Kelly Lee: Yes in my third term I had to make a children's chair. It was in a combined class of Environmental 3 and Materials and Construction 2 that we learned to use CNC and laser cutter machines.

V5: That is the chair we see in the slides with the teardrop shaped handles. It is very beautiful.  What was involved in that chair?  Was that made out of a sheet of plywood?

KL: In the program I had to use half-inch plywood and did not use any fasteners or glues, so that it was all fitted together and everything was just cut with a CNC machine. 

V5: Did you do a final veneer on it or was it just the plywood?

KL: Just the plywood with a wax finish.

V5: It is very beautiful in the photographs. What is the finish of the wood in the new chair and does the chair have a name?

KL: Chat Chair. Because it is for conferences, meetings and classrooms where you
sit and talk with other people.

V5: How much did the chair cost you to fabricate?

KS: About two hundred dollars per chair.

V5: For the metal work and the woodwork?

KS: Yes, the raw materials. 

V5: How many hours did you work on it?

KS: (laughs)  I can not even say.  So many!  A lot of time!

V5: It is a very beautiful project.  So now you are going to Milan.  Can you tell us a little about that?

KL: We had a jury come in at the end of the semester and they picked out about nine or ten chairs to go to the Milan show and the New York show. I was chosen to go to the New York show but it was canceled so everyone is going to Milan. 

V5: So all of the students who were chosen in the jury are going to Milan, Italy?  So the furniture is going, are the students going too?

KL: Yes, everything is going. (laughs)  I am so excited! I have never been to Europe.  It is pretty exciting. It is a little scary too since I do not speak any Italian and I do not
know anything about the hotel or how far it is from the show area.

V5: It is a very international city.

KL: I hope they can speak English and maybe Korean. (laughs)

V5: How long will you be there?

KL: Ten days and we are leaving April 8, 2000.

V5: Is the furniture already in route?

KL: Yes, it has been shipped to the crating company and is on its way.

V5: Will you actually set up the furniture at the exhibit hall?

KL: Yes, the day after we get to Milan we are going to set up and the show starts the day after. David and other people are putting together platforms so we can display our furniture on them.

V5: At Art Center you are in Environmental Design right now.  Are you beginning to focus on furniture design?

KL: I really love to do furniture and that is my focus right now, but I like to do interiors as well, so I do not only go for just furniture.  Even though it is very hard I really enjoying making the furniture, I like to see the results and see it coming along, it is very exciting.

V5: Congratulations on being selected to go to the Milan show.

KL: Thank you.  It was my dream when I first came to Art Center to go to Milan, I had heard about it and it was my wish to go and it has come true.  I am so happy I was picked, especially since I was only fourth term in the class.

Next Page