Object Description
Contemporary recycled plastic chair by James Shaw
English, 2020
Height 78cm, width 58cm, depth 49cm
Designed and made by James Shaw, the renowned English contemporary designer and maker, the chair is a playful take on the design of a utilitarian object. The seating comes from Shaw’s ‘Plastic Baroque’ collection, with the shapes of his pieces referring to the iconography of the Baroque period.
Extruded recycled plastic has been used to create this functional and decorative work of art. James Shaw invented a ‘plastic extruding gun’, allowing him to reshape plastic pieces no longer needed, usually to be thrown away, creating an environmentally friendly manufacturing technique. The extruding gun is filled with plastic pieces and dye, creating spaghetti-shaped strings of soft polychrome plastic. The designer cuts the plastic to shape and carefully moulds it in the desired form. Once cooled down the plastic becomes extremely durable, and an example of this is the piece in Mayfair Gallery’s collection.
The chair is boldly coloured in various shades of blue ranging from navy to pale blue. The colour of the pieces is dictated by how much dye is left in the extruding gun, creating a sense of the unknown and making each piece unique. Each armrest is of a different geometrical form, producing a contrast between round and rectangular edges. The chair back and seat have been made from long horizontal pieces of extruded plastic held together by smaller strips. Such construction imitates a lace-like design.
James Shaw is a graduate of the Royal College of Art, and his work is included in permanent collections of world’s best museums such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London or the MoMA in New York.
Of an intriguing design, the ‘Plastic Baroque’ chair can be displayed as a work of art or used as a functional piece of home décor, one which would bring humour and playfulness to any interior.