Objects gleaned from the forest floor, drawknife shavings from the chair-making process, and a charcoalized chair rung relate to the process of woodworking and of the carbon cycle as it occurs in the forest and atmosphere.

Wood in its natural state is approximately 50% carbon, and when it is burned in a low-oxygen environment, it becomes charcoal, nearly 100% carbon. Elemental carbon exists in all organic compounds, and in its gaseous form, is one of the major causes of atmospheric temperature increases in human-created climate change. Carbon is also exhaled in each human and animal breath. Through plant respiration and photosynthesis, this exhaled carbon becomes part of the living tissues of plants.