You may know him from his Smoke series of burnt, preserved furniture but this is a different project from Martin Baas which he completed a few years ago. These are full size, useable pieces of furniture made with a steel armature, covered in hand-modeled clay. Each piece is handmade by Baas, there are no molds and the clay is applied by hand. Also, these were not mass produced — each piece is one of a kind with a price tag to match. Survey after the jump...
Think of this as useable art, not furniture. If you want this orange chair, this is literally the only one you can buy. While we don't love the pieces all in the same space, we think any one of them would be amazing by itself in an otherwise "normal" decor. Their seemingly fragile nature is so playful and the unbelievable structural span of that dining table would certainly make any house guest think twice before sitting down for dinner. The floor fan might be our favorite — it practically comes to life, like some other-worldly sea creature.
We know this collection is anything but practical, but if we had the money this is the kind of art we would invest in. Just imagine all of the fingerprints embedded in each piece from being hand worked. What do you think?
As usual, available at Moss.
More on Martin Baas' Clay furniture (including details) here.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
OMG it looks like some of the stuff from Beetlejuice.
Paired with some more straight-lined traditional and modern furniture, this would look great.
view amygdaloides's profile
Sculptural, yes. But also clumsy and naive looking -- deliberately so, no doubt. Some might say ugly...
Ok, I'll say it. It's ugly.
view amed studio's profile
Kind of Salvador Dali-esque, isn't it?
view stellato's profile
Impractical, expensive and ugly.
view suzy8track's profile
Interesting concept but ended up looking like poo. Literally.
view 8ry's profile
Unless the Flintstones are upgrading their cave, I can't possibly see a market for these.
view MsUnreliable's profile
This is what I love most about AT viewers their RAW honesty when it comes to expressing their likes and dislikes. No pretension here. I respect so much some of the opinions on this site because of that. Thanks all!!
view click212's profile
Oh, yes, ugly and looks very uncomfortable and worse too fragile to stand up to normal use.
view click212's profile
I usually try to keep an open mind, but this is just horrible. It looks like something I would've made for my Barbies when I was a kid...hmm, maybe if I had I'd be rich now...
view kyragirl's profile
I'm with Wes&Kayla, one of those pieces in an otherwise "normal" room would look great.
I like this piece:
http://www.maartenbaas.com/Images/Uploads/hw800/2007_3_31_13_3_20--CLAY_cabinet_red.jpg
view f.in.eur's profile
Purely on the look of it, I'd say there are places where I would love to see it. I really am concerned about the practicality of that kind of technique, but if I saw it and felt it in person, there's a chance that I might really feel some serious gravity in the way it's made. I really do like for things to last a long time, and for them to FEEL as if they'll last a long time.
view Curtis's profile
Creative, fun and cute.
I agree with Curtis. There are places where I would love to see it.
view Fuzzyummy's profile