Ivana Taylor
Beau Stool
Beau Stool, 2019
The Beau Stool embodies the qualities that its title suggests: affection, sensuality and intrigue. Amplifying soft, tactile comfort and playfulness, the Beau Stool distills the process, texture and aesthetic qualities that have evolved from a long-standing fixation on wrapping and binding.
A wool and linen cushion, edged with flat-piped seams, is bound to a white ash stool frame using knotting. The repeated wrapping of the knots functions as a glue-less and metal-free fastening to the stool and visually contorts the cushions into a soft, chunky, bow-like expression. With the various layers of different textiles and forms, intriguing textures accommodate the human desire for touch and kinaesthetic experience.
The design was driven by the principles of design-for- disassembly through the use of a continuous knotting and wrapping to attach and remove the upholstery without toxic adhesives and metal components that blend materials in ways that prevent easy recycling or re-use.
Ivana was part of Designing Bright Futures in 2018.
Image: Beau Stool, 2019. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Ivana Taylor
Where would you like to be in 5 years from now?
I would love to be working collaboratively with other designer-makers, making objects that are functional and part of everyday life but also abstract, poetic, beautiful and intriguing because of the materials, methods, stories and spaces that they were driven by.
How can designers make a difference in our ever-changing world?
Design can be a thoughtful problem-solving tool that challenges outmoded ideas. Designers can use design as a tool to expose or trigger a conscious re-evaluation of what does and doesn’t work in the world, so that meaningful change can happen.
Image: Ivana Taylor, 2019. Photo courtesy fo the artist.