 This is Think Tech Hawai'i, Community Matters Here. Happy Eloha Friday, and welcome to Hawai'i Is My Mainland. I'm Kauai Lucas. We livestream Fridays at 3 p.m. The videos are available anytime thereafter on YouTube and ThinkTechHawaii.com, and the podcast is on iTunes. For 25 years, the Hawai'i Forest Industry Association has sponsored a jury woodworking exhibition, Nala'au o Hawai'i. The Hawai'i Wood Show celebrates the audacious challenge of artisans working in Hawai'i with locally grown woods. This year, a new annual show for students titled I-Squared Innovation and Imagination is being added. My guests today are Peter Simmons of the Hawai'i Forest Institute, Chris Jigeta, President of AIAS at the University of Hawai'i Mānoa, and Iolani student, Isu Nishioka. Welcome. Well, gentlemen, I don't often have the honor of having three guests, and certainly not such talented ones. I hear, Peter, that this is in some great measure your fault. Thank you for putting it that way. So why do we have this show, and why do we keep having this show? Okay. Well, the history, brief history, is that 25 years ago, a little more than that, I was walking out of a wood show, a really good one in Hilo at the Wailoa Center, and everything there was just beautiful Hawaiian woodworking, and everything was all solid koa. And as I was leaving, I realized there was one display, one piece that was made out of veneer, out of koa veneer, and it was some snowflakes hanging right near the door, and it occurred to me that I knew, because I knew a bit about how much resource of koa was left on the land and available for art and stewardship, and I knew also that there were a lot of exotic woods, not from Hawaii woods, that were also quite beautiful, and I also knew we had wonderful craftsmen and artisans in wood. And that's when it occurred to me that maybe we could have another show, a statewide show, that would challenge our woodworkers to use less koa, so the first show had a subtitle of the 10% koa challenge, and also give rewards, really, for people using either less utilized woods or woods not from Hawaii originally. So we have different types of eucalyptus that are being used, we have monkey pod being used, and we have much less koa, and the koa that is being used is mostly being used as a veneer on the wood, on the furniture. I think we have a picture of the postcard that has a lot of the objects over the years that kind of gives a good sort of montage of what the diversity in the show is. So you can see there's a whole lot of different woods here. Is it still a 10% show? No longer. We do have some solid koa pieces coming, especially in bowls and art objects. But the spirit of the show is that we would utilize what koa we do use very wisely. And also I neglected to mention the idea was to get a picture of these woods, get the woods in front of architects and designers and the general public so that they could all appreciate them and we could all be challenged in the future to use them for higher and higher better purposes. So how are we doing on that higher and better purposes? Well, some of the pieces from the very first show are still beautiful. In fact, they all are beautiful. But I think the challenges of trying to utilize koa more efficiently have really taken hold and you'll see a lot more veneering around the state and as well as at the show. And the range of local woods that are showing up is just spectacular. And I think everyone has learned a bit more about what's available. And hopefully we'll have a greater demand for Hawaiian grown woods in the future. So why not koa? Well, there is an abundance of koa. It's not endangered, but it is a precious resource. And it behooves us to be wise with the management and use of our resources. And so that becomes a flagship of kind of how we are. And we think of the beautiful musical instruments that are made with koa, ukulele, very thin, very, very small amount of koa goes into that. And a great deal of artisanship and craftsmanship. So really it's to show the craftsmanship and artisanship of the people of Hawaii and not to be wasteful with our resources. OK, so this show is actually opening this afternoon. I guess we're all going to helle on over. There's a talk at 5 p.m. by one of the jurors. And then the show is going to be up for a couple of weeks until October 8th at Lunikona at the Honolulu Museum apart. And you can see that Mark Safiri's lecture is tonight. He is one of three judges, the other two being John Gongzer and Noe Tanikawa, a familiar name to most here in Hawaii. So here we see the I-squared challenge, innovation and imagination. For students of all ages, it says. But it turns out that they are from three different institutions. Ilani, yay. Even though I went to Ponoho, it's OK. That's a risk. And UH, you're from the School of Architecture, Chris? Yes, correct. And what are those funny letters after your name? It's the AIS. It's the American Institute of Architecture Students. So we're just a student organization under a national. So they have a national AIS and then we're the