Visiting this year’s Fringe Furniture exhibition was like wandering into a shop of new toys – so much to check out, and what a cool space as well!

I wrote up a story for Indesignlive.com – some of which i’ll share with you now!

“Fringe Furniture has always attracted a wide range of designers and artists,” says Justin Hutchinson, exhibition designer for Fringe Furniture’s 2011 show.

“It addresses the two fundamentals of furniture design ‘culture’ and ‘technology’.

“Furniture as I see it, is the intersection of the two and why it is important to document and exhibit works like these annually.”

Of the space itself, “the greatest challenge was to unify and celebrate [it], while also providing a cohesive backdrop and memorable exhibition,” says Hutchinson.

Streams of yellow ribbon are installed in a comb-like wave around the far edges of the space, directing the flow of visitors while also referencing the Melbourne Fringe Festival’s colourful collateral.

Stand-out pieces in this year’s edition included Sebastian Clarke’s ‘2KiloWatts’ lights – which “successfully embed recycled and historic materials into a clean, modern and commercial aesthetic,” says Hutchinson.

True to word, Clarke has constructed his ‘globes’ from discarded 2000-watt globes, otherwise destined for landfill.

“David Durance’s furniture piece was also a stand-out,” says Hutchinson, “as it showed true innovation, and attempts to push the boundaries.”

Here Durance has built a feather-light yet durable chair from salvaged cardboard cartons (used for the base frame), and covered this with several layers of paper.

The newspaper itself is sourced from News Limited, and is emblazoned with Murdoch Press-related headlines.

A veritable hunting ground for new talent, the Fringe Furniture exhibition this year revealed a fresh pool of talented furniture makers, artisans and designers.

As Hutchinson says – “Craft is now… so the Fringe is in vogue!”

‘Air’ by Dale Hardiman and Andre Hnatojko

‘Spring Collection III’ by Sally Mill – Best Design Addressing the 2011 Fringe Furniture Theme Award Winner and Lighting Design Award Winner

‘Rosa’ by Macgregor Knox, made from salvaged sequoia tree.

‘Cracked-Up’ lights by Ashley Allen, created from recycled champagne bottles.

‘Weft 056′ by James Hargraves.

All these awesome images are taken by Katie Harmsworth, courtesy of Fringe Furniture