TWU Student does his homework, and may be able to mass produce and sell it
What doing 3D design at TWU can do for you!
February 20, 2008
Bethany Meckelburg
[Photo: Russell Leng]
Last semester, Russell Leng arrived for class as usual. He brought his homework as usual and sat down to prepare himself for class, but everyone noticed something was different. He was sitting on his homework: a large, white chair. A chair that his professor believes is marketable and may someday be a fixture in people’s homes.
“He took the project to the degree where he has something that is mass producible,” said Professor Sheralee Lewis. “He can take it and get it manufactured. Companies like Knoll [for example] produce limited numbers of designer furniture for [famous] architects like Eames and Le Corbusier.”
Encouragement like this is something every designer would love to hear, and especially when the intent behind the piece had nothing to do with actual manufacturing, but Leng doesn’t want to mass produce.
“I would like to see a few stores carry them but not mass produce them because then they would lose their individual appeal. The great thing about many designers is that they’re classic and they’re produced, but they’re not over produced,” he said. Even the name of the chair is a comment on designers choosing to go the route of mass production. He named the chair “Skruvlaak,” which originates from his Scandanavian themed inspiration and is meant to sound like an Ikea product name – names that are given to a piece of furniture in order to individualize them, when in reality they are being pumped out in masses and sent all over the world.
This chair was just one of the assignments he and his classmates had to create for their 3-D design class, but it remains one of his favourites. He was one of two students who actually made a lifesized chair instead of the maquette (small-scale model) they were allowed to do instead.
“I was really excited about the project and I wanted to do my best on it and have something to use afterwards,” said Leng.
“It was so fun when he brought it in because it was so tangible [and it] was exciting watching his passion and enthusiasm for the process of making the chair,” said Lewis, who taught the class. “It was like he was on fire.”
The actual building of the chair took about 30-40 hours, and Leng had help from a carpenter who cut the wood for him on a computerized machine, and from his Dad and Grandpa.
“First and foremost I wanted a chair that was aesthetically unique, then I wanted it to be comfortable,” he said. “Using cheap mundane materials, I wanted to create a chair with these characteristics and that has momentum capabilities.” The chair is made of MDF (medium density fibreboard), PVC pipe, concrete, carpet underlay and faux fur. White faux fur.
“I could say so many things about that,” he laughed. “I wanted to build on my winter/Scandanavia theme and I thought the fur added to that. It added a sense of warmth, went with the winter white theme, and honestly, it reminded me of a polar bear. Who wouldn’t want to ride or sit on a polar bear?”
One of the reasons Leng likes the chair is because it is something everyone can identify with. Coming from a predominantly abstract painting background, he has been experimenting lately with design as well as other media and has found that people are more inclined to appreciate a piece they can connect with.
“Most of my friends don’t know what I do in my art classes or what I’m going to do with my art degree, [but] this is something they can actually interact with,” he noted. “A painting on a wall isn’t as accessible because it’s maybe in a language they don’t understand whereas a chair – everyone sits on them and has experienced them before and therefore it got a better response than some of my other work.”
Leng’s professor agreed. “When you’re an artist, it’s more about communicating. Artists need to have a big bag of tricks in order to express their ideas,” Lewis said.
“I think no matter what, people use something to communicate because I think people want to understand each other and be understood. [And] they look for ways to be understood – it could be their actions, art, or writing. I think art is one of the ways I look to be understood,” Leng commented. “It’s definitely my biggest passion and a gift God has given me, and so I should actively cultivate it.”
He recently had a couple of pieces in a show at Gallery Gachet on Cordova Street and is currently working on a series regarding urbanization in Langley.
Now you go...
Got something to say?