Transforming everyday materials

Extra Ordinary looks at the work of artists giving everyday objects and materials new life by enhancing their perceived quality. 

‘Under my curatorship I’m keen to look at design’s relationship to industry and mass-production, which for me holds just as much wonder as the world of craft and bespoke,’ says Riya Patel, who makes her curatorial debut at The Aram Gallery. ‘We bemoan the decline in traditional crafts, but in Europe, we are losing a lot of industry too. We’re becoming quite detached from knowing how the things around us are made, and how our manufactured environment came to be.’

Stand-out pieces from the exhibition include Luisa Kahlfeldt’s cardboard stools, reminiscent of African pouffés, Neolastic by Ying Chang, who has moulded bubble wrap into vases, Structural Skin by Jorge Penadés, a capsule collection of furniture made from discarded leather, and Rachel Harding’s Wonderfluro, which transforms cheap fluorescent public lighting into something else.

The Big Picture: Time and process are replacing precious materials as indicators of value, challenging conventional ideas about luxury. To find out more, book your place at our forthcoming Luxury Futures Forum 2015.