Ironman

IronMan celebrates a journey of experimentation with unconventional making processes and surface finishes. Inspired by traditional West African tribal furniture, it replaces millennia of ad-hoc wood carving with an equally ancient blend of hand carving and metal casting. The result is a uniquely expressive object capturing iron age technology.

Ironman is robust and functional despite its diminutive scale. The sitter has to adopt a crouching posture that, though very comfortable, is culturally unusual in the west and therefore demands a more conscious engagement with the product.

Each stool is hand carved from expanded polystyrene and then cast from CS cast iron using a lost wax process at a foundry in East London. The casting is then hand cleaned, ground, burnished and waxed in the studio.

This craft approach to production, delivers a family of unique pieces. The original pattern is destroyed in the casting and at each stage of the production there is also a layer of conscious distortion which becomes part of the final design.

Design Matt Kavanagh & Ashley Hall