Nicole McLaughlin, Es Devlin, Tom Dixon and More Rework Wooden Chairs for Charity Project
Benjamin Edgar, Jean Jullien and more are also part of the 19 Chairs initiative.
London-based project 19 Chairs has revealed the full range of designs that will be released for auction later this year. Led by designers Tom and Will Butterfield, the project features a simple wooden chair originally designed by the brothers in the UK’s first lockdown in early 2020.
19 different creatives have now put their spin on the chair, creating unique models that will be sold at auction to raise money for charities Age UK and Resourcing Racial Justice. The collaborators enlisted include Nicole McLaughlin, who has added rolled-up newspapers to create cushioning and crossword puzzles to “exercise the mind,” Es Devlin has taken a two-seat chair and created a revolving lamp, and Tom Dixon built a foil chair inspired by Buzz Aldrin.
Elsewhere, THE BRILLIANCE! co-founder Benjamin Edgar designed a bright blue chair titled “Tired, but Quite Optimistic,” Jean Jullien added one of his signature characters to the item and designer Ashley Williams used a patchwork aesthetic familiar from her knitwear designs.
The brief given to each of the designers asked them “reinvent, reimagine or redesign your chair with an older person in mind,” something alluded to by photographer Henry Gorse, who covered the seat in Werther’s Original, a sweet often associated with older people. “The brief was a nod to the outstanding work of Age UK,” the 19 Chairs announcement says, “connecting our collaborators with those experiencing the isolating effects of the pandemic most deeply. On their behalf, the designers cut loose, then packaged their creations ready for return.”
Each chair will be displayed at an exhibition at London’s Protein Studios, which is currently set to run from April 22 until April 25 subject to government guidelines. There will also be an online charity auction beginning on April 1 to April 30, with each chair sold and profits split equally between Age UK and Resourcing Racial Justice. For more information, visit the 19 Chairs website.
For more art news, take a look at Julien Boudet’s “Tout est Bleu” artworks.
