Jane attfield hit at just the time when environmental guilt was hitting the cognise to. Sustainability was not so prevalent then as a rule but the more immediate recycling was. Her chairs brought a brutal ugliness, a rudeness to remind people of where we ere heading. Back then the arctic still froze over all year round so such a brutal approach was needed. The green thing had begun back with pictures of the earth from Apollo space missions but it was not till the end of the millienuinm it affected furniture firm. Her spotted plastics made forms most would have rejected as dull if made in ply or more common material. The 'substance' lay not in the substance so to speak.
Simon Pengelly showed furniture with a view to Habitat type production. Michael Young too. Guy Martin had been design tutor at Parnham offshoot Hooke Park where forest thinnings were used again in an environmentally conscious way. Robert. killing ton completed the woodland outdoors trio of Martin, partridge and himself.
But what was to shock many was the skip find, cobbled to get her work of Michael Marriott. Looking back at his submission I still find difficulty in understanding his win. The work, a miniature chest of drawers with used sardine cans for drawersopitomises the anti craft ethos. On context it is worth remembering that this type of recycling not only complied to sustainability 'laws' but offered two fingers to the indulgent old guard that of designer craftsmen. Always fashion swings to oppositional poles. After the flairs of the mid seventies trousers there followed the drain pipes of punk rock. With this in mind Marriott offered an anti craftsmanship commensurate with the times. Given he was swiftly taken up as a chief lecturer at the RCA it has to be accepted his views became mainstream to design.
Yet I still feel that Ralph Balls work had an intelligence and an awareness of other areas of culture none of these finalists did. Looking even today, all these years on the echo of his ideas rings on. Still we see ironic references such as reappropriated cabriole legs on contemporary furniture.
Afterpewswey I got my own workshop closer to home. There is an irony in how choosing furniture, or joinery one accurately as a medium could have inverted. The unquestionable values, the non competitive, socially aware, the helpfulness of being able to work in wood that I originally sought somehow became tainted. Sometimes I still speak to people preoccupied with exhibitions and promotion. Being seen to do rather than doing. I am lucky to have found a quieter way to make furniture. I doubt I will return to making much work without a client. The idea is often voiced as speculative work yet there are other ways of seeing it. Making furniture can be a socially responsible activity. It can make you a useful member of society. Your workshop can become a hub of the community where people can meet or find help with practical problems. This helpfulness within the community provides a niche. A good place to find a partner of any sort. Fred's was always a place where people dropped in. Though he showed work at a national and international level, still does, he retains a standing in his local community. This is a higher accolade.
And Gareth. I saw his website for the first time in years the other week. He is achieving his goals. Prestigious awards and commissions are coming his way. His work has changed. He refers to his work of this time as whimsical. One senses a smile at its nativity. I always found it out on its own and would have liked to have seen how it could have developed. We all take influence from our surroundings. Gareth's work shows a more metro centric maturity these days.
They were good days and all too soon over. All the characters are still playing, this is more to be said of my childhood circle, dead and damaged through drugs and fast living. Fred has been lucky enough to see his work come full circle, finding applause from contemporary critics. For some this takes death to be reassessed. His work has no real lineage. With most you can see a line of work before them and work after them of which they share familiarity but Fred seems quite out on his own. This is the mark of the true original. I feel honoured to have been involved. Hopefully there will be much more to come from all of us.
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