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eohippus all contents copyright 2007 max carmichael | why eohippus? bio contact | |
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arts portfolio: visual arts music writing events design | |
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design: environments | back next | |
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Context & Inspiration My lifelong obsession with environments has led me to live in the loft of an unrestored 19th-century barn, a soundproof and lightproof room painted black, and a ledge accessible only by rope ladder. But my favorite way to live is simply outdoors, with as little between me and the "elements" as I can get away with. When I was very small my Dad designed unique modernist furniture for his phonograph and jazz records, and then for his huge Heathkit hi-fi components, that became showpieces in our house. Later, as I was growing up, I spent much of my after-school time with my Grandpa, restoring 19th century houses and building everything from go-carts to sailboats. So from earliest childhood I assumed I could, and should, design and build anything. I started making my own furniture in junior high, but in college, being very poor, I started pulling industrial junk out of the trash in alleys and making furniture and lighting with it. I furnished my whole apartment that way. When I got out of Stanford I wanted to live in a group house, but there wasn't a room for me, so I added one onto the back of the house, using wood I salvaged from a demolition site, making skylights out of glass I had salvaged years before in Chicago. That room was a little gem, with laquered redwood paneling. Ironically, partly because I was raised with mid-century modernist furnishings, incorporating organic abstraction, my preference is still for simple, lightweight, functional furnishings and understated organic motifs. This style is perfectly compatible with indigenous and craft artifacts, as Charles and Ray Eames demonstrated in their beautiful modernist home. |
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