First you torture a tree, then you hack it to death, then you turn it into furniture.

Yuck.

Gaa.

...and then you get the power.

It's willow - being cut down doesn't kill them, it only makes them angry.

Tree shaping is not a new idea and forcing a tree into a
chair shape isn't new either, but cutting it down after forcing it to grow in unnatural shapes just seems wasteful and disturbing.

Apart from the torture (which is anthropomorphizing at its finest), you've described how we get all wooden chairs.

Most of them look a lot nicer, and are probably more comfortable, though.

Forgot to spray paint it green and thank Shel.

I'm training my cat's skull to be an ashtray.

Here's a guy who grew a boat frame:
http://arborsculpture.blogspot.com/2007/12/harvesting-boat.html

That is one horrible-looking piece of furniture.

man, that things's even worse than that nasty coliseum sofa from last week. what is this - ugly, uncomfortable furniture month on boing-boing?

Can't speak to the torture issue -- as an omnivore, I try to torture and persecute ALL tasty life forms equally -- but I will say that stump chairs and stump couches (the latter made by removing from a log a 90-degree center cut) are some of the most surprisingly comfy sitting surfaces. I know, go figure -- but for some reason, this doesn't look uncomfortable to me.

If you leave it planted, it will just get stronger with time.

I used to work at a furniture company called Noritage. They had a chair that was grown from box elder trees back in 1919. It sat in a plexiglass case in the entrance to the office. The great grandsons of the John Krubsack, who grew the chair, owned the furniture factory. If you want to see it and read more about it, it's on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Krubsack.

Apparently putting the period at the end of the link threw it off. Here's the link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Krubsack

It's too tendon-y for my tastes, but it's cool. I wouldn't consider it a waste, since it seems it was grown expressly for this purpose.

From the Wikipedia page you cited:

"In 1988 the chair was summoned to make another appearance, this time to be sat upon by an actor in the costume of Mickey Mouse, at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, on the occasion of the character's 60th birthday."

Citation needed; in particular a photo of this event.

Frankenchair is hideous!

I'll ask them if they have a picture of it. I do remember them saying something about that. The chair has made a few trips to far off places. I even think they had mentioned it had been on loan to the Smithsonian for a short stint, but I'm not completely positive on that one.

People who decry the loss of some biomass (not a full organism, necessarily) for the sake a nice, large piece of functional art (shades of Lothlorien) better look deep into the supply networks of their own consumptive patterns, and be cool with what they see there.

The church of the self-righteous is great, but the cost at the door is kinda steep. (I dropped out.)