The Intersection of Furniture and Art
On the final day of Cape Town Furniture Week, we visited The New Design Exhibition — a showcase featuring the latest pieces by South African brands and designers. The exhibition functioned as the main hub for the programme and was conveniently located on 61 Loop St in the City Bowl.
Exhibiting brands and designers include Arrange Studio, Ben Kennedy Design, Bupa Studios, Curación Collection, Frystark, Greg Marshall Design, Hoi P’loy, James Mudge Furniture Studio, kfa, Louw Roets, MEUBLE Fine Furniture, MŪVEK, Pedersen + Lennard, RYA, Studio Lloyd, Vorster & Braye Ceramic Design, Wiid Design and Studio Bailiff.
The meticulous craftsmanship and innovative approach of Studio Bailiff truly stood out to us. Each piece displayed a blend of functionality and conceptual artistic expression, turning broken plastic chairs into captivating works of art, touching on themes of restoration and repurposing.
Plastic chairs are renowned for being cheap to produce and manufacturers can create up to 50,000 of them daily. The mass production of the chairs led to the idea that they are worthless if they’ve been damaged, but the founder of Studio Bailiff, Jordan, took it upon himself to disrupt that thinking. This body of work makes one ponder about consumerism, waste, and the potential for creative solutions to societal challenges.
As we left the exhibition, we couldn’t help but feel inspired by Studio Bailiff’s innovation and their ability to transform quotidian objects into thought-provoking art pieces.
