Patternmaker study
As traditional ways of making are replaced by rapid, computerized ones, the way we experience time changes.  We respond to the rhythms of the technologies we work with; we adapt, we fight back, we play to pass the hours. The pace at which we work is the pace at which we live.
Picture
These photographs show our process as we worked over a year's time in a small Toronto woodshop to build two five foot diameter wooden pulley wheels and a mannequin to sit on one of them. The wheels' construction was modelled after traditional pattern making techniques from the late 1800s - early 1900s. Patterns like these were used as moulds in foundries to create cast iron machine parts. The mannequin is a playful homage to children who worked and played on a two-story coal-powered steam pump in Hamilton, ON.

The piece was created for Patternmaker, an exhibition at the Workers Arts and Heritage Centre, September 9 - December 17, 2016.
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