Fringe Furniture 2014 winners
The 2014 Fringe Furniture winners were announced on opening night of the Fringe Furniture exhibition on Wednesday 17th September at Abbotsford Convent.
A broad range of furnishings – including lighting, home wares, furniture and functional art and design are exhibited to the public in a celebration of design excellence and innovation from 18th September until the 5th October.
Max Harper received the Sustainable and Waste-Wise Design Award, sponsored by Banyule City Council, for ‘Corker’ his set of pendant lights. Made from renewable and biodegradable agglomerated cork, Max’s light was inspired by the iconic Australian cork hat. A former RMIT Industrial Design Student, Max is now living and working in Sydney. This prize consists of a cash award of $500.
The Emerging Designer Award sponsored by Craft went to C K Goff for his light wood ‘Uragaeshi Chair’ anexploration of self-assembled furniture, inspired by Japanese joinery. Chris’s prize includes a feature story on the Craft website, a Craft membership and a professional development meeting with key Craft staff.
Jonathan Ben-Tovim received Best Lighting Design Award sponsored by Euroluce, for his ‘Up Down Lights’, a pair of stunning height adjustable lights; one with an electroplated copper shade and Obsidian glass counter weight, the other with electroplated brass shade and solid brass counter weight. Jonathan’s prize includes a $1000 voucher for a Euroluce product as well as a professional development meeting with Euroluce Director, Roger Ludowyke.
RMIT student, Mechelle Shooter won the Best Student Design Award, sponsored by the Australian FurnitureAssociation, for her side table ‘Monkey Bars’. Made from carbonised narrow grain bamboo and bright blue steel bars, Monkey Bars was influenced by handcrafted aesthetics, and the whimsical functionality of a monkey’s playground.
Finally, the Most Market Ready Design Award sponsored by TAIT went to Jonathon Ho for his chair ‘Yi’, inspired by traditional Chinese Ming furniture. Jonathon’s prize consists of a $1000 cash prize and a professional development meeting with TAIT.
Fringe Furniture 2014 presents over 90 works from over 80 emerging and established designers and artisans. The open-access program returned to the Abbotsford Convent this year, with artists responding to the theme of ‘Living Traces’.
In responding to the theme, there emerged an obvious concern with sustainability, which saw designers using materials that derived from the environment – clays, twigs, wood – or using salvaged and recycled materials, such as plastic bottles, paper, thread and concrete.
In a city bursting with cultural inspiration, Fringe Furniture is a free way for audiences to engage with Melbourne’s cutting-edge artistic community. The program represents the breadth of talent of both emerging and established Australian artists and designers, providing all practitioners with a platform for experimentation.
fringefurniture.melbournefringe.com.au
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