“Another Work Is Possible”

I like to say that picture frames are architecture at its most refined. Mortise-and-tenon picture frames are a refined form of mortise-and-tenon architecture, also called timber-framing.

From Mortise & Tenon Magazine comes what looks to be a wonderful book and film by the magazine’s editor, Joshua Klein. “Another Work Is Possible” documents the French-based Carpenters Without Borders as they raised a completely hand-hewn timber-frame blacksmith shop last summer in Maine. As the structure comes together and rises from a clearing in the woods, what also arises is an understanding of the deeper social meaning of hand work and how it connects us, even in a disconnected world, to nature, tradition, and our fellow human beings.

From Mortise & Tenon Magazine’s description of the book:

Weaving together stunning images along with technical explanations of tools and tasks, Klein draws on the thoughts and words of many of the carpenters themselves, as well as modern philosophers and thinkers, to build a vibrant argument that another way of working is possible ­­– a way that reawakens our hands and minds. Much more than a simple how-to, this book is a celebration of the beauty of skilled manual labor, of slowing down and reconnecting to handcraft, sustainability, and fellowship in our increasingly distracted world.

Here’s the book trailer, with the film trailer below.