Major Meltdowns

PE Stripe Meltdown Chair By Tom Price Presented By Industry Gallery At Design Miami/

For the second year in a row, Industry Gallery is participating in the Design Miami/ On/Site Program. This year they are showcasing work from designer Tom Price’s series entitled Meltdown.

A London native, Price attended several renowned schools including the Royal College of Art. That background in fine art informs his approach to design, which is typically very sculptural in both appearance and concept. Much of Price’s work is made using unconventional materials. In fact, he often finds it necessary to invent new tools and techniques in order to get the required results from certain fabrications.

But Price sees this as an intrinsic part of the overall design and narrative. “I like to think of myself as working in collaboration with materials, processes and phenomena and that the final physical outcome is a product of mutual consent,” says Price.

To create these one of a kind chairs, Price melts a seat shape into a sculpted assembly of commonplace plastic products. The PE Stripe Meltdown Chair (photographed above) is made by pressing a heated metal chair-shaped former into a stack of colorful woven plastic rugs. The rugs begin to melt as they come into contact with the heated former, then set in the shape of the seat as they cool, creating a contrast in color, form and texture. The chair is a one-off prototype.

Bronze #1 Meltdown Chair By Tom Price Presented By Industry Gallery At Design Miami/

The Bronze #1 Meltdown Chair is made using a ‘lost-plastic’ casting technique. The original form for the chair, made from polypropylene tubes, is encased in a thick ceramic shell and then melted out to create a cavity into which the molten bronze is poured. Once cooled the ceramic shell is broken away to reveal the bronze form within. This is a part of a limited edition of 12.

Industry Gallery recently staged Price’s first US solo-exhibition in Washington, DC. Visit: www.industrygallerydc.com and www.designmiami.com.