A visit of the new Furniture department of V&A
Update: The Tumblr log bosphorecraftanddesign moved to Thibaut Degenne, but the post itself disappeared there. I also found Design by Degenne
Category: chair gallery
Kasese Chair by Hella Jongerius
In 1999 Dutch designer Hella Jongerius got a grant of fl 5,000 by Dutch Charity Stichting Sofa, or Sofa Foundation to make a prototype of the Kasese Chair. Currently Stichting Sofa is known as Sofa Fonds and administered by the Dutch Prins Bernhard Cultuur Fonds. Dutch Prince Bernhard originally founded this Foundation on August 10, 1940 to collect money to buy Spitfire planes for WWII. After WWII it became a Foundation to foster Dutch Culture.
Recently one of a limited series of 12 Kasese Chairs was auctioned at a New York City design auction by Phillips de Pury & Company, which was curated by Murray Moss.
For the record: An avid reader and follower of Chair Blog was working for Moss in relation to this auction (see also the online Catalog of this auction). She drew my attention to that auction which makes the circle round.
The Kasese Chair was sold for $12,500. Only two and a half years earlier, on April 28, 2010, in a London auction by Phillips de Pury & Company two Kasese Chairs were sold for £12,500. So in two years this chair almost doubled in value…
Jongerius about the Kasese:
The translation of an African prayer chair into a foldable wooden chair, produced with carbon fibre and foam or felt. Jongerius wanted to find a new, non-technical language for a high-tech material. In 2000 the Kasese Chair inspired another mix of high-tech and traditional materials: My Soft Office.
Felt design: Not Tom, Dick & Harry.
About Moss:
In 1994, former fashion entrepreneur Murray Moss opened Moss in a small gallery space in Soho, with a determination to transform the public perception of industrial product design. The store quickly became internationally known for its product selection and presentation, with clients ranging from highly informed design professionals, to celebrities, students, and tourists with maps.
The shop grew and evolved — expanding to nearly 7000 square feet in late 1999 when Moss’s partner Franklin Getchell joined the company. Together they expanded the product base to include furniture, especially from Italian manufacturers, lighting, watches and jewelry, books, tabletop and a significantly increased focus on the studio work of the designers we offered.
The furniture and objects offered at the shop deliberately blurred the distinctions between production and craft, between industry and art, and between industrial and decorative arts. The intention was to force a view of each piece based on the context of its presentation, rather than its function or material. At Moss, context was fundamental, and value inferred from inaccessibility. The shop intentionally looked and felt like a museum, with everything locked behind glass or raised onto platforms. Provenance, designer, manufacturer, materials, manufacturing process – complete information about each product was posted near it.
The shop functioned as arbiter, advocate, and presenter, as well as gallery, showroom and salon. Moss was instrumental in shaping the direction of design retail, with influence far out of keeping with its size. It was a unique, unmatcheable and unmistakable place. And after eighteen years, Moss closed its doors in Soho in February 2012….
Within a week, MOSS BUREAU opened in the former garment district, in a tenth floor office/showroom. Moss Bureau continues the work of designer representation and exhibition, plus focused and curated design retail, and also offers design consulting and advisory, as well as curatorial, services, teaching and public speaking. Mossonline, the company’s website continues to offer a wide range of products.
Via Moss Online
Post Alia
The rapid increase in value made me think: “I know there is not such a thing as a Droit de Suit for the artist, not in the USA not in the UK and also not in the Netherlands. However….one plead for a Droit de Suit for the charity that originally enabled (or helped enable) the then poor young artist to create this chair”
My second thought is that I’m surprised to see Hella experiment with carbon composite material in a rather early stage, while I don’t see her use this material for chairs anymore now….
Rocking Cha Cha Chair by Helmut Palla
Helmut Palla
I discovered Vienna, Austria, based Helmut Palla only after he had discovered us via FaceBook. Then he revamped his site (could have done a better job imho). But when I discovered Tristan Cochrane‘s Fish Rocking Chair I also discovered that Saatchi Online also represents Helmut Palla (and are providing me with better photos to share with you than dear Helmut himself).
This Cha Cha Rocking chair is for sale there for $6,500.00.
I hope to visit him once in his studio when Vienna is my travel destination again (usually once or twice a year).
Fish Rocking Armchair by Tristan Cochrane – Milan 2012
Fish Rocking Chair by Tristan Cochrane
Scottish designer Tristan Cochrane is a remarkable artist. After he worked 10 years in the fishing industry in Scotland he went into furniture design.
After a short period studying cabinet making and furniture design at Bucks University near London he moved to Eindhoven, the Netherlands. For almost 3 years he worked for Studio Maarten Baas before settling in Barcelona in 2011 where he recently set up a studio with partner Paula Benvegnú, an art director from Argentina who has been working in advertising for 5 years before moving to Spain.
Sardines as material for a Chair?
From the second image it is clear that sardines stood model for the material. From them Tristan created wax molds that he used to cast aluminum sardines via the forlorn Wax Method.
The rocking chair is a one off piece sculpted by Tristan. It is fully functional and made entirely from cast sardines in aluminium.
It was produced in Eindhoven, NL, at Beeldenstorm foundry in 2011.
Dimensions: 110cm x 50cm x 65cm
Weight: 30 kg
Tristan Seated on his chair. He has a nice photo series of the making of the fish chair. I can smell the studio from it;-)
Tristan is also represented by Saatchi Online. Asking price for this one off is $19,500.00.
Update: The chair will be featured in Milan.
Last edited by Guido J. van den Elshout on April 11, 2012 at 10:15 PM
Moonbow by Wendell Castle
The Moonbow from 2011 by Wendell Castle (Peruvian Walnut with Oil Finish) is also part of the Wrexler Gallery exhibition in Philadephia, US: “The Abstract Forms of Pablo Picasso & Wendell Castle.” From December 2, 2011 – February 25, 2012.