Thursday, July 23, 2015
The Invisible Store of Happiness is a three-meter high ode to wood and craftsmanship. The installation involved two of the UK’s brightest talents – furniture designer/maker Sebastian Cox and artist Laura Ellen Bacon – who took three months to craft the structure out of American hardwoods. Showcased for the Clerkenwell Design Week (CDW) in the archway in front of the historic Museum of the Order of St John in London from May 19 – 21, 2015, the dramatic installation was hand-crafted out of American soft maple and cherry and consisted of a mighty steam bent frame that gave way to thinner, weave-able strips manipulated to twist and flow into a whirlpool of texture and shape.
The American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) has supported the project to allow experimentation with these timbers and to celebrate their potential. Working with Sebastian Cox, one of the UK’s foremost makers, challenges the way wood works in a way nobody else does. And Laura Ellen Bacon, with her artistic sensibility, coupled with her wonderful sculptural work in willow, is the perfect complement to Sebastian’s approach. Sebastian Cox conceived the project and led by his growing passion for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), took it to AHEC as a proposal. He then asked Laura Ellen Bacon, whose poetic willow sculptures he has always admired, to join him for the project.
“The Invisible Store for me has become a store of many things,” says Sebastian Cox. “It started out as a store of our shared passion of making, but as the project unfolded it became a store of much more; education, ambition, pride, late nights, steam, experimentation, unknown quantities, passion, cups of tea, swear words, and so on! The whole thing has been the biggest thing we’ve ever undertaken, and we couldn’t have done it without Laura’s creativity, experience and calm nature.” He added.
The maple and cherry have been crafted into an elliptical-shape frame that showcases fine craftsmanship and impeccable cabinetry on a grand scale with huge arcs of steam bent cherry wood, hand-jointed together in mostly glue-less draw-bore mortice and tenon joints. Through complex machinery the components of this solid frame are effectively shredded into strips and made supple and weave-able from time spent soaking in the River Thames beside Sebastian’s Woolwich workshop. These strips were boldly manipulated by hand, flowing and twisting into the space to create a whirlpool of texture and shape, all held within its mighty external frame.
The challenge for the CDW installation was to raise the profile of maple and cherry, both beautiful and yet under-appreciated American hardwoods, and to create a three-dimensional form to communicate the environmental benefits of using them. AHEC wanted to challenge perceptions of hardwood, both as a material and as a sustainable and growing resource. With this installation in one of the most important locations – the archway at the Order of Saint John – created by two such passionate and interesting designers, AHEC has been able to create an environment where people are choosing to use American hardwoods because of a better understanding of the material. That understanding encompasses everything from craftsmanship to environmental concerns.
Tags: AHEC, cdw, laura ellen bacon, sebastian cox
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