American designer Jason Miller presented The Woolly Chair at an exhibition of his work in Istanbul, Turkey earlier this month.
The chair is upholstered in wool felt and bison hide.
The chair was one of three new pieces at the show, called It's Not a Joke Anymore.
The other new pieces are Tints tables (above), inspired by Aviator sunglasses, and Spiral Lounge (below), based on traditional rugs made of rolled rags. Or traditional rags made of rugged rolls maybe.
Anyway here's some text from Miller:
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Jason Miller – It’s Not a Joke Anymore
March 5 – March 9, IDECO - Istanbul
ISTANBUL, TURKEY – Brooklyn-based designer Jason Miller presents new work in his first show in Istanbul since 2007. Jason Miller – It’s not a Joke Anymore includes three projects making their worldwide debut.
Jason describes the ideas behind the new collection in the following way, “As the idealism of the sixties gave way, the "Me" decade was born. The individual usurped the collective and from this rose a populist idea of luxury. In some ways, I think we are entering a similar time.” Jason continues, “In the seventies, luxury lost its exclusivity. Comfort, both physical and intellectual, became the defining characteristic. Couches and chairs were big and overstuffed. Entire rooms were terraced and carpeted and became furniture themselves. Macramé, houseplants and fur represented status. Popular culture became art. There is no longer room for platitudes. Populist luxury is back.”
Included in the exhibition are the following new projects:
Tints: Tints are a series of maple frame tables with a colored glass top. Tints are inspired by a piece of iconic American design: aviator sunglasses. The glass is colored with a layer of plastic laminated between two pieces of clear glass. This process allows for tables of virtually any color.
Spiral Lounge: For centuries people have been twisting strips of old, worn-out clothing into bands that were then sewn together to form rugs. Rag rugs arose from thrift. In the seventies the rag rug became luxury. The Spiral Lounge takes its reference from rag rugs.
The Woolly Chair: The Woolly chair is a chair made almost entirely of animal hair. The chair’s structure is industrial wool felt, which has been folded and sewn. The back and the arms remain flexible and conform to the sitter. The outer cover is a bison hide. Like a bear rug or a Native American robe, a whole, tanned hide is used as is. It’s a decadent chair.
Also included in the exhibition are:
Duct Tape Chairs: Don’t denigrate duct tape, this of it as a badge of honor. It is a little piece of humanity. It is not something we should hide. It should not be banished. After all, it’s there because of us. Duct Tape Chair is an upholstered chair with duct tape recreated in leather. And besides, maybe by fixing the chair before it is broken, it won’t need to be fixed later.
Superordinate Antler Lamps: We can rebuild it...better, stronger, faster. What we find is not good enough. We make things because we can make them better. And thus, The Superordinate Antler Lamps. It is nature made better. The Superordinate Antler Lamps are made from deer antlers cast in ceramic.
Jason was born in 1971 in New York. Jason received a BA from Indiana University in 1993 and an MFA from New York Academy of Art in 1995. Between 1995 and 2001, Jason worked as a studio assistant for Jeff Koons, an art director for Ogilvy and Mather and a designer for Karim Rashid. In 2001, Jason started his own design studio.
Jason has been called a jack-of-all-trades and a multi-tasker. He designs everything from furniture to tchotchky to interiors and he works in a multitude mediums. Jason’s designs often draw on everyday aspects of American culture to create contemporary design objects that could just as easily be conceptual art.
Jason has had solo exhibitions in Japan, Italy, Germany, Canada and the United States. He has been featured in countless publications ranging from Wallpaper to The Wall Street Journal. In 2005 Jason received the Bombay Sapphire “Rising Star Award”. In 2007 Jason was named “Best Breakthrough Designer” by Wallpaper magazine. Forbes.com included him in their list of 2007 “Tastemakers.” Jason’s work is in the Permanent Collection of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.