The personal cost paid for both passivity and action are weighed in Adam Bock's "The Shaker Chair," which has now been co-produced by Berkeley's Shotgun Players and San Francisco's Encore Theater ...

What ideas are percolating out there in the world of art media? This week, here are three essays (well, an essay, a podcast, and an interview) worth thinking about. Enjoy! Lately, a lot of talk has ...

Ross Timberlake marks out a table at his Bethel furniture shop. The S. Timberlake Shaker and custom furniture company of Bethel provides visitors and customers a view of how wood is transformed into ...

The Shaker philosophy of furniture-making, with its emphasis on function and aversion to embellishment, has attracted many converts in the design world. So this week, we thought we'd share three ...

Eighteenth-century Shakers put contemporary minimalists to shame. Members of this religious sect based in upstate New York and Western Massachusetts were adamant that form follow function: a chair was ...

In The Shaker Chair, Marion (Mary Pauley) is excited about her new piece of furniture, and seems to think she's acquired a new creed along with it. She gleefully talks about the beliefs and habits of ...