Stack lamination, the process of gluing layers and layers of hardwood into thick volumes that are then carved into forms has been practiced for two centuries. But there is no artist whose work has come to shape this technique, to elevate it into an artistic enterprise, and to popularize it, more than Wendell Castle. A new show “Wendell Castle Remastered” at the Museum of Arts and Design, curated by Ron Labaco, comes to examine the way in which Castle has reinterpreted and remastered his stack lamination language and skills today, but this time, replacing handcraftsmanship with digital technologies. He revisits the first decades of his artistic production by creating a new body of work in dark-stained ash, using 3D imaging and a robot carving machine. Thanks to these high tech gadgets, Castle performs enormous and complicated forms which would be impossible to create by traditional craftsmanship.
RSS Feed