I’ve been receiving some incredible furniture photos recently! There’s nothing like a text from friends and family with an attachment of some discarded furniture. Going to start categorising them and grouping them in smaller collections. Think I’ll start by getting them all printed.
Today has been crazy bonkers! I have saw an amazing amount of discarded furniture within the space of half an hour. I made me so happy! It was so windy and so they became more like animated sculptures.
I have recently rediscovered Erwin Wurm and his work has been making me smile all week. I particularly like his one minute sculptures where himself, models or the audience interact with everyday objects. I have never been to a show of his but would love to read the instructions that he writes or illustrates and have a go at turning myself into a sculpture. It will be no surprise to hear that I think the photograph of a person using a chair to create a sculpture is incredible. I find them amusing but also enjoy the immediacy of how they are made.
In my first year at University someone suggested I look at Erwin Wurm’s work. At the time I was making self portraits by lying down on a piece of A1 paper and asking someone to draw round me. I would then fill in with block colour the shape left behind to create an odd silhouette. The idea was to make these into 3D versions but I could never quite get to the bottom of how.
During the same year I was spending a lot of time getting into small spaces (as you do!). My most proud achievement was fitting into the top compartment of a discarded fridge (might well have been the start of my love affair with discarded objects!).
I have just taken the rubbish out and next door are getting rid of lots of their stuff with the aid of my favourite sign ‘please help yourself’. Never fails to confuse me how happy moments like this make me!
I didn’t have a closer look for fear of filling my house with more unnecessary things. Tempting though…
I’ve had such a lovely Christmas! I’ve eaten, drank and documented to excess. On Christmas eve eve I saw a sofa which was an early Christmas present for me and probably a relief to the person getting rid.
Then on Christmas morning we had a ‘Pollyanna‘ moment in our living room. The sun was shining through the window, so we strategically placed the glass star in it’s path to create beautiful shadows and moving light. The cats thought it was all for their benefit, but they do think everything put on earth is for their benefit!
Then we went sledging, which is something I haven’t done for a very long time. It was so much fun although I wasn’t a natural talent. For all the chaos and grief the snow has caused people, you cannot fault it for the way it makes everything look beautiful!
Since the snow has melted, I am happy to report that people are discarding furniture again. This never fails to make my day, so grand news for me!
This delight was on Mansfield road in a spot which is a regular hang out for sofas and chairs alike. I took it on my phone camera using night mode and think it makes it look quite atmospheric.
Goose fair is on in Nottingham so the traffic is a bit bonkers. I decided to walk home and didn’t think about the route but instead got lost in thought and put one foot in front of another. I walked a different way to I would normally go and spotted some great chairs!
First photo of a sofa taken on camera on phone. Heavy contrast so don’t know if you can make it out. Glorious autumnal sunshine though! I love autumn once you get past sad inducing September.
I am looking forward to writing from wherever I am.
On the second day of boating, Al and I went for an explore and found a chair graveyard. I was very over excited and started to climb to find more. It was amazing how disguised the chairs were amongst the undergrowth. I have yet to find an appropriate word for how it makes me feel when I spy new chair sights, but it is a lot like the feeling of finding something you forgot you had.
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I went to Birmingham this weekend to see my family and friends, which was great fun! I happened to have lots of furniture related adventures too. The first was on Friday when Theo told me he was throwing out his TV and taking it to the tip. I mentioned that if it was put outside the house with a pleasant note attached, that someone was bound to take it. It was agreed that this was a plan (I thank you) and I was put in charge of writing the note!
Unfortunately some school kids thought it would be mighty clever to remove the taped down remote and throw it to the floor. Faith in humanity when down many notches at that moment but was soon restored by a gentleman in a van who picked up the TV. Stevie went out to give him the previously confiscated remote and to help him load it into the van. He was very grateful and it was a lovely exchange. The second was on Friday evening when I spied these chairs next to Jo’s house hiding in the bushes.
The third was initially received via photo text message. I went to visit Jo’s Studio space (The Lombard Method) which is a wonderful space and Stevie text me to say he has spotted 6 chairs that were being thrown out at his office and whether Jo would like them. Jo did, so on Saturday morning we went to the office on our chair collecting mission.
On the way home is where my fourth experience happened. There was a line of discusting, fake leather cream sofa’s and arm chairs. They had been vandalised with red paint which in my opinion improved them ten fold! I decided to do a photo montage of what looked like furniture death row.
I wonder if I spent all of my time having experiences like this, whether I could somehow be employed to do so. Advisor of ‘good home’ furniture? Documentary Street Photographer? Manager of the Furniture Exchange Programme? I can dream.