One Mans Trash Is Another Mans Treasure!

Meanwhile behind the facade of this innocent looking recliner chair.....

I found this chair in the street, it was a bit battered but in perfect working order. 

At the time I was living in Brixton and was intrigued by the exchange of furniture from home to home.  For example, I saw an abandoned  desk in the street that was better than the one I had in my room, so I took it and left mine in its place. 

The next day my old desk had gone and this recliner chair and a side table were in its place.

I took the chair but left nothing in its place, this got me thinking about the notions of value. 

Unwanted furniture is always dumped in the street or skip, these were once proud possessions of the owner/family that housed them.

The moment the object has no further use or value (for what ever reason) it gets abandoned.

Each object has a unique character that can be realised or combined with another object to create a new identity that carries the genes of the original. 

Once I had the chair back at my studio I started to deconstruct it...

About 6 hours and 5000 staples later I was left with the skeleton of the chair

Thats when I realised the engineering that had gone into the mechanics of the chair,

this is something I had never even considered.

With the mechanics I wanted to take them as far away from their intended use as possible and re-evaluate the perception of furniture and how it is defined.

When does something really loose its value and become obsolete?