Maple
Gouge | Rhinoceros 3D, Grasshopper, Fusion 360, CNC Machine, Bullnose Bit
5"x5"x1.5" each
The over-accentuation of tool marks has become a contemporary signifier of the handmade, showcasing the skill and humanity of its maker. What was once a byproduct of the process has become an intentional form of ornamentation or texture, rejecting the austere minimalism that characterizes most consumer goods. Each piece graced with the ‘mark of the hand’ becomes idiosyncratic, infused with an aura that evades the homogeny of mass production. The handmade object has withstood the efficiency of industrialization in part due to what it is capable of producing that is not possible, or profitable, to do with automated machinery. But now, with technological advancements, these formal characteristics can be replicated and the humanness evoked by the mark of the hand can be faked. One of these panels was made with a gauge and carved one mark at a time. The other’s design was generated with parametric software and carved with a CNC machine. What becomes of craft if, or when, nothing remains in the final object to distinguish the handmade process from the mechanical?