EUAN MACDONALD

Lisa Neighbour's room 

John's Office

John's office is a small space located in a corner of the woodshop at Sheridan College. John is the woodshop technologist, and he's worked at Sheridan for over 20 years. The reason I chose this room is because I find it fascinating and it tells a vivid story about John, the students, and our program - the Art and Art History Joint Program with UTM.

The room is about 10 feet along each wall, with a high ceiling, about 14 feet up. There's a door on one side of the room, a little closer to one wall than the other. When I stand in the middle of the room, I can reach out and touch a lot of the furniture and shelving.

If I turn slowly in a circle, clockwise, this is what I see: First the door, which opens inward and is usually flush to the wall, outside you can see the students at work in the shop. Then a small section of John's personal photographs; his wife Ann, the student monitors, past meals and ceremonial events, John as a student, his dad in the army etc, then floor to ceiling shelves that are all different sizes and extend all around the room. In the first corner is a small triangular 
desk that cuts across the space, with a battered stool in front of it. On the desk is a laptop, and above that a stereo that is always playing music through the speaker system into the woodshop. Under the desk is a printer.

The next wall consists of numerous open shelves full of tools, loaner cameras in bags, video equipment, small boxes of hardware, and labeled boxes stacked to the ceiling. The ceiling has metal i-beams, and above that shiny galvanized metal.

In the middle of the back wall is a 4m high set of mechanic's drawers full of tools and hardware. Each drawer is hand-labeled with black marker - such things as: 'pliers', 'screwdrivers' etc. Above and to the left of the drawers are more shelves filled to the rafters with equipment such as grinders, laptops, heat guns and digital projectors in bags labeled 'A&AH'. To the right of the drawers is the extension cord depot. Several dozen extension cords hang neatly on hooks, and 
they fill the corner around onto the next wall. They are mostly bright orange.

The last wall before we're back at the door is dominated by a large green filing cabinet with 4 drawers. Above it are more shelves full of equipment and tools, On the floor are often backpacks and water bottles - the students store some of their stuff in the office when they are helping out in the woodshop.

The invisible aura of this space is a humming consciousness, almost like the wizard of oz, only more reliable and less bombastic. Anything you ask for can be found, loaned out, explained, in a welcoming and humourous way. John is one of those people that the entire universe pivots around, and he makes it seem effortless.