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The Oblivion

: the act or process of dying out.

The inspiration of "The Oblivion" was drawn from the sense of imbalance between a modernized and clean-cut generation with the almost forgotten beauty of organicity. With a top-heavy piece, but the irony of the legs being the star of the show, it questions audiences on what the focal point of this piece is.

Aesthetically targeted to be a well-contrasted play of materials, colors, and visual hierarchy.

The concept of ‘The Oblivion’ stands contrast between “Soft, Organic and Hard, Rigid”, “Feminine and Masculine”, and “Traditional and Modern”.

The rigidity of a right angled, machine-cut dark red balau wood contrasts, yet compliments the subtle organic growth of light-coloured birch poles in an irregular organic shape. The softness and rawness signify femininity while matched with the masculinity of well sanded hard wood.
 

Considerations include joinery, edges, and cohesive balance of the piece.

 

  1. Cross-dowel joints joining pedestal base frame (the component that the tray sits on) and legs are thought out to be a combination of two sizes of dowel – 3mm and 7mm to show a gradual progression of scale. To retain the integrity of intended slim 21mm thick base frame, there is no room for errors with 4mm margin from both ends (4 + 3 + 7 + 3 + 4 mm).
     

  2. Edges of pedestal base frame are filleted on the outer rims with router, retaining a 90-degree inner rim, whereas the tray that sits inside is filleted on the inside with a 90-degree outer rim to fit seamlessly into base frame. These two separate pieces of complete opposite edges component complement each other when fitted together into one. A play on hard and soft look.
     

  3. Gradual transition of gouges on legs are planned to visually entice audience. It goes from a small unit closely gouged pattern (a mix of circular and elongated) to widely spaced big gouges at the bottom. This gradient element not only include the patterns but also the bark retained. The bark of birch pole is removed completely from the top, showing the core light colour, transitioning to the mid dark brown colour, to finally the raw beige-white skin of birch at the bottom, sanded intricately to effect.

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