London-born designer Tom Price was commissioned by Arts Co. to produce a piece of work for ‘From Now to Eternity’, an exhibition celebrating design, and focusing on plastic as a versatile material. Addressing concerns over our increasing piles of wasted throw-away plastic products, he chose to create an ingenious series of chairs formed by strategically melting piles of polyester fleece.
Price works almost exclusively with plastic, and is known for his meltdown chair series. For “From Now to Eternity” the designer chose to highlight the use of plastic in clothing, explaining how we’ve become accustomed to calling it ‘nylon’ or ‘polyester’ when we should be complimenting each other on our fetching ‘plastic’ dresses and shirts.
Inhabitat met the designer at Tent London where he talked about the project. Price commented on how he felt sometimes people forget how recycling has become a huge industry, and is not always good for the environment.
To create his fleece chairs, Price first rescued a ton of discarded ‘plastic’ fleeces from being shipped to the far north of Europe to be melted down into raw material. However when he started working with the polyester material he found it to be highly toxic, which forced him to alter his design process. The result is a series of thought-provoking chairs which on first glance appear humorous, harmless, and inviting. With Price’s input, the pieces manage to clearly articulate the essence of the materials we wear.
+ Tom Price
These are wonderful. The cable ties chair is a bit scary, but they are all a great commentary and playful enough to make me smile.
How does he keep himself safe throughout this process? what was the most toxic part about it? did he wear a respirator and what kind? did he primarily work outdoors? please help with more answers! thanks!