The goal of this project is to learn more about what materials can be salvaged and be used to create a strong, long-lasting chair. For this project, we are targeting materials that can be not just reused, but can be broken and reformed into other objects.
Phase 1
I took the magazine paper and scrunched it together, searching for a way to mimic tree bark. I crumpled the pages and strung them on a thin wire, tying them around a tightly wound magazine for an inner core and support. I wanted the viewer to experience the chair with the texture as well as the form of the tree. My concept was that the magazine paper was trying to be a tree again.
Above, I tried playing with different ways of how I wanted the magazine paper to work together. Here I have simply taken the paper and twisted it, then weaved it in a wreath like pattern. It turned out to be very loose and not what I was looking for.
Above, I played with the paper some more and discovered this technique of tightly rolling the paper into these tube forms. Once I found this new way to play with the paper, I knew my original form was going to change.
Phase 2
I began to play with the tubes and found that coiling them like pictured, created a very strong structure and captivating movement. As I rolled out more tubes and coiled even farther, it became hard to control and very time consuming. Not only that, but I found my hand cramping up after very little work due to holding the form together so tightly. Although neat, and fun to make, this style was abandoned.
I then began to weave. As shown above, this turned out really neat, and held a nice form. This style was fun to work with, and fairly time manageable. I had planned on weaving a seat like this, upon a stool of cardboard. Upon changing my design, I found the weaving aspect obsolete to the form, though I would welcome venturing in this direction more if able to on another project.
Phase 3
I went looking for a more sturdy base for my stool besides cardboard. When rummaging around, I stumbled upon the extra yearbooks in the back room of the college studio. I then began to work with them instead, completely eliminating the magazines. I then took all the pages out of one book and experimented with rolling those pages into the tubes I discovered in my last phase. I really liked it, but again, I changed my design to where the weaving wasn't necessary. Though not pictured, I began to work with different ways of staking the books. I drew inspiration from brick walls and layered the books like a curved wall. At first this was meant to simply be sat on, then there was the possibility of sitting in it. I soon discovered that this form was WAY TOO HEAVY and had to stray away from it. It simply limited the user way too much.
I then thought back to the working critique we had in class and wanted to explore this idea of a triangle that my art professor has suggested. At first I only had a large triangle, but I went back online and looked for some inspiration. You can find the design inspiration on my 'Sketchbook' page.
With this form I want the user to be able to use it for many different functions besides just sitting.
Chair
Two Chairs
Table
Storage
Bench
Vertical Storage
Final Phase
As you can see above, I have gone through many different ideas. Not only with material but with form. I've gone from a tree, to a wall, to crazy functional triangles. Due to my many different trials as experiments, it left me lacking in time for construction. Though once I found what i wanted, I bit into it and pulled out this chair. I'm quite pleased with the transformation that took place in my creative process and the end result. Even as I write this, I'm using my piece as a table. The material is unique in the sense that it's not really something you imagine constructing a chair out of. Sure, we've all stacked up a few books to sit on for things, but by taking the book, and forming it in a vertical position to sit on, most people have never experienced that. Personally I love the shape. Triangles are my favorite shape because it allows for equal distribution on all sides when weight is applied. The overall hexagon shape is inspired by a design I found online. (you can read more on this in the sketchbook section) I loved the different positions the design could shift into, and the uses the viewer could find for those positions. I do like the twine, it holds nicely and I didn't have too much trouble binding with it. For visuals I would have liked something a bit more clean though. Although that option was available, I still wanted the books to remain flush with each other in the different shapes it can form. This would be the one thing I would change overall. Upon minor changes after the final critique, I love my chair even more. I feel like it remains functional but now has another element that makes you want to explore beyond the simple two segments. I like the seat and how one might move it to view it, or leave it for a nice flat surface. The chair itself it not built for extreme comfort, but i feel like it still lends itself to comfortable seating while maintaining all its different uses.
Influential Artists
Andrea Zittel
The 1994 living units were major inspiration to my chair. I liked the way the unit was able to accommodate many different uses and not take up a lot of space. The ability to shift and move so that the unit may provide different functions and the simply geometric shape really pushed my chair idea further.
This group was a high influence in my work on the Green chair. I found their reuse of the plastic wrap from a modular home to form a home quite inspiring when it come to the reuse of present material. Upon researching them, I find I really like the way they reuse material, but also seem to be throwing it in society's face that "look what we can do with your trash."
Gelitin is a group of artists that use their work to promote environmental awareness, but with a twist. They like to make things with a bit of humor, but still highlight the destruction taking place. I enjoyed their work in the this aspect. Instead of pointing a finger and shaming people, they take it to a playful level, and show what could be done with our waste instead of simply going about our day.
Beaumont created environments for creatures to inhabit or to experience. I relate to her with my triumphal arch in this way. I've created an area where one can go in and feel enclosed. An area to meditate, or to hide.
I relate to her work in the sense that she puts an emotional drive into the work. She allows her pieces to showcase the chaotic inner emotions she had been taught to silence. In my piece I created an enclosed a dim space to capture that moment of "am I hiding?" or is this merely a collection of memories.
With my work on the Green Chair, it reflects in the Sustainist category. I say this due to:
My reuse of a present material
The duel functionality of said material
Trying to preserve a future by reusing what we have today
I would also have to admit to being a bit of a Pessimist too. This reflects in more of my 2D artwork where you can see trees growing from bodies in the attempt for nature to regain control. In the piece below, it shows bugs infesting the body. With this piece I wanted to make the viewer squeamish, but also point out just how many bugs function around us in our day to day lives. Also question who is the bug, and what is a bug?
In my Triumphal Arch, I feel I showed even more of my Sustainist side. I continued with the yearbooks, and instead of leaving it in its unrecyclable state, I tore out 4 books worth of pages to create my walls. By tearing out the pages, they are now recyclable because they are not attached with the book glue used in binding the yearbooks. 1) Reused the Yearbooks 2) Created an enclosed space I still deem myself a Pessimist, but not so much in this piece.