ENG
Joseph Curle - OUROBOROSOFA
By making complete use
of the reclaimed materials from two discarded leather sofas, Joseph questions how we make and dispose of our material culture under late-capitalism.
There’s a chef called Furgus Henderson who says, “If you’re going to kill the animal it seems only polite to use the whole thing.” Nose to tail is a culinary expression for using an entire animal. Nothing is wasted. OUROBOROSOFA asks, what if we did this with our material culture? In Geneva, Switzerland, leather sofas are routinely marked as waste and incinerated. They are complex, manufactured products which are in people’s lives for years. When we dismantle them, we can see the rich history embedded in their materials. Ten cows worth of hide. Double that in other stuff, from plywood to polyurethane foam. The smell of stale cigarettes. Paint splatters. An illegal firebrand scar hidden on the flesh side.
OUROBOROSOFA ceremoniously and forensically rediscovers the lifeworlds of three sofas—all marked as waste—and in eight, ordinarily manufactured objects, finds a resourceful afterlife for each part recovered. In finding practical uses for all of these pieces, Joseph develops new and rediscovers ancient making techniques, lost to industrial manufacturing.
A warm coat, stuffed with duck feather down. A protective vest, gloves and roughout trousers. A helmet fastened with a sofa spring. A whole-cushion carrier bag. A knife, with a handle made of reclaimed hardwood and a blade forged from staples recovered during disassembly. Boots—by far the most complex object—were wet formed from a single panel of leather and the soles constructed with layered cuir-bouilli. These objects were designed to facilitate the process of finding, recovering and deconstructing further leather sofas; nodding to the cyclical nature that is fundamental when we question how we can disrupt material waste-streams. If you’re going to create the sofa, it seems only polite to use the whole thing.
Joseph Curle is an interdisciplinary designer whose work is focused on our modern material culture and how / why it’s contributing to the ongoing climate emergency. His practice moves fluidly between installation, research, product design, performance, film and communication; all of which he believes can serve to make sense of, and tell new stories about, how we make, use and dispose of the artefice around us. In doing so, he hopes to contribute to a more hopeful future.
