Are consumers dreaming of plastic chairs?

Plastic is practical. Plastic is a problem.
Throughout history, there has also been a certain derogatory attitude towards plastic. Plastic – cheap rubbish. Or is it nature that is being talked about?

In any case, there seems to be an opposition and a contradiction between plastic and nature. We have a very long tradition of fine furniture architecture based on wood.

Plastic also became part of furniture design with the whole Eames-Panton tradition, but just as industrial mass production: moulded. Similar in appearance. And in a way, an image of a modern age without all the old and traditional. Even the shapes of the new plastic furniture seem designed for the ‘space age’ and modernity.

In many ways, this is the story that is up for renewed conversation in Kasper Kyster’s exhibition Crafting Plastic, on display in Officinet until 27 June.

The exhibition consists of a series of furniture made of plastic, but not industrially manufactured. We are back to the virtues of craft, where each piece of furniture is made by the designer himself.

Each chair, each table, the two lamp models are individually shaped, but not as works of art. On the contrary, the furniture is almost demonstratively archetypal in design.

Plastic and other very modern materials inspired many furniture designers – as you can see in the country’s furniture museums – to work not only with sculpturally shaped furniture, but also with something that mimics free art.

The challenge for a designer – of furniture, for example – will always be that the perfect chairs have been moulded. They just exist in different guises depending on time, taste, economy, etc. Can the designer add something new through experimentation? The exhibition suggests that Kasper Kyster can.

Kasper Kyster (born 1994) is a trained furniture architect from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. His graduation project, The Master Collection, in 2022 consisted of no fewer than 11 chairs and, in a way, shed light on method and process rather than the final result.

Kasper Kyster’s furniture series can be seen as a statement. It is an example of how furniture can be made from materials other than precious woods. Kyster receives his material in plastic sheets, which he then cuts into strips that he can mould and glue or weld together to give them a useful function.

In the type of plastic Kasper Kyster uses, 30 per cent is recycled. With the research that is going on in the development of recycling options, it is conceivable that this percentage can be increased. At the same time, the furniture can be melted and the material reused when or if it is discarded.

Crafting Plastic is thus also a relevant contribution to the efforts to not only recycle materials, but also individual craftsmanship as opposed to industrial products that may even have been transported from low-wage countries with criticisable working conditions. It is also a contribution to an aesthetic discussion about what is ‘ugly’ and what is ‘beautiful’.

Kasper Kyster’s plastic furniture is indisputably more beautiful than, for example, most garden furniture made of moulded plastic. Maybe it’s not for everyone. But then again, not everyone swears by Wegner’s furniture classics either.

So the question remains: function? Form and function must come together, so does Kasper Kyster’s furniture series do that? Sitting is fine, but if you use the low coffee table to place wine glasses on, you run a significant risk of them tipping over and the contents not only spilling out but also getting lost. And the gaps in the shelves of the bookcase make it problematic to have books standing upright as in a traditional bookcase. But shelving is used for so many other types of storage besides books…

Humanity faces massive challenges to preserve the planet as more and more people have the opportunity to join the consumption party. Denmark is particularly weak on SDG 12: responsible consumption and production – a crucial SDG in the effort for a better climate. It is imperative that something must be done now to reduce the consequences of overconsumption and fast fashion.

Together with the Danish Institute for Cultural Studies and the Danish Design Center, Danish Craft & Design Association wants to qualify the debate on a sustainable production culture and launch a unifying effort for the craft and design field with a ‘Green Craft & Design Guide’.

Formkraft is kick-starting the project with a series of articles focusing on sustainable production, new materials and consumer behavior. Read more