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking

   The more things change ...

   We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized.  I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.

   Petronious Arbiter, 210 BC

3. 
   Disputantum | Apr 08, 2008 10:06am | #3

   I like the look of most of it. Those chairs don't look too comfortable though. Maybe they're for unwanted guests.

   ne sutor ultra crepidam:  Disputantum Semirotten Woodworking

4. 
   bones | Apr 08, 2008 07:41pm | #5

   It's not much in my opinion.  I prefer the old old stuff.  Not saying it's bad, just not my cup-o-tea so to speak. 

   Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases:
   If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it.
   And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
   
5. 
   garyowen | Apr 08, 2008 10:17pm | #6

   sapling, thanks for posting that, now I know where the chairs in Dr.'s offices come from.  garyowen

1. 
   sapling | Apr 08, 2008 10:33pm | #7

   hanging judges....you all are

1. 
   KiddervilleAcres | Apr 08, 2008 10:45pm | #8

   It's, well - cold.

   Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres

   A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!

1. 
   blewcrowe | Apr 08, 2008 10:55pm | #9

   I rode my Harley to and from Pittsburgh this weekend; about 800 miles all told. It was freakin' cold, at least for being in the wind at 80mph. 27 degrees around some of the mountainous areas.

   Is it spring yet?

   Denny

   Edited 4/8/2008 3:55 pm ET by blewcrowe

6. 
   murphreejz | Apr 09, 2008 03:15am | #11

   They have some cool stuff.

   I prefer the modern aesthetic to most others. Modern and Asian top my list.

   Regards, Jarrod

   "Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines and dates by which bills must be paid." - Frank Zappa
7. 
   BruceS | Apr 09, 2008 04:22am | #12

   It is cold, not warm and fuzzy.

   Also. It's function following form, not form following function.   The Chairs are end tables with backs, sorry.

   Work Safe,  Count to 10 when your done for the day !!

   Bruce S. 

    

8. 
   [email protected] | Apr 09, 2008 07:06am | #13

   Is there a link or image not coming through? 

   "modern" is a broad pallet.

9. 
   YesMaam27577 | Apr 09, 2008 02:50pm | #14

   I'll bet their stuff would look real good in a Pottery Barn catalog.

   As for their website, it was obviously designed by a website designer, not by someone who knows anything about marketing.

   Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.

1. 
   dkellernc | Apr 09, 2008 07:12pm | #15

   The best (and most charitable) way I can describe stuff like this is "unacceptable".  It strongly reminds me of "This End Up" furniture, except with high-grade cabinet woods and better finishes.

   The website, the staging of the furniture pictures, and the furniture itself brings to mind snobby, "arty" New York city parties and gallery openings where a bunch of poseurs stand around in black turtlenecks and Le Corbusier glasses and discuss how completely and distressingly ignorant the general population is of anything truly worthy. 

1. 
   Disputantum | Apr 09, 2008 08:48pm | #17

   Yeah, and 18th-century stuff brings to mind aristocrats sitting around in silk stockings and lace cravats talking about how the peasants are revolting.ne sutor ultra crepidam:  Disputantum Semirotten Woodworking

1. 
   dkellernc | Apr 10, 2008 04:20am | #20

   Hmm - Well, "High Art" 18th century furniture, maybe, but "18th Century" includes an awful lot of "normal folk" furniture as well, such as Windsor chairs and butterfly tavern tables.

   Minimalist is fine - like Shaker minimalist or George Nakashima minimalist.  George, while he had some well-heeled customers, sold a lot of his stuff within the reach of average folk.

   The problem I see with these guys is a deliberate appeal to an avant garde attitude - often stated as "If you don't understand/like it, you're obviously uncultured/ignorant".

10. 
    Disputantum | Apr 09, 2008 08:44pm | #16

    Here's more: Maurice Villency. They used to advertise on the back of the NY Times TV guide.

    ne sutor ultra crepidam:  Disputantum Semirotten Woodworking

    
    

    ---

    Edited 4/9/2008 1:45 pm ET by Disputantum

1. 
   BruceS | Apr 10, 2008 12:13am | #18

   Reminds me of a manditory field trip while I was in Jr. High to the May show at the Cleveland Museum of Art.  Two auto lights at the end of a black tunnel, A crushed car splattered with buckets of paint.  A he/she statue(that got some giggles).  A friend and I snuck off to the Armor & Sword collection then on to the Egyptian collection,  that was interesting!Work Safe,  Count to 10 when your done for the day !!

   Bruce S. 

    

11. 
    WillGeorge | Apr 10, 2008 03:01am | #19

    your opinion of modern design

    Any design is PERFECT iF it gets my attention!

1. 
   chippindustmaker | Apr 11, 2008 05:31am | #24

   s,  you ARE bddw.com aren't you-

1. 
   WillGeorge | Apr 11, 2008 04:48pm | #25

   s,  you ARE bddw.com aren't you-  NO nothing I like A bit

   Not that it is bad!

   Edited 4/11/2008 9:49 am by WillGeorge

12. 
    woodman1234 | Apr 10, 2008 04:22am | #21

    My opinion on “modern designed” wood furniture - I very much admire the talent it takes to create some of the modern furniture I’ve seen, but I’ve never seen a piece of modern furniture that I like, and a lot of it looks very uncomfortable.

1. 
   Lataxe | Apr 10, 2008 11:36am | #23

   Wood,

   Your post struck a note with me.  That other thread about craftsmanship has had me pondering of late (and many other too, it seems).  The more I think on't the more it seems that craftsmanship is about traditional forms (already designed - tested for utility and aesthetic) and the ability to construct them, adapt them and solve problems concerning the making of them.  Art, of the High variety at least, doesn't come into it.

   Perhaps the modern / contemporary / studio call-them-what-you-will styles are suffering from a surfeit of High Art; and sometimes also a lack of craftsmanship, insofar as the designs often seem to ignore the good practice offered by tradition, sacrificing utility to "look"?

   Of course, it ain't that simple.  Many modern designs do pay attention to ergonomics and constructional strength as well as the "look".  But many, many don't; they get carried away by some percieved need to be innovative, radical, different, individual.  This often expresses itself merely in the "look" and other aspects of the piece are muted or even absent in the design.

   The article this year in FWW concerning the Adirondack chair provides a typical example of the contrast between a traditional approach and the contemporary.  The traditional form of an Adirondack chair does vary but the basics are settled.  The objective is a strong, easily constructed, good-looking and above all comfortable chair. The FWW article portrayed 6 "alternatives" designed by young people on some kind of furniture-design course.  At least 5 of the 6 were "silly" - they were designed for a look and to seem radical but appeared as though you would sit on one anywhere from 0 - 3 minutes before going off to find a proper one.

   ****

   Unlike you, I have seen quite a few modern pieces with contemporary design that I like, because they appeal not just visually but in terms of their utility as a piece of furniture to aid some aspect of everyday life.  Typically these pieces do not have shouty grain, highly contrasting colours or alarming shapes; they meet the basics concerning human ergonomics and look as if they will soon blend into the role and space they were intended for.  It does seem unfortunate that "the century of the self" has produced so much in the way of furniture that is "individual" to the point of being both useless and ugly to everyone other than the maker and a few fans.

   Lataxe, an olde reactionary

13. 
    wood_donkey | Apr 10, 2008 04:39am | #22

    To me, this looks like a hack attempt at some of Nakashima's work.

    For both the furniture and the website, it looks as though someone is trying to justify a very expensive education.

    Donkey