Interesting chairs that play with time and materials...

Found in a book on history of through the ages. Dates back to Roman era, but quite a contemporary concept of imitation.

Imperial Chair by Elisabeth Garouste and Mattia Bonetti (1988) - inspiration taken from tribal crafts

El Ultimo Grito,  Miss Ramirez cork and latex chair.  Inspired by the process used to make cork shoes.

Blow Chair by Jonathon de Pas

Chairs by Robert Venturi inspiration from many eras.

Expandable foam with bio resin

Some tests I did with bio resin and wood shavings. 

I gathered 3 different types of wood shavings from the wood workshop and at different sizes.

I then graded them on expansion, hardness (top and bottom ) and residue left over.

Expanding foam...

I made rectangle pockets out of various materials and machine sewed, then squirted expandable poly filla into them.

Materials: 0.8 mm cork, brown leather, plastic coated fabric (like on a rain mac), thin cream leather, clear plastic, and velvet.

They produced some strange but exciting results, the only issue is that poly-filla is very bad for the environment!

Playing around with materials

Leather

Boiling leather when scrunched up in brackets, produces interesting surfaces.  

I also did various experiments testing the shrinkage of various types and thicknesses of leather and suede, in the hope if using it to mould around wood when boiled.  

 

 

Expanding foam 

Inspired by Swell Vase by Chen Chen and Kai Williams, I felt the need to have a play around with some expanding foam.  Swirting it into a box with holes, a pink and black paint, a piece of leather with holes and some thin cork.  Here are the results.....

Wood Chips and Latex 

Makes an interesting materials combination, the wood chips feel fragile and like they are going to fall apart, whilst the latex is strong and flexible.

1 10 1000

New 6 week project, the brief is to make products for one off production , batch/ range or mass produced.

Initial thoughts are to work in a larger scale, and have always wanted to have a go at making furniture.

I thought I would carry on from the previous project with the idea of making intricate surface texture and form with minimal effort.  Also looking more at environmentally friendly materials.

After looking over my notes of the Post-Modernism exhibition held at the V&A , I became very intrigued by the Memphis design group, here are some of my favourite pieces.....    

Ettore Sottsass

Ettore Sotsass

and some drawings by Ettore Sottsass ....