Celebrating Boxes:

Wooden boxes – these simple words encompass so many possibilities: fine sculpted or carved work, functional or fanciful, immaculately constructed and veneered – or just hollowed out.  From exquisitely made traditional boxes to some of the wildest creations by today’s most outstanding and innovative designer/makers – the “CELEBRATING BOXES” project features them all.  By presenting this rich diversity of contemporary work we hope to promote the ‘Art’ as well as the ‘Craft’ of this fascinating branch of woodwork”

The Celebrating Boxes project was first discussed in Peter Lloyd’s studio workshop in Cumbria, UK way back in July 1994.  It seemed that box making was under-valued in comparison to some other branches of woodworking, an imbalance that we wanted to redress.  Tullie House, Carlisle’s Museum and Art Gallery liked the idea and Peter can still remember the day when the idea achieved the elevated status of having its own file!

The seed was sown and started to germinate ~ Peter visited the US, Andrew visited Australia and both returned with good news: there are plenty of box makers out there, drawing from a wide range of disciplines and producing work in an extraordinary variety of styles. We then advertised, wrote to magazines and informed Craft Councils world-wide.  The enormous response we received confirmed that we were on to something good and we soon had a database of well over 400 makers from all corners of the globe.

The project was rolling and plans were made.  A selection process was held in February 2000 and around 80 makers were chosen. The exhibition which opens in Tullie House, Carlisle in September 2001 is planned to tour nationally and internationally.  This book includes work by most of the makers selected for the ‘Celebrating Boxes’ touring exhibition ~ artists from Britain, USA, Europe Australia, Russia, Denmark, Canada, Israel and New Zealand.  Full contact details for all featured makers are in the index, including email and websites where appropriate and the Celebrating Boxes website at www.celebratingboxes.com has all the most up to date tour and other information.

Wood is a remarkable material and in this age of computer technology, when almost everything is instant, the slower pace that is required to work this rich medium should be welcomed.  All the work in this book uses wood as the principle material but pieces including metals, stones, leather and textiles are also included.  The wide range of work featured here only goes to confirm wood once again as the truly wonderful and versatile commodity it is.

Originally conceived as an image based book with a minimum of text we found that, as well as fantastic images, we also received a wealth of thoughtful, creative and witty writing as the makers shared their insights into their Art/Craft.  Perhaps it goes without saying that if you ask  creative people to write, you get creative writing ~ in any case, this rich crop of wise words has certainly added an extra dimension.

And why boxes? It is a cliché to claim that there is a universal fascination with boxes, but there undoubtedly is ~ and it has been intriguing to discover the diverse and winding routes by which many of these artisans have arrived at their obsessions with these small objects of desire.  Their reasons vary from the prosaic to the bizarre, but all contribute to an understanding of their philosophies, their approaches to design and how they arrive at the sometimes provocative and startling imagery conjured up by their creations.

There is no uniform approach to the content for each maker ~ rather than filling out boxes on a form we felt that simply asking them what made them tick would be the best way to arrive at what was important to them.  In short, each maker contributed what they felt they wanted to and we have let them tell their own story.

Some editing was, of course, necessary:  it goes without saying that these makers exhibit and sell their work widely so we have omitted gallery and commission lists and also much of the dry biographical and educational information.  We have generally not included turners ~ the few that do appear are included because they are producing pieces that involve a range of disciplines of which turning is just one.

It is easy to suppose, working alone as most craftsmen do, that you are on your own trying to achieve a certain goal.  It can be lonely ~ but working on a project like this you realise that you are part of a huge family that experience similar hopes, dreams aspirations and, sometimes, failures.  Or, as Chris Cantwell puts it, woodstove material!

We have had great fun compiling a book that includes the work, and words, of so many wonderful and original makers.  It has been an inspiring and humbling experience, too ~ and hard; the astonishingly high and consistent quality has made it a difficult task to do justice to all their achievements without writing a book twice this size!

This is a book about art, craft and creativity ~ a window into the private worlds of nearly 70 of the world’s finest and most diverse designer/makers.  We hope that it will be an inspiration to collectors, designers, enthusiasts and woodworkers everywhere ~ and anyone else with even a passing interest in boxes.

Peter Lloyd
Andrew Crawford
2001.