cordwood redux sculpture
Alex Timmer
Felipe Paez
Sculpture Milwaukee Installation for the Sculpture Milwaukee side show “Hello Nature”, Spring 2023
Redux refers to the bringing back or restoration of an object of study. In cordwood redux, a version of the traditional cordwood construction or firewood stacking is reconstituted through composite Portland cement and waste wood logs. The stack is organized by each log’s environmental impact, with the wood waste constituting a sequestering of carbon and the cement constituting an expenditure of carbon. The variable mixtures result in a gradation of color, tone, texture and compressive strength as a result of the cement content. Reminiscent of firewood stacking techniques, traditional cord wood construction consists of short logs stacked and connected with mortar. The resourceful inventiveness of early practitioners was the result of a creative reuse of available material. Cordwood redux doubles down the the creative reuse of material to reconstituted the cordwood wall.
Installed in the 3rd street market mezzanine space and main pedestrian thoroughfare, cordwood redux is part of a larger exhibition entitled hello nature. The work will remain on show for the summer. When it is removed the cylinders will be further tested.
The cylinders are stacked in a repeating pattern dictated by the compressive strength of each of the cylinders. This early understanding of the compressive strength will be further evaluated after the sculpture is taken down.