Chainsaw Carved Forest-Inspired Seating

Have you ever witnessed someone wielding a chainsaw to a block of ice and transforming it into a mesmerizing piece of glistening art?

I used to work in the restaurant business for many years while attending graduate school and was fortunate enough to work in a four star hotel where chefs demonstrated their artistic skills on a regular basis.

While ice is an impressive medium to work with since you really have to act fast in order to achieve a design that is actually recognizable, wood chainsaw artists still have their work cut out for them.

Their choice of material may not melt, but it definitely splinters, fragments and can be far more challenging to transform into fluid shapes.

Jouko Kärkkäinen's StoolStories are fortunately not designed to be soft and artistic per se, but rather rustic and meaty seating options for those who appreciate the intrinsic qualities of wood and the natural world.

Included among Design Forum Finland's Forestworks, we shouldn't make the mistake of dismissing Kärkkäinen's collection as something that any chainsaw wielding hack could create -- a powerful tool like that must be led with a very steady hand, coupled with great control and innate design sense.

In the case of his single block of wood cut into a simple seat, complete with kindling for a small fire, it may not have required the most precise skills but it's an idea that comes in handy if you are lost in the middle of the forest...as long as you happen to carry a chainsaw in your backpack.