4 A tree falls, long live the King

When a tree falls alone in the forest does it make a sound? The base wood for this king was retrieved from outside Nelson Mandela's home in Houghton, Johannesburg shortly after he returned there from hospital in January 2011.

3 A pawn from home

This white pawn once formed the ceiling in a childhood bedroom. Its next move opens a new chapter in an old story.

2 A white rook escapes the Falls

The first white rook was rescued from splintered oblivion on the lip of the Victoria Falls. One fate avoided, another to come.

1 A black pawn from the river

The first black pawn comes from a loose portion of the deck of the Zambezi River ferry that plies between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Interestingly what I thought was just dirty common pine or meranti is either mopane or ironwood – the entire deck from that dilapidated pontoon would be worth half a million in a Sandton furnishers!

0 An empty board...

Sixty-four empty squares. Thirty-two need to be filled by wooden chess pieces. Every piece a story in discarded wood. Each one hand turned in a garage in Johannesburg. Watch this space - piece by piece.