Prototypes: Process photo's

Prototypes: waiting to be upholstered

process note: sew into hessian the rippelled effect coming out from the back laft corner to go the "ghosted chair" on the right. sew in by cutting alternate strips of william morris pattern and cammo.

Prototype: Beware the military-industrial complex...

The "bosses" chair, re-upholstered with cammo. This works, as a mix of symbols of hierarchy and discipline, of blending in

and patterns - structurial hierarchy and disciplined, departmental, co-ordinated and specific.
MIC Millitary-Industrial Chair

Prototype: Beautant - Beautiful Freaks - Slinky Leg

Distinguishing features and hidden beauty, appearences and discovery. A quirky but technically well constructed form draws the eye to the one odd leg which reveals the added detail to the underside of the chair reflected in the display surface.



















the things that live under the chair, chewing gum, scribbles and screws

Prototypes: Two working prototypes

Working prototypes exploring the potential in designs created to either physically/spatially cut the individual sitter off from the immediate environment using the encompassing arms and the kissing chair that looks as though it will be good to entwine the legs of the two sitters to add to the visual clutter of the many chair legs.

Prototype: Circular comfy seat

The next step from the circular seat prototype, upholstered and ready go on to final prototype stage

Prototype: Fat leg

Added to previous protoype entry

put arc wood from fold up chair as back, loop paper from arm to arm and behind either side of the wooden arc and fix sprung seat with red illustrations on black. Something about cycles that makes you lie down as you read it. Need a fat legged recliner really! the text could go right out of site forcing the user to get out of the seat and the end should reflect that change of position / stand point / view...

Prototype: Mirror chair

Prototype: Slinky leg

not a prayer - guantanemo

use high strength magnets in guantanemo prayer stools to fit tetris bits together...

Prototype: Fat leg chairs

One of the fat legged chairs broke around the backrest so this will lead to a new stage of development where at each stage the overweighted mend will make the weak parts give elsewhere.

Prototype: Beautiful Freaks - Oversized Legs

Consistant with the mainstream media's fascination with those labelled freaks (plastic surgery nightmares - michael jackson, lesley ash, easily identifiable villians - abu hamsa, and heroes - Jed, youtube "stars" (take your pick), oversized glamour models and porn stars, guiness book entries (see tallest, heaviest, longest appendage etc) etc etc etc)

this project takes the weakness of the object (where it has broken) and overcompensates for its deficiencies, or highlights its difference.

Supporters of Darwin would argue that without natural slection or without mutations evolution would not have occured. Social Darwinianists tried to turn this on its head and act as the forceful hand of god through implementing nature on natures behalf, exterminating the "weak" those who in different environments evoke the better sympathetic empathic altruistic tendancies from society.

Have we increasingly encouraged ourselves to be fascinated by difference. When difference distinguishes something we praise it and call it progress or unique, maybe we express disgust because of perceived grotesqueness or mutations, these can be translated into strengths or weaknesses.

The white chair broke at its weak point around the back support. I thought it would be interesting to start a process of replacing every breakage with an oversized component. This could elaborate into experiments with materials and structures to effect significant structural and visual strengths and weaknesses that can be manipulated to produce a range of prototypes further exploring these possibilities.

Prototype: Ghosted Chair

This frame holds an old wooden chair profile in a black square tubular steel office chair frame. The back rest upright going into the leg is a sructural strength that both structures share, the black frame could be seen as an evolution from wooden construction. A part of its evolution as an object, a member of a family tree, a piece that has evolved from constant improvements and alterations natural and intended interventions to form and processes, all are still present in its construction. Chairs as footprints of their owners, empty chairs as echos of people, traces of their previous incarnations. There are posibilites for more abstract interpretations also.

There is potential in experimenting with fabrics and upholstery, printing and illustrations.

This idea evolved from the Beautiful freaks prototypes using left over chair parts to try and emphasise a new aspect of the form, the back leg up into the backrest.

Prototype: Kissing chair - warped up

I found the beginnings of this chair as two frames intertwined locked together inseparable without wrenching apart. Although it has resulted in looking like a kissing chair, it suggests two users with two back rests, that was not the intention. Although it would be appropriate to investigate its potential as a kissing chair. The positioning of the users would involve interlocking legs which would add to the visual clutter of the users/chairs legs.

Prototype: circular seat

This first prototype is slightly too high but efficient use of 100% recycled wood. Old table and old ikea chair providing the perfect componants, unfortunately in the wrong composition, looks too much like a crows nest atop a mast!

sit inside fits 1 person extra comfy, 2 back to back, several sat around outside ring. Used by one person sat inside, pad up the uprights as back rests. Upholster ring to make circular bar stool. Drop the height by at least 300mm to make ring bar stool height.

Sketch model: wrapped up

If you want a seperation from the environment using a physical barrier to remove or reduce visual or audible distractions it can be done literally and poetically with the form and decoration. Plastic barrel seating, acrylic leg rest/paper guard, fabriano paper roll.

Prototypes: Panoptigon broken chairs

some of our public seating is arranged in anti-social (back to back facing) format. Around a tree the format gives all users uniterupted views but in stations and other public places they seem anti-social or defensive like circled wagons. In stations they are a reminder to me of the years of the threat of terrorism and a population trained to observe and suspect each other.

Prototypes: Prayer stool

This is a basic prayer stool crudely constructed from layered cardboard. I broke the form at the middle of the horizontal section and from these two identical components I have created a series of new prayer stools that require different postures which may be suitable for different forms of prayer. I would also like to examine the effects of posture on the psychology of the user, which forms lend themselves to certain postures that affect the type of spritual worship can be adapted to the object. The prayer stool in its christian form seats the user in a subordinated position. On ones knees, eyes to the floor in submission or to the heavens in wide eyed awe.

An aspect of this prototyping will involve an element of "auto destructive art". The original plan was to cover the pieces in text and leave to disintergrate in abandoned and derelict places of worship. I also intend on taking the forms and using different materials start playing with size and ratios relative to the various postures of worship to produce a series of prototypes for prayer based on these forms (and others not shown here). What is interesting is the potential additional limbs or support structures that go with the form. Some forms require additional limbs, some bizarre postures others require additional objects (other furniture/chairs/stools) and some require physical structures (buildings, caves, trees, cliffs, vehicles - floats/carnivals/fiestas) these relationships echo the nec relationships developed between the individual and these aspects of beleif and all its paraphernalia.