5 Creatives Blurring The Line Between Sculpture & Furniture Design
By Something CuratedRejecting established definitions of art and design, these multifaceted creatives approach making with a decidedly fluid outlook. From industry pioneers to emerging talents, Something Curated highlights five creatives blurring the lines between sculpture and furniture design with their functional works of art.
Romain Coppin
One half of collaborative duo Messgewand, the hybrid design-research practice of Romain Coppin and Alexis Bondoux, artist Coppin creates surreal furniture sculptures comprising everything from cut-up tapestries, panels of faux fur, synthetic plants, chicken wire, latex gloves, and luridly coloured slime. The Paris-based creative’s trippy Instagram feed seamlessly oscillates between digital collages and his physical constructions, often difficult to decipher from one and other.
Gaetano Pesce
At the intersection of architecture and fine art sits Gaetano Pesce’s captivating practice. The Italian-born architect has been a prominent figure in the industrial design world for the past five decades, challenging the norms of the field and creating pieces that combine functionality with idiosyncratic aesthetics. Now based in New York, Pesce continues to create bold and diverse designs that set him apart from other more traditional architectural practitioners. One such body of work is his famous Pratt Chairs (1984), a series of seats made using layered resin formulas with different densities.
Jessi Reaves
Hailing from Portland, Oregon, and based in NYC, American artist Jessi Reaves studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design, originally joining the celebrated institute to study furniture design before changing her specialism. It was while working as an upholsterer in a New York studio full of scrap materials discarded during the process of furniture making that Reaves technique as an artist was sparked.
Anne Holtrop
Anne Holtrop, who graduated from the Academy of Architecture in Amsterdam, started his studio in 2009 and is currently based between Amsterdam and Bahrain. His work ranges from models to temporary spaces and buildings, as well as fascinatingly crafted custom furniture. Among his furniture works is Hanging Desk, featuring hand-painted details resembling the surfaces of jasper, limestone and agate, part of a series of furniture inspired by the stone collection of French philosopher and sociologist Roger Caillois.
OrtaMiklos
Creative partnership OrtaMiklos was formed within the walls of the Design Academy in Eindhoven, Netherlands. During their two years working together, Leo Orta and Victor Miklos have explored and challenged the traditional precincts of art and design. In their body of work entitled Creatures, the duo created a series of objects inspired from their daily habitats, fashioned from recycled materials spanning electronic waste to construction scraps.
Feature image: Anne Holtrop, Hanging Desk, 2014. Photo: Sven Laurent. (via Studio Anne Holtrop)