These are highlights from one of a series of object study exercises held during Object Lab 1.1 at the Chipstone Foundation (www.chipstone.org) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in June of 2009. Nine talented undergraduates were in attendance from a variety of schools and many different disciplines—art history, history, studio art, geography, industrial design, and architecture. The overall goal of this intensive material culture program was to explore innovative ways to think about and look at old things.

In this video, the students are introduced to aspects of furniture making. After a traditional workers lunch—cold oatmeal cake, bread, treacle, and water served in tin buckets and cups—the students spent an afternoon engaged with Working Wood. They began by observing cabinetmaker Randy O'Donnell and his assistant Mike Combs (www.randallodonnell.com) recreate a shaved NY chair from the Chisptone collections, a piece that was made in a rural area of the state with a relatively minimal tool kit. The goal was to empathize with the maker--to learn about his design concepts, methods, physical and mental challenges, material challenges, and decisions. After hearing and watching, hands-on work allowed each individual to engage with the specific tools in action.