Researching how Wendell created his furniture/sculptures unearthed the stack lamination process. This is essentially gluing layers of wood together in a stepped formation to generate the basic outline of the desired form. He would then set about carving the edges away using chisels, hand tools and chainsaws until the piece was closer to what was required. He would then sand the material using different grits until it was smooth and finished.
Later in his career, and up until he passed away in February this year, he made use of a 5 axis CNC milling machine that was able to mechanically carve away the bulk of the unwanted timber leaving the technical team to simply hand finish. This opened up discussions surrounding the introduction of technology to replace the physical input that Wendell had been investing over the previous 40 or so years. How can I discuss and explore the marriage between the craft and technology? Can it play a part in sculpture? Is it cheating?