The constraints of the Covid-19 pandemic and the social restrictions it brought meant that doors increasingly closed between us and the outside world. The Knock Knock collection challenges us to consider what may lie behind these closed doors – large and small, simple and ornate, prosaic and magical.
Jon M Wilson
Urban sprawl and gentrification affect us all – the country towns of yesteryear become the bustling market hubs, and grow into small cities. Urbanisation overtakes the rural life, and housing density rises – the needs of a city must be met, as the population rises and the demands increase. The self-sufficient – near subsistence – lifestyle of the countryside fairies and elves is no longer as sustainable or desirable when the city lights beckon.
Bringing the urban environment a touch of magic that is usually reserved for forests and gardens. Function over form, with magical realism that speaks of working lives and metropolitan dwelling.
We’ve all seen the whimsical fairy doors that spring up amongst the bluebells and daisies. We’ve all seen their delightful colours and enchanting decorations peeking out from the leafy idyll of forest glades and woodland nooks. They are a glimpse into the world of the fairy – dancing in the dewdrops, and flitting through the dappled light of nature’s canopy.
What has remained hidden behind the scenes, just out of sight, is the world that supports these artisans and artists. Behind every fairy who spends her – or his – day weaving the silken cobwebs into dreamcatchers and chai cosies, is someone who carved their table and chair, someone who made the hinges and nails that make their beautiful fairy door what it is.
Yes, there’s the fairy artiste who gathers the dew, to mix with the delicate pollen of the tulips and daffodils to make their organic, all natural pigments and tinctures to paint their auras, and express their feelings in bold swirls of colour on the pebbles of the river bank. But who makes their clay pots? Not the whimsical Toby Jugs and grinning troll mugs for tourists, but the everyday working pots that hold fragments of charcoal, a couple of grams of deep red earth, or some distilled organic goop in shades of rich green. Who brews their coffee? Who services their… other needs – the light, the dark and the in between?
The Knock Knock collection captures and celebrates the ordinary parts of the world, capturing an imagined miniature world. Functional, rugged, prosaic doors suitable for a blacksmith or a coffee shop, a tinker or an adult emporium.
I want to create an authenticity to the interaction with the object that has nothing to do with whether the object is real
Jon M Wilson, with thanks to Adam Savage
In practical terms, this collection of miniature doors (at approximately 1/12th scale) is a post-industrial, non-gendered interpretation of the established ‘fairy doors’, without the trappings of pinkness, sweet femininity and the imposition of traditional gender roles on the imagined owners of the doors.
Work In Progress July 2021
An assortment of doors, components and other bits and pieces that are on their way to being finished.
Cinema
Constructed from marine ply, wood veneers, acrylic and upcycled cardboard, measuring 200 x 200 x 35mm. Laser cut and etched, then hand finished with acrylics. The Cinema has a removable back panel to allow the movie poster to be changed.
Troll Logistics
Last seen in Port Adelaide Enfield.
Theory of Broken Windows
Constructed from marine ply, wood veneers, acrylic and upcycled cardboard, measuring 150 x 180 x 10mm. Laser cut and etched, then hand finished with acrylics.
Jackson’s Coffee
Jackson was always destined for a career in the sciences. Today he works with molecular chemistry, pressure thermodynamics and a layer of applied sociology and psychology.
Psychology services
Dr Payne – Ophelia to her friends and clients – has seen an uptick in business since the first Covid 19 lockdown. She specialises in providing support for a niche group of business professionals who are struggling to cope with the demands since the pandemic was declared.
Boulangerie
The “Centaines et Milliers” bakery, specialising in exactly the kinds of bread you’d expect. Constructed from marine ply, wood veneers, acrylic and upcycled cardboard, measuring 200 x 200 x 15mm. Laser cut and etched, then hand finished with acrylics.
Goods Elevator
Constructed from marine ply, wood veneers, acrylic and upcycled cardboard, measuring 200 x 200 x 15mm. Laser cut and etched, then hand finished with acrylics.
Neo Brutalist Apartments
The shiny door and the neo brutalist facade of the building are filled with all the post-war promise of forward looking architecture, pushing back against the previous nostalgia.
Washhouse
Constructed from marine ply, wood veneers, acrylic and upcycled cardboard, measuring 200 x 200 x 15mm. Laser cut and etched, then hand finished with acrylics.
College Trades’ Entrance
Constructed from marine ply, wood veneers, acrylic and upcycled cardboard, measuring 200 x 200 x 15mm. Laser cut and etched, then hand finished with acrylics.
Audiology
Constructed from marine ply, wood veneers, acrylic and upcycled cardboard, measuring 200 x 200 x 15mm. Laser cut and etched, then hand finished with acrylics.
Toilet Block
Constructed from marine ply, wood veneers, acrylic and upcycled cardboard, measuring 400 x 200 x 25mm. Laser cut and etched, then hand finished with acrylics.
