Expanding foam is a material I’ve always been fascinated by, from filling in gaps in dry walls to securing Formula 1 drivers into their cars, expanding foam has many uses.
I set out with the intension of creating a item of furniture that could accentuate the properties of expanding foam and create something that on the surface, truly didn’t belong in the furniture family.
I wanted to use a metal cage as the base of the product and fill said cage with expanding foam until the foam began to push through the gaps in the cage creating this odd popcorn like affect on the outside of the cage. Below is the desired outcome…
However, this sadly wasn’t the case as the foam expanded at a rapid rate that I hadn’t predicted thus destroying my ambition of a popcorn styled sofa stool. As the foam grew my dreams deflated, I could see the shape of the product deform further and further. After the chemical process had finished, the final form of the product was something very distant to my initial intention, an entity that resembled a sort of cloud shape or perhaps a deformed tooth however I found it weirdly beautiful.
I couldn’t help myself touching the item, the material was fascinating. It might have been the toxic fumes or maybe something else but I was feeling myself becoming emotionally invested with this thing.
It reminded me of a parasite overwhelming it’s host, exponentially growing as its initial foundation slowly disappeared into its expansion.
The 1:3 model sofa prototype dream had died however a new opportunity had arisen. I hollowed out the centre of the cube (if you could even call it that) and filled it with furry beads. It became a sort of modern art project that one could find at the Tate. It was my stress reliever, a pit of soft, forgiving, colourful balls that I could run my hands through that sat within this captivating object that intrigued me so much.
Figure 1 displays the 3 components required to complete the Ratchet Strap Stool, a pack of car sponges, a flower pot case and a ratchet strap.
