The Mindcraft Project

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Rasmus Fenhann: “I use new technologies as another tool in my toolbox”

May 6th, 2021

Written by:
Nikolai Kotlarczyk

The work of Danish master craftsman and designer Rasmus Fenhann expertly balances the old with the new. His training as both a craftsman and a conceptual designer has allowed his body of work to express an almost obsessive approach towards materiality – most predominantly timber. His ability to merge centuries old techniques with cutting edge technologies has pushed his work to the forefront of the Danish collectible design scene today.

Sitting on the edge of Copenhagen’s Vesterbro neighbourhood, the workshop of Rasmus Fenhann sits within one of the city’s few remaining industrial zones, not yet over-run with newly built apartment complexes. The rough nature of the site – sitting up against the railway lines leading to Copenhagen’s central station, accentuates the refined work that is produced inside; acting almost as a testament to Fenhann’s ability to turn raw material into something beautiful and poetic. Trained as a Cabinetmaker in the lineage of so many great Danish designers, it was only through combining his training with studying Furniture Design at the Royal Danish Academy, that this combination of craft and concept began to bring his unique body of work to life, as Fenhann explains;

“The aim with my studies into furniture design, was to bring the artistic level of my work to the same level as my craft… From studying the Danish golden age of furniture making, you see the work from this period shows a unique understanding of materials and how they age with beauty if the construction, the quality of materials and artistic level are all sublime… To add something new to the world, you first need to learn a lot about design history and the design process.”

Most often working alone, Fenhann approaches the journey of designing and crafting each piece as a highly personal one, with his work mirroring his fascinations in new and intriguing ways. Ebano for The Mindcraft Project 2021 is a prime example of how Fenhann’s capacity to conceptualise a stack of Ebony timber off-cuts into a monolithic centrepiece, speaks of his ability to find beauty in unexpected places. His work contains strong references to nature and mathematics, often expressing the beauty of repetition in both. This can be seen in his Sakyu Table, 2020, and Sakyu Bench, 2018, featuring a poetic wavy pattern across their tops based on the sine curve – a mathematical phenomenon also seen on the sand-dunes of the Sahara Desert. Fenhann’s love of, and training in Japanese woodworking techniques is often the ingredient that ties his various influences into a diverse yet consistent collection of crafted pieces. His work often unites his Danish training with exquisite Japanese techniques, as he defines;

“The Japanese and Danish traditional woodworking techniques are equally focused on the understanding of materials, sharing many of the same values. The difference is the level of refinement. The Japanese society has been at a very high level for a much longer time than the Danish, with generations of craftsmen refining the Japanese techniques to a fascinating level. I try to adapt the inspiration I get from Japan into my own work and create my own take on it rather than copying their techniques.”

A notable way in which Fenhann’s work is adapting these century old techniques is through the use of cutting-edge technologies such as CAD drawing and multi-axis CNC machining. These technologies allow him to build on this Japanese refinement in even more experimental ways. His ongoing series of Hikari Lamps bring together thin Elm veneer and handmade Japanese paper to form complex mathematical shapes inspired by origami. The level of detail in these works reflects the unity of his approach to combining the hand with the machine.

“I use new technologies as another tool in my toolbox. I don’t let them take over the process, utilising them only where they deliver the best result. I often use the Danish Art Workshops’ CNC machine to experiment with these techniques. These sessions have taught me a lot about combining the handcraft with technology.”

Moving forward into 2021, Fenhann is working towards a solo exhibition with long-time collaborator Galerie Maria Wettergren. The Parisian gallery has been a big supporter of his work from the early days of his career, allowing him a freedom to express a variety of influences and techniques. Whilst his last solo exhibition in 2015, entitled Japanometry, focused on work inspired by Polyhedron geometric principles, Fenhann’s latest endeavour brings together new and older pieces in dialogue. This reflective yet forward looking approach, is sure to highlight exactly what makes the work of Rasmus Fenhann so unique.

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Material intelligence: Why it is important to understand materials

January 11th, 2022

by Grant Gibson

Why is it important to understand materials? Simply put, because if more people can grasp their performance and function, then they’ll understand how the things that surround us are made. Potentially then, they’ll learn why objects should be valued and craftsmanship treasured. If more people can grasp of that, they’re less likely to chuck stuff needlessly into landfill. They’ll buy fewer but better things and there’ll be a greater chance of climate crisis being averted.

Materials effect us in many different ways, of course. On the macro-level, for instance, wood has the capacity to define a nation economically as well as aesthetically. As author Robert Penn points out in his excellent book, The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees: ‘Some historians believe that ownership of the trees was as instrumental as taxation on tea in raising cries for political representation that brought about the American Revolution… The forest was not just a physical resource: it was also the environment where, some have argued, the dynamism of the American character was forged.’ In other words, a material played a role in one of the most monumental events in American history.

On the micro-level, it can also profoundly influence people’s working lives. Wood runs through the DNA of Rasmus Fenhann’s family. His paternal grandfather was a carpenter, and his great-grandfather a cooper. Interestingly though, it took a little while for the craftsman to settle on his material of choice. “I’m quite broad in my interests,” he tells me, as we settle down over coffee in his studio, located in one of Copenhagen’s more industrial areas. “I was fascinated with computers when I was young.”

At school he did some work experience with an advertising agency, spending time in the graphics department. His life changed though when he designed a work bench for his computer. “As I built the desk I found out that I really wanted to learn more about how to make it,” he explains. “As I was studying the trade, I found out it was a calling. I discovered that I had some talent and that I could make almost anything I wanted. Then I realised that the process of making was the most important.”

Initially, Fenhann trained as a cabinet maker before studying furniture design at The Royal Danish Academy. “I have both educations,” he says. “Good furniture should be high quality craftsmanship and high functionality with high aesthetic value. The best design has all those three qualities and I try to keep those three levels as high as I can.” Nosing around his workshop, it is instantly clear that he has gleaned a lot of inspiration from Japanese craftsmanship over the years. A little display area contains a number of beautifully light, wonderfully precise shelves, tables and lights.

They are in stark contrast to the piece featured in last year’s The Mindcraft Project – the Ebano cabinet (so called because of the Ebony timbers it’s made from) looked as though it had been hewn directly from a rock face. Ebano, it transpires, served a rather different purpose. “It’s not typical of my work,” he admits. “Over the years I’ve done projects to explore the material and techniques. They are a way for me to sharpen my skills.” The cabinet came about after he was given off-cuts from another maker’s workshop. “He passed away and his daughter donated the wood to me,” he explains. “So I feel like I inherited the wood and also I saved it from being used for bad work,” he says.

Devoting yourself so assiduously to a single material almost inevitably creates a streak of perfectionism. And perhaps it’s telling that Fenhann has never worked with industry throughout his career. You suspect he’s not one to make the kind of compromises designers occasionally must to reach a wider market or leave the making to others. However, he is beginning to see some possibilities. When he left university in the ’90s, the market was interested in what he describes as ‘high tech and chrome’, but currently things are changing; the industry is shifting. “The mindset of the furniture industry is moving in my direction,” he asserts. “I’ve been here all the time. I’m very sustainable. I make long-lasting furniture in a renewable material.”

It’s a fascinating prospect but, in the meantime, we have a retrospective to look out for at Maria Wettergren later in the year. I’d get it in the diary now because this is a designer imbued with a sense of material intelligence.

Grant Gibson is a UK-based design, craft and architecture writer. Gibson was previously editor of Blueprint and Crafts magazines, and his work has been published in The Observer, The Guardian, Daily Telegraph, FRAME and Dwell. In 2019, he launched the critically acclaimed podcast series Material Matters with Grant Gibson.

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