It seems that every time I write about any of the booths we saw at Ventura Lambrate, I feel the need to mention how consistent the student work was this year. The students in RISD’s Furniture Design program opted for a particularly restrictive theme to their exhibition: “The exhibition ‘Transformations’ showcases the concept of utilizing iconic everyday items outside their known applications. By taking these everyday items out of their normal contexts, they are transformed into unexpected objects with altered meaning.”
Scot Bailey‘s (MFA ’12) telescoping “Cup Light” allows the user to control the brightness by extending the cups on either end
Anna Fulton‘s (BFA ’12) “Mira Platform Stiletto” incorporates acrylic nails into the sole as well as strap
Jamie Wolfond‘s (BFA ’13) fearsome-looking “Communicable Seats” are connected with dozens of medical syringes and pressurized tubing, such that each seat transmits data about the other
It’s not necessarily a new idea, but the sheer variety and quality of the eight works that the Furniture Design department exhibited in Milan—selected by Project Leader Lothar Windels and the furniture design faculty—illustrates the design talent at the Providence, RI art school.
The objects in this exhibition should be viewed as thoughtful prototypes. Through a rigorous research process, students explored iconic everyday items beyond their conventional use to create innovative furniture, lighting fixtures and objects. These explorations are pushing the boundaries of design and questioning the common marketplace.
Tyson Atwell‘s (MFA ’12) striking “Terra Lights” consists of 190 mini-pots attached to a flat-packable steel frame
We’d previously recognized Taylor McKenzie-Veal‘s work (vicariously through last year’s Core77 Design Awards jury team for the Furniture/Lighting category): his “Fl.int.” table garnered a student notable. His project for “Transformations” was a series of upcycled coin banks, entitled “This Little Piggy.”
Core77 was lucky enough to get a video of the designer in action, after the jump:
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