Hawaii chapter. So yeah. So you're an architecture student, but you have a piece on the show, right? Yes. How did that happen? Well, I worked under the wood shop because we do a lot of, we actually do a lot of like architecture models. So I'm one of the shop assistants who run a laser cutter, a CNC machine. A CNC machine, what's that? Yes, it's a computer enumerated or computational enumerated enumerated computer and it's run from like a router bit. Basically, you can think of it like a reverse 3D printer instead of adding material. You're taking out material. Sure. I'll think of it as a reverse 3D printer. Yeah, no problem. That's the way I explain it too. It's like the easiest way I can explain it. OK. Yeah. And Eason, how about you? You're from Iolani and that's the other school besides. So there's UH architecture. There's UH art. And fortunately, we have some genuine youngsters who are grabbing these hand tools and playing with them. How did you get into the show? My art teacher approached me about whether or not we wanted to participate. So me and a couple of other students decided that we would. And it turned out to be a really great experience for us. How many of you from Iolani are there? I believe there's around seven that have entered. Excellent. Excellent. So you worked with wood before. I mean, this is an art class, not a shop class. But you've worked with wood before. We have some of your artworks, actually, Eason. And I just, can you talk about them? Sure. So this one is, I titled it Makani Aina. And it's basically some mango. And I hand carved it a little bit of a torching. And then I was able to put it on a nice base. So this is some Cuban mahogany live edge cups, I guess, that I turned on the lathe. Live edge. Right. So live edge just refers to, I suppose, the orientation of the wood when it was turned. And when you turn it in a certain way, the edge of it is different compared to a traditional flat edge. OK. And this is the piece that was entered into the woodchill. So I called it ripples. And the two red panels are eucalyptus that I was able to turn on the lathe. And the glass, which is the blue part in the middle, I was actually able to make a form and then cast it. Wow, spectacular. That's glass. OK, that's just my ignorance. I looked at that and said, oh, he painted the wood. How interesting. Wow. So casting glass, that must have taken a while. Have you cast glass before? Yes, I've tried it before. And then the more you do it, I guess, the more accustomed to the process you get. So that wood that you got to the eucalyptus, I forgot what else it was, was it just eucalyptus? Primarily eucalyptus. Yes. Where did that come from? So that was, I guess, part of the challenge. They gave us about, I want to say, 10 board feet of lumber. And within it, I had eucalyptus pieces. So I cut it, glued it together, and then turned it to get that round shape. So that's another part of this challenge. Maybe you can speak to that, Chris, about that you were given wood. Yes, we were. How did that work? It was donated to us, actually, from a bunch of different organizations and other people. So we were very thankful for that. It actually motivated a bunch of students in our architecture school. Because we had, usually, we run a furniture class and students are supposed to spend their own money on wood. But fortunately, we got people who were generous enough to donate to us. And in this year, we had at least 10 people who entered. Wow, nice. Peter, did you have anything to do with that wood sourcing or your organization? Not this year, but a lot of the members that are sawmillers would contribute to schools and this contest for sure. Now, that sounds like a really good use for some of the trees that come down that our arborists take down. And then what happens to them? I love the idea of students making furniture or art with them. So again, this show is opening tonight. And are you all going to be there? Yes, I believe so, of course. OK. And there's seven from Ilani. There's about 10 from UH. And Peter, do you have any idea how many artists are involved? I think there might be 35 or so. Wow, nice. And some artists have more than one piece. Two or three pieces, some of them, yes. Yeah. OK, well, we're going to take a little break and come back and talk more about the show. Crazy world, so caught up in the confusion. Nothing is making sense. A sign of designated driver. Welcome back to Hawaii is my mainland. I'm Kaui Lucas. With me today are three gentlemen who are all involved with the show that's opening today at Lenicona School, the Hawaii Wood Show. This is the 25th anniversary for the Wood Show. But it's the first show that is including a new category, Innovation and Challenge, which they're calling innovation and imagination, which is the I squared challenge. So, Ethan, tell me when you got started, when you got into wood, how did it, how did you and wood get together? OK, well, I guess from a young age, I was always pretty interested in, like, tinkering with stuff, so I'd always, like, try to pound nails together. But