Since the tree grows so slowly, and is generally small and gnarly, available boards tend to be narrow-though large clear sections have occasionally been harvested from older trees that yield bookmatched guitar backs (~8″ wide). Pricing/Availability: African blackwood is very expensive, on par with true ebonies such as Gaboon Ebony in the Diospyros genus. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information. Usually most common reactions simply include eye, skin, and respiratory irritation. Odor:African blackwood has a mild-though distinctive-scent while being worked.Īllergies/Toxicity: Although severe reactions are quite uncommon, African blackwood has been reported as a sensitizer. When made into clarinet or oboe bodies, the wood is typically processed on metal-working equipment, giving it a reputation as being metal-like in some of its working properties. African blackwood is most often used in turned objects, where it is considered to be among the very finest of all turning woods-capable of holding threads and other intricate details well. Workability: Very difficult to work with hand or machine tools, with an extreme blunting effect on cutters. The lighter colored sapwood is commonly attacked by powder-post beetles and other borers. Rot Resistance:Heartwood is rated as very durable in regards to decay resistance, though only moderately resistant to insects/borers. Grain/Texture:Grain is typically straight fine, even The pale yellow sapwood is usually very thin, and is clearly demarcated from the darker heartwood. Occasionally slightly lighter, with a dark brown or purplish hue. Though we attempt to understand and preserve our past, the endeavour is subject to inevitable shifts in knowledge, the whims of ideology, and the vagaries of historical truth. With an epilogue that grounds the complex sequence of images in personal elegy, The Dark Wood re-calibrates our sense of scale by allowing us to locate a sense of mourning, loss and the specifics of our own narratives within the broad and unfixed framework of history.Ĩ8 pages + foldout, 30 x 20.4cm, OTA-bind, softcover with front flap, Perimeter Editions (Melbourne) x The Ice Plant (Los Angeles).Color/Appearance: Often completely black, with little or no discernible grain. The rings also reveal the complex history and shifting perspectives on the significance of fire in the region, with the dissonant histories of expansive logging practices, the conservation movement, Indigenous knowledge, and climate change playing out against the troubled fate of the ancient Sequoias.
Ancient Sequoia tree rings chart the rise and fall of civilisations over the last 3000 years, including those that created the Greco-Roman artefacts. The tree rings position human history within a broader geological timeframe, lending an adjusted perspective to the human enterprise. A Sequoia forest in Northern California offers two important counterpoints. During the two World Wars, many of these 'originals' were damaged or destroyed, and the casts are now considered some of the most authoritative versions available. The once highly valued casts – which appear in the book as original and archival photographs – were rejected as worthless copies during the early part of the 20th century, under the belief that they lacked the artistry and aura of the originals, despite the fact that many of the 'originals' were in fact Roman copies of Greek artefacts. Through intertwined images of abandoned Greco-Roman casts, an ancient Sequoia forest and the artist’s own texts, Mericle invites us to consider history as a fluid process rather than a static truth. Perimeter Editions, The Ice Plant and Danielle Mericle are producing a special edition of 20 copies, which include a signed and editioned print (26.7 x 17.8 cm) – shown in the last two images.ĭanielle Mericle ’s The Dark Wood explores broad questions of history and our collective ability to document and learn from the past.
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