Bureau de Changeling
Bureau de Changeling Constructed from marine ply, wood veneers, acrylic and upcycled cardboard, measuring 200 x 200 x 15mm. Laser cut and etched, then hand finished with acrylics.
Railway Information Kiosk
Railway Information Kiosk Constructed from marine ply, wood veneers, acrylic and upcycled cardboard, measuring 200 x 200 x 15mm. Laser cut and etched, then hand finished with acrylics.
Medical Centre
Medical Centre Constructed from marine ply, wood veneers, acrylic and upcycled cardboard, measuring 200 x 200 x 15mm. Laser cut and etched, then hand finished with acrylics.
Dry Cleaners
Dry Cleaners Constructed from marine ply, wood veneers, acrylic and upcycled cardboard, measuring 200 x 200 x 15mm. Laser cut and etched, then hand finished with acrylics.
Church Hall
Church Hall Constructed from marine ply, wood veneers, acrylic and upcycled cardboard, measuring 200 x 200 x 15mm. Laser cut and etched, then hand finished with acrylics.
Gentlemen’s Club
Gentlemen’s Club Constructed from marine ply, wood veneers, acrylic and upcycled cardboard, measuring 200 x 200 x 15mm. Laser cut and etched, then hand finished with acrylics.
Gyoza Bar
Nishimura Kiyoshi is the proud owner of Three Trees Gyoza, with its hand crafted kumiko panelling and brightly geometric paintings on every wall.
Bottle Shop
Bottle Shop Constructed from marine ply, wood veneers, acrylic and upcycled miniature bottle accessories, measuring 200 x 200 x 15mm. Laser cut and etched, then hand finished with acrylics.
Urban Bunker
Urban Bunker Constructed from marine ply, wood veneers, acrylic and upcycled cardboard, measuring 200 x 200 x 15mm. Laser cut and etched, then hand finished with acrylics.
Transformer – Keep Out
Transformer – Keep Out Constructed from marine ply, wood veneers, acrylic and upcycled cardboard, measuring 200 x 200 x 15mm. Laser cut and etched, then hand finished with acrylics.
Chiropractic Surgery
Constructed from marine ply, wood veneers, acrylic and upcycled cardboard, measuring 200 x 200 x 15mm. Laser cut and etched, then hand finished with acrylics.
Loading Dock
At the back of the building, off an alleyway parallel to the main street is a simple, utilitarian loading dock with peeling paint and the scuff marks of trucks and trolleys on the door frames and steps.
Concept Space
Concept Space Ty and Sven are relaxed, serene, and thoroughly at ease in their environment. Behind the reclaimed timbers of the entrance lies a wonderland of rooms and breakouts, offices and open spaces with the walls decked with wireframe UX/CX mockups, mandalas, flow charts, band posters, data entity diagrams and more.
Union House
Mostly about the textured paint effects and the slatework wall.
Hotel
Hotel doors.
Sister Maureen
Business is booming. Foot traffic has never been higher. Socially distanced, masked and sanitised patrons line up in the street.
Stage Door
Stage Door The clearest sign of the times is the layer of leaves and dust that has blown up against – and worked its way under – the door from the laneway that leads backstage. Normally cleared by foot traffic, the debris of disuse has gathered in inverse proportion to the number of performances staged… Read More »Stage Door
Library
Library The library has diversified to try and follow demand. They’ve expanded their range of offerings and now the under utilised reference stacks and dusty microfiche machines vie for space with the media lab and tool library, the meeting rooms and co-working spaces, the community garden and the chill-out zone. All we can do is… Read More »Library
Employment Office
Employment Office At the start of lockdown things went quiet, suddenly and dramatically. Seasonal work dried up overnight, of course, but nobody was growing, nobody was hiring, nobody was replacing the natural attrition of retirees and departures. Behind the desk sits Frank – 40 something, thinning hair, rimless glasses, avuncular demeanor and a quick smile.… Read More »Employment Office
Saddle & Chick Coffee
Saddle & Chick Coffee The shutters may be down, and the wooden crate stools stacked and packed, but there is still the aroma of freshly brewed coffee in the air at the Saddle & Chick coffee kiosk. It’s a hair past six in the morning, and Ashton Saddle (32) is sipping on a rich black… Read More »Saddle & Chick Coffee
Archie’s Barber Shop
Archie’s Barber Shop More than just a place to get a quick tidy up or hair cut, Archie’s has always been a refuge of supportive, old-school manliness in a rapidly modernising world. With his own elegantly styled salt-and-pepper short-back-and sides, gently nebulous European accent blended with Australian twang, and maroon stereotype barber’s jacket, Archie himself… Read More »Archie’s Barber Shop
Mike’s Boxing Gym
Mike’s Boxing Gym Behind the no-nonsense doors of the simply named “Mike’s Boxing Gym” is the equally no-nonsense figure of its owner – Brent.