Studiomama presents The Off-cuts, an interior design book chronicling the design studio’s collection of animals made in its workshop using scraps of wood. The collection of wooden animals results from the studio’s ‘Pallet Project’, a 2009 initiative that saw founders Nina Tolstrup and Jack Mama create furniture using discarded wooden pallets found on London streets. The leftovers gave life to the ‘Offcuts’, assemblages from wood scraps, nailed and screwed together into zoomorphic guise – some obvious in their forms, some leaving the viewer to guess.
Studiomama's Offcuts: from waste to charming animals
‘[Studiomama’s practice is] never guided by preconceived aesthetic ends but by a compelling sense of curiosity,’ comments curator Libby Seller in the book’s foreword. ‘Play and wonder are vital parts of their ongoing process of discovery and experimentation.’
The studio’s playful and humorous personality emerges through the pages of the book, showcasing a succession of bunnies, owls, elephants and more creatures that could be birds, or could be dogs. ‘We normally start by taking the workshop bin and tipping all of the offcuts onto the table,’ says Tolstrup, who founded the studio with Mama in 2000, in an interview with Max Fraser within the book. ‘We have a mountain of bits in front of us and we’ll freely play around with what we find, usually finding a head or a body that would inform the rest of the pieces.’
The project is an exercise in working with the expressive opportunities of wood: a knot becomes a bunny’s belly button, two emerging branches the eye of a mysterious long-torsoed creature. ‘We respond well to materials that are lying around: we are scavengers in that way!’ adds Mama.
The pair have always championed a sustainable approach to design, and the ‘Offcuts’ project is a testament to this direction. ‘These creatures are a small part of a bigger conversation around finding value in everything, including what we deem waste, and maybe a lot of creative minds can help with that,’ says Tolstrup. ‘The agenda has changed and taking care to repair and repurpose has become really cool.
-
A revamped Edinburgh apartment combines Californian-style modernism with modern craftArcher + Braun have transformed an apartment in a historic house with finely tuned contemporary additions and sympathetic attention to detail
-
Formafantasma’s biodiversity-boosting installation in a Perrier Jouët vineyard is cross-pollination at its bestFormafantasma and Perrier Jouët unveil the first project in their ‘Cohabitare’ initiative, ‘not only a work of art but also a contribution to the ecosystem’
-
Gingerbread City: architects sculpt London out of the season's favourite treatUntil December 29 in Chelsea, see London brought to life in a seasonal-appropriate medium by leading architects and designers
-
Discover the alchemy of American artists Philip and Kelvin LaVerneThe work of Philip and Kelvin LaVerne, prized by collectors of 20th-century American art, is the subject of a new book by gallerist Evan Lobel; he tells us more
-
20 pairs of bookends celebrate contemporary Scottish design and Dundee’s literary heritageAs Dundee Design Week gets ready for its fifth edition, a bookish commission shines a light on two pioneering female journalists from the city’s storied past
-
‘You’ve got to hang out with Judd furniture… you learn something’: Rainer JuddAs new book ‘Donald Judd Furniture’ lands, the artist’s children Rainer and Flavin discuss their father’s legacy
-
Discover London’s lesser-known design gems with ‘an opinionated guide’‘An opinionated guide to Design London’ by Sujata Burman and Wallpaper’s Rosa Bertoli is a carefully curated tour of intriguing design spots across the capital
-
Well hung? We interview Martino Gamper about his new book of (around) 1,000 hooksItalian maverick designer Martino Gamper doesn't hang around. He has a new book featuring 1,000 hooks made by hand. We ask him how and why...
-
New Louis Poulsen book explores the Danish lighting company's illuminating worldLouis Poulsen: First House of Light, published by Phaidon, is a new design book delving into the Danish company's world of radiant lighting
-
‘What We Keep’: 50 creatives on the objects they collect and use in their homes‘What We Keep’ is a new book by Jean Lin, founder of the New York City design gallery Colony, an ode to objects and the people who obsessively collect them
-
Sir Kenneth Grange’s influential industrial designs are chronicled in a new book‘Kenneth Grange: Designing the Modern World’ explores the life and work of the pioneering British industrial designer
