Having recently completed the first half of the watch piece, I set about creating its ‘surround’ which I thought was going to consist of the strap. I’ve always thought this was a bit too literal so I tried to adapt slightly. However making it in paper it didn’t fit the proportions of the watch and looked odd and it didn’t feel like it fitted the story. Referring back to the story, the place where the participant keeps it is in her dressing table drawer, where she keeps all the odd objects you only need at certain times, so I went back to it’s house and where it should sit. I came up with the idea that it should be sat in a drawer made of hard wood. A part of the story discussed how her father was always good with numbers and converted plans from cm to inches when moving house to make sure all his furtniture would fit. I therefore want to measure and convert, leaving the measurements present so these can be seen as an homage to his skill with numbers. The silicone also signifies his support for water aid making it look like a big bubble of water in the surface of the drawer.
Having decided to change the design, reality then hit as to how I was actually going to make the piece as I would need to source hard wood and work out how to make a drawer. This was because I felt I needed to make it as part of teh process.
On a trip over the road on friday to visit the blacksmiths I found Richard and John working away on some railings. I had taken bits over to show them and just to have a general chat. I mentioned I needed to make a hard wood drawer to which Richard mentioned he had a dove tail cutting jig. We mused about this for a bit and then he mentioned someone had left two hardwood drawers outside the workshop the day before. He told me to go and have a look. There were two long drawers, but the wood was exactly what I’d envisaged. I took one down to the shop and started thinking about it. I suddenly felt this was teh right thing to make the drawer from. Re-measure and cut it to fit what I needed. And working alongside craftsmen is what my project is all about. AND a found object that needed a home. Richard hadn’t wanted to burn them as they were good wood, but this is why people leave wood for him. It felt complete. the only thing that was missing was the handle.
John who is a whizz on the forge and anvil has recently been teaching me basics of ironmongery. He mentioned we could make a handle and he could teach me to forge it. Everything seemed to just fit into place. The story combining more elements of the participants memory and my relationship with craftspeople and new techniques further developing.
A Matter of Artefact 
One thought on “When things just fit into place…”