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.

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.