Hammock Chair

Recently, I went through my photographs. If I say photographs I mean actual photographs (not virtual). These represent the time of shooting on rolls of film and bringing them to Snappy Snaps for developing. Time not so long ago however, in this fast-paced digital world we can freely acknowledge that it seems like centuries ago.

The reason for this exercise was to find pictures of a project done some ten years ago when I was studying Foundation course at Richmond Adult College. During that time I would focus on the fashionable phrase 'Reduce, reuse, recycle'. I believe this motto is still the focus of my work. I still prefer to reach for a material within my environment, hence the three mini projects referring to 'What lies beneath (and above)' post when an old pair of jeans became my material.

To return to the image above, I collected a pile of Tesco carrier bags that became a fundamental source to the entire project. At the same time, we were bombarded by various designs of hammocks which I could not leave go by unnoticed. I decided to make a Hammock Chair out of Tesco carrier bags.

The Hammock Chair was based on a shape of a beanbag; the 'inