Tom Bonamici used a masters in industrial design to become a product designer who “specializes in soft goods, tools, and woodworking.” In Adam Newport-Berra’s short film showing Bonamici turning a single tree into a traditional post-and-rung stool, we learn that that resume has legs.
The video’s long-cut, dialogue-free style is an ode to the tedious, time-consuming art of woodworking. The point is taken — each step of Bonamici’s process, from choosing the tree to weaving the webbing of the seat, gets its time on screen. Berra mixes a balance of slow motion footage with guided, zooming macros to highlight both the beauty of the wood and the agile hands at work. Rich in color and eerie in its calm, the film is a reminder that quality and craftsmanship are best found when time, space and creative clarity meet.