FIELD TRIP TO SWARTLAND

In February my boss Carin Smuts decided it would be a good idea for us to go to the Swartland factory to see how doors are made. And for us to physically see and understand the differences between well engineerd doors and badly enginered doors.

  

Massive storage space for there timber. all in random sizes and not pre-treated.

Timber planks in raw form.

At this point, the planks are scanned by machine and are then cut/ sorted into various lengths.

Timber containing nodes such as these, are cut up and used as fuel for the burners. Nothing is wasted  in this factory line.

                                     

Laminated timber before treatment.

Members being glued to form what we know as laminated wood.

Some of the planks once cut to size, are then cut into slices. Forming what we call a veneer.  At this stage the veneer sheets are placed into a press to be flattened and dried for storage.

Veneer is used to stick over doors, giving it a flush finish.

Planks being glued- Laminated wood.

This is a joinery method know as Finger Jointing, as apposed to simple Butt jointing.

Door frame butt jointed in three segments- not the best but its still strong.

Door panels being glued and stapled. 

Joinery detail.

Doors and window frames handing and waiting to follow line to be sprayed or treated.

Roller used in the sliding doors.

Section view showing the weights used in sliding sash windows. 

Pulleys that allow easy movement of the weights.

Worker hand tieing the weights.

Section profile showing rebate and rubber strip- for waterproofing. Groove in the back, is where the vertical damp proof mebrane is tucked into.

Louvered timber door. These are sanded by hand before final coat is applied.

Worker hand sanding the louvered door.

Gun joint.

Some of the heavy machinery used at Swartland.

And that was the Swartland field trip.....

Hawston Workshop

During February, I was given the opportunity to do a Workshop with a wonderfull Swedish women Paula Von Seth. Together we did a practical and theoretical workshop in photography and site-specific environmental interventions.

The workshop took place in a town just outside of Hermanus, know as Hawston-"the coloured community". we did lessons on photography and showed them how through simple everyday interventions one can do great things. We also taught them some history in art and showed them some examples of how artists such as Marcel Duchamp took ordinary things, and made works of it to portray a message- for example, 'The Fountain'.

One of the themes in this project was- " If you met an alien, what would you like them to see. The tourist side of life, or your everyday life". This theme came about while thinking of what the tourist sees and experiences, versus what the people living in the town see and experience.

Here are some pictures of the week we experienced....

One of the students working on the 'collect and recycle' task.

Mixing up some polyester resin wich was used to fill the shells, allowing for a flat surface on which photographs taking by the students was stuck on to.

Sticking the shells on to a piece of drift wood collected down at the Hawston beach.

The center piece completed

Dresses made of plastic bags

Dresses decorated by spraying and cutting

Paula assisting a student

Some pictures taken by students.....

Kevin- one of the students whom played a big role in the workshop.

The police station vandalized as part of the strike against the police brutality faced by the young teens whom take on poaching to earn a decent income in order to survive.

An installation art piece according to theme, 'What do you want them to see'. We used items found at the abandoned station.