Nik Bentel’s Latest Work of Utilitarian Art Is a Mountable, DIY 'Emergency Stool'

Product designer and multi-disciplinary artist Nik Bentel has never failed to surprise and impress with his inventive creations, from the Barilla-themed Pasta Bag to the amorphous Drip Bag.

Shoulder and handbags have long been Bentel’s bread and butter, even if he’s launched other products over the years. That makes it all the more exciting to see the artist experiment with new mediums. This time around, he’s created a stool that he described as a “functional art object.”

Inspired by the form of flat-packed furniture, the Emergency Stool is a bright red three-piece stool that hangs in its deconstructed form on the wall. Two legs and a seat are housed inside a piece of plywood puzzle-style, which can then be easily mounted.

In the event that a surprise guest comes along, the pieces can be taken out of the plywood and assembled to build the stool using just one thumbscrew. The stool stands 18 inches tall, while the plywood sheet is relatively thin and measures 24 inches wide and 36 inches tall.

For the project, Bentel teamed up with fellow New York design studio CANVAS, comprised of Gustavo Lopez Mendoza and Gene Lee Han. While the Emergency Stool marks the first of Bentel’s collaborations with CANVAS, the designer teases that a second is already in the works.

Keeping up with the pattern of Bentel’s releases, the Emergency Stool is at once functional and artistically and conceptually-driven. And similar to its predecessors, it’s available in a one-time-only, extremely limited run. Launching on Wednesday, October 4, and priced at $190 USD apiece, only 100 units of the Emergency Stool will be available on Bentel’s website.

In other design news, Yabu Pushelberg unveiled the Memento rug collection.