Inflatable wearable chair by JooYoun Paek because I’m not already misshapen enough

Ever come across one of those ideas that is so brilliant and crazy – it makes you wonder why no one has done it before? Artist and interactive designer, JooYoun Paek takes the cake on that front with her recently revealed Self-Sustainable Chair, a wearable piece of furniture which is a dress where the butt inflates into a chair through pumps in the shoes. Paek hopes the provocative art piece will “transform the humdrum experiences produced by routine walking commutes into an amusing interactive performance.” Featured at this weekend’s Conflux Festival, her quirky and intriguing project suggests that rest and walk can be balanced by re-thinking the function of what we wear.

As much as I love beautiful things, weird makes me even happier.
I was wandering the wild, wild west of the internet last night, and I came across the creepy eyeball chair. This discovery, of course, led me to other weird chairs, etc. You can see where this is going. Today’s OBT is all about bizarre and uncomfortable chair designs.

Scopophilia chair by Fiona Roberts. Quit trying to look up my skirt.

Biography
Blending themes of pop culture with techniques reminiscent of the old masters, Mark Ryden has created a singular style that blurs the traditional boundaries between high and low art. His work first garnered attention in the 1990s when he ushered in a new genre of painting, “Pop Surrealism”, dragging a host of followers in his wake. Ryden has trumped the initial surrealist strategies by choosing subject matter loaded with cultural connotation.

Ryden’s vocabulary ranges from cryptic to cute, treading a fine line between nostalgic cliché and disturbing archetype. Seduced by his infinitely detailed and meticulously glazed surfaces, the viewer is confronted with the juxtaposition of the childhood innocence and the mysterious recesses of the soul. A subtle disquiet inhabits his paintings; the work is achingly beautiful as it hints at darker psychic stuff beneath the surface of cultural kitsch. In Ryden’s world cherubic girls rub elbows with strange and mysterious figures. Ornately carved frames lend the paintings a baroque exuberance that adds gravity to their enigmatic themes.

Mark Ryden received a BFA in 1987 from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. His paintings have been exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide, including a retrospective “Wondertoonel” at the Frye Museum of Art in Seattle and Pasadena Museum of California Art, and in the exhibition “The Artist’s Museum” at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles.

for the exhibition ‘intimate vestiges’ at kickarts contemporary arts, australia, artist fiona roberts explores the personal and individual nature of the home through a variety of body textures incorporated into traditional household furnishings. abstracted through repetition, pattern and traditional ornamentation, these pieces installed throughout the bedroom installation blur the boundaries between the home and the body, making it difficult to determine where the house ends and where the person begins.

Well we’re not at all sure who Les Confidents Lady C wall bookshelf might have been inspired by. Not having read the French literary classics (maybe we need to brush up) we haven’t come across her. However… we think this is part of her allure. If you look closely she is much more ‘informally’ dressed than the other characters – she looks suspiciously like she’s in her underclothes or nightwear – and being as all these caricatures are based on less than respectable citizens, we’re presuming she’s someone’s dirty little secret aka concubine. Pardon Lady C if we’ve got you totally wrong.

Like the mysterious Lady C, her portrait also has a secret identity. This painting has bookshelves behind it to neatly conceal your most precious tomes. But even more hidden depths are revealed by opening up her portrait – a concealed compartment. Perfect for hiding anything confidential that you don’t want to leave lying around for just anyone to pick up. This stylishly whimsical bookshelf looks as amazing on wallpaper as it does on a concrete or matt painted wall. Lady C is the answer to keeping a few chosen belongings close to hand, but concealed from prying eyes.

Les Confidents wall bookshelf Rodolphe is most likely based on Rodolphe Boulanger, a wealthy and dashing character from Madame Bovary – the literacy classic by French writer Gustave Flaubert. Rodolphe decides to seduce an already married woman, Emma, and begins a clandestine affair with her. On the eve they are due to elope he sends her a letter, carefully concealed at the bottom of a basket of apricots, breaking off their relationship.

Like his character, Rodolphe’s raffish portrait has its own secrets. This hidden bookshelf has small shelves accessible from the side but also a concealed compartment revealed only by opening the portrait up – perfect for hiding secret letters you don’t want to fall into the wrong hands. This stylishly eccentric bookshelf looks fantastic against wallpaper, on a concrete wall or really stands-out against matt paintwork. It’s the answer for keeping a few precious objects close to hand but well out of sight.

Bambi Doe Chest of Drawers

Shaped like a small doe, and made of high pressure laminate Manufactured by French company iBride, these accent furniture all share a same commonality. From ostriches to thoroughbred horses to polar bears, they are shaped like the body of different animals. They are made of high pressure laminate and available in striking finishes that will add a touch of modern creativity to any room.

Diva Ostrich Illuminated Console
Shaped like an ostrich, and made of high pressure laminate in bright red with a lampshade in chintz

Elisee Console
Shaped like a thoroughbred horse, and made of high pressure laminate in shiny red or shiny white elisee horse3.

Fausto Wall Storage
A fiery youth with a puffed up chest made of high pressure laminate available in a shiny red or ice grey finish.

Sometimes also furniture designs can be crazy. First example of crazy furniture design is Good boy lamp by designer whatshisname. He was born in the eastern Poland in 1982. Today he lives and works in London, UK. His aim is to encourage the public to look at surrounding world and question it in derisive, jeering way. An alias “Whatshisname” is inspired by the Green Day song “Whatsername” from American Idiot album.

That would be something to be called my death bed