Chest of Drawers ‘George’

Place of Origin: London, England (designed and made)Date: 2013 (made) 2009 (designed)Artist/maker: Gareth Neal (designed and made)Dimensions: Height: 109 cm, Width: 81 cm, Depth: 51 cm

Video/Animation

Historical ContextThe idea 'George’ came from an accident

that Neal made when he was familiarizing himself with a computer software programme (Rhino). Neal tried to use the programme to combine different tools - he was delighted with the result, and it lead to the combination of regular cutting and hand chiselling on this chest of drawers.

Historical Context

The first version of 'George' was made in oak and was shown in the V&A's 'Telling Tales' exhibition in 2009. The ash version was made in 2013 in an edition of five, with one artist's proof. The chest of drawers acquired by the V&A is the artist's proof.

CNC Machine The regularity of the cutting

was achieved by using a CNC machine. A computer converts the design produced by Computer Aided Design software into numbers. The numbers are the coordinates of a graph and control the movement of the cutter.

Chiselling The irregularity of the chiselling was done

by hand. On the right side of the case this rectilinear shape is eroded, as the cuts are chiselled away to reveal the sinuous curves of a bombe commode. Chiselling is a form of carving using a variety of wedge-like tools with a cutting edge, often made of steel to cut and shape wood or stone.