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Michael Speaker: Man With the Yellow Briefcase

Woods in the Briefcase are Brazillian Satinwood and Ebony.  The ebony as a corner piece is continued in the handle as well.

Shape is a conversation between the surfaces nearby. Top is bowed up in the middle, the bottom is bowed down in the middle, the rear plane is angled more than 90 degrees and the front plane is angled less than 90 degrees to accommodate the drawer-front plane. The outside surface is dished in the middle.

BTS logo is actually the working title for the piece. In my email discussion about an earlier similar piece, I said “I can make it better than S__’s , referring to first one. BTS it became.

BTS is meaningless without the story so I call it Yellow Briefcase.

The Hand is one of my favorite parts. Had I done your basic fist gripping the handle, the viewer would say to themselves, “Hand holding the briefcase? Check. And move on. This one is weird and makes the viewer look again.

I take for my inspiration a combination of the business end of a milk cow and a baby’s hand (note the dimples). I also have it not really gripping. My bureaucrats that I imagine have no practical use for working with their hands.

This is a good view of the wood surface of the vera wood tiles in the herringbone pattern.

Also note the closer view of the drawer openings in the closed position.

Photography by Michael Speaker

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