
Lethal Experiment
type
Coffee Table, 2014
material
Balsa wood & glass top
finish
Acrylic varnish
dimensions
Ø: 120cm
H: 39,4cm
Special Editions Tuomas Kuure, limited to 5
Story: Amazed by the harsh and rocky basque country coastline I wanted to recreate some of its characteristics. The sediments and the fortuitous cracks that nature creates. I enjoyed breaking the wood into pieces and carving out material to create the cracks. Ordering the chaos like we humans constantly tend to do.
For the people who were the first to arrive on this coast it must have been an exciting journey. Like the path seen in the middle of the piece, towards the unknown. This is what it is for the most of our lives, experimenting.
In the top view of the piece appears the shape familiar to us from the ionizing radiation sign. The controversial innovation has brought a lot of good and bad to this world. A multilayered example of a lethal experiment on the basque coast is the tragic history of the Lemoiz nuclear power plant. You never know which one of your experiments ends up being the lethal one.
Material: Here I got lucky. I was wondering around the abandoned industrial buildings of Zorrozaure, Bilbao. The treasure was waiting in a corner of a well kept factory storage. I carried as much as I could with my bike. It was surprisingly challenging to learn what I had just found. The colour of the wood was taking a lot of woodworking professionals into wrong directions. The years had changed the usual pale yellow of balsa to the light chocolate brown we see now. Finally the grain patterns and the lightness closed out all the other options.
In the last moments of the working process I went there again to pick up the rest of the wood just in case. It was a rainy monday morning and as I approach the building I saw a thick black smoke puffing up from the very area. The firetrucks were already there and the flames bursting through the roof in the exact place where the wood had been. It was a pretty clear sign that it is time to start finishing the piece.
The acrylic varnish is transparent, retaining the natural colour of the well aged balsa. I also find it pleasant to work with because all the cleaning can be done with just water. TUOMAS KUURE / ART FURNITURE COLLECTION / WOODWORK