there was no skill involved. But when I got to high school, I decided to take the art class, which we can work with anything from wood and joey and glass. And as the years progressed, I really started to enjoy it more. And then my skills have also gotten a lot better. So do you spend time in other aspects of wood? I mean, do you go to, do you see wood shows, or do you go to look at woodworks or play with lathes or outside of school? I mean, where is it pretty much in the context of school? I do have a lathe at home. And I'm able to make a couple of things on that. But the school has a bigger lathe that's better and easier to use. So one of your pieces, excuse me, was hand carved. How was that as an experience, as a maker's experience? It was pretty eye-opening to see how, you know, with the use of tools, the interesting textures and shapes that we can get. Like, when you think of the lathe, most everything that comes off of it is round. But if you can carve things, you can change the textures and forms. Very cool. And how about you, Chris? I got into woodworking when I started working with my dad, because he's a contractor. So we started building small residentials. And then with that experience, I got into working at the woodshop in my school. And that just opened me up, because relating back to architecture, we're supposed to design, like, innovatively. But in order to design, you need to think about the build process of it. So there's a whole design-build prospect. And it's a really, like, a great exposure, just thinking of things in your head and then actually, like, bringing it into life. So I got that passion into trying to build stuff. So how long have you been working with wood? About, like, a year and a half now. I'm, like, really new with it. Yeah. You're the old man. These were my experience. I'm surprised that I was in today in high school. And how about you, Peter? Do you do woodworking? Oh, yeah, lifelong woodworker, just a regular woodsy guy. I come every year to be humbled by the awesome work that I see. And what I've just seen on the video monitor here from you guys looks awesome as well. Really nice, good thinking going on in there. Good balance and good textures. Very good. So what do you like to make? I started out making furniture, because I couldn't afford it. And then I got a lathe, because I didn't have the time to make furniture. I could make objects on a lathe. And now I'm retired. And so I have time to make things. And so my last project is making doors for my house. I think I've got 17 made in Hong. Just keep at it. So are those hot doors? I'm sort of shocked. We're talking about all these woods like mango and koa and eucalyptus. What do you make doors out of? Well, kind of an interesting story. Hurricane came and hit the Hawaii Island pretty hard about four years ago, I believe it was, and knocked down some major trees on an arboretum in Ka'au at the Shipman Arboretum in Ka'au. And they were already, they were old trees at that point, maybe 75 years old or 80. And Jay Warner, a sawyer, went and saw him. And I ended up with some of it to make into doors. So my wife designed them, and I made them. That's a tried and true formula. And I want to ask a little about those sake cups. They were pretty amazing. But I couldn't tell from the picture how big they were. He said, how big are they? Well, maybe that tall, that wide. OK, big cups of sake. They're pretty big, but yeah, five inches. Yeah, maybe not best for using it, but. Big sake cups. And what is your piece that's in the show, Chris? I did like an iris movement mechanism, so I. I asked. I don't know how to describe it. It came from a past elective course that we had in architecture school, where we played around with like an Arduino. It's like a small little computer. And then you hook it up into a stepper motor. So you get to program. You get to bring those two together and program it, and then control like the movement of it. So pretty much it's my whole piece is like a like an aperture of a camera where one gear drives and then it drives the whole mechanism. And then it gives like this like closing and opening movement. I wish I had a picture or a video. And it's not your fault. I'm so pleased to have you here today. But it was kind of a last minute thing. So come to the show and you'll see it. That's actually the point of all of this, is that to get people to come and really see, as Peter talked about, the incredible diversity of woods. And the woods for this show are for your innovation and challenge that we're given to you. I think they had to be either locally grown or pre-used. Is that right? And they were reclaimed. Like Hawaiian exotic winds. Did you get to pick the wood? Or were you just handed a bundle? And they said here you have to make something. Yeah, it's more of a bundle. I think there was like Norfolk pine eucalyptus. There was some coa veneer, pretty big variety of wood. And you already know how to identify all of these woods? Yeah, I guess the Norfolk is pretty characteristic because it's pretty white. And the spalting will turn it gray. And the knots are just a really bright red. So quite characteristic. And Peter isn't this awesome? You know that these kids, they know what woods they're using and they know them. But tell us more about the forest part of this. Well, 25 years ago, Kamehameha Schools was reforesting with coa. And I don't believe there was too much other activity going on with coa at that time. But now, if you look, you'll see the slopes of Mauna Loa. The western slope of Mauna Loa is largely being reforested, or at least has been rededicated to growing native forest and less so growing cattle. And you could go to the National Park that acquired Kahuku Ranch. And they're transforming that into a more native setting from pasture land, the nature conservancy is their neighbor. You can go along that slope and you just see a transformation of what people have repurposed their lands for and Kamehameha as well. So you'll see literally 100,000 acres of land that was formerly dedicated toward cattle that has been repurposed now toward growing coa. And that's been over a period of over 25 years. Not entirely, the wood show is not entirely responsible for all of that. But also, there's been a growing appreciation of eucalyptus and other woods here that previously were not appreciated very much. And things have changed around the world so that new techniques of managing and harvesting and processing eucalyptus have improved greatly. And then appreciation for just the raw beauty of the wood has grown over the years. And so people have become attracted to that at the show and then asked our makers to follow up and make something beautiful. And I would say one thing about our woodworkers, they are some of the best in the world. A lot of people in Hawaii don't realize that for such a small population base that we have such a high quality artisan base, if you will. And this is really, really true. And you can see the history of it all the way back to the ancient Hawaiians, the Umeke and Calabash that they made with, and not with the modern lathe, but with a stone tool, were nearly perfectly round and awesome and beautiful and resembled gourds. And when the missionaries came here, they recognized the advanced artisanship of the Hawaiian people and carving as part of that. And then there was the ship's carpenters that came. They were very clever fellows, had to make a lot out of a little and they added to that tradition. And then all of the other immigrants that have come have brought the woodworking skills and challenged each other. And here at the show, 25 years on, the artisans and makers are still challenging one another. And so year after year, you see someone's it's all, maybe I could do that, maybe I could do that. So next year you come and you show and maybe you will do that. It sounds like with this I-Squared challenge that it's very much innovative. You've added moving parts. Basically. Have we ever had moving parts before, Peter? Well, let's see, it's musical instruments. I, that counts. Yeah, and no, I don't think we've had too many moving parts. Clock, I think, a clock or two. This is pretty cool. I can't wait to look at it. So in the last two minutes, I'd love to hear kind of what you've, what this experience has done for your relationship with Wood, both of you, Chris and Ethan, go ahead, Chris. With Wood, I guess my experience is that I need to learn way more. Just like, just working with them, there's a lot of factors that tie into it. There's the grain, there's aesthetics, there's how you're gonna cut it, there's how you're gonna finish it. So it was a good learning process and I hope that I can enter again next year and I hope more students will be more involved with it as well. About you, Ethan, what year are you? I'm a senior. You're a senior, so you might not be here next year. Probably not, but yeah, maybe I can enter a wood show on the main ladder wherever I end up. Do you plan to continue with Wood? Yeah, definitely, I think so. And Peter, thank you so much for over the years. I mean, this is an amazing institution. I mean, I myself, I don't know how many of them I've gone to, but it's when I first started going, it was in Waikiki at the Royal Hawaiian Center, there was a show back there. I know the show's moved around, but this is a great place, cheap parking. Good venue. And it's a free entrance. And we should mention the volunteers are just awesome and our head of it all is Mary and Yasuda and this is her 24th year doing it. So she didn't organize and orchestrate the first one, but she's been here ever since doing it. And she's in her own right, one of the best furniture makers around. So Mary and Yasuda deserves a big applause. I remember she made something out of a purple wood in one of the early shows I went to and I don't know how long ago it is, but it was way over a decade. I'm still thinking about that piece. She's quite a designer. So thank you all for coming and we'll see each other in a little bit with these beautiful pieces. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for having us.