karen ryan: custom made chair 2011

‘custom made’ chair by karen ryan images © karen ryan

british designer karen ryan presents her latest ‘custom made’ chair, a project she began in 2005. drawing from the history of discarded objects, this chair recycles mass-produced chair components. ryan’s first encounters with raw materials such as broken televisions and dilapidated chairs were in a long alleyway behind her grandmother’s flat. realizing that the furniture from her childhood is now being discarded, ryan aims to subvert the cycle of consumer culture and preserve the memories embedded in existing objects.

ryan explains, ‘there are enough mass produced chairs in this world: I collect discarded and unwanted ones from the street, car boot sales, jumble sales, second hand shops and charity shops. I then make ‘new’ chairs with these chairs. they are naively constructed intentionally to recapture the adventure of childhood.’

embellished with ryan’s design sensibilities, the chair incorporates bright colors. ‘the chairs are sprayed colours influenced by my past love of enameled corgi toy racing cars,’ says ryan. ‘custom made’ chairs are my adult go-carts.’

back view

side view

seat detail

detail of legs

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions’ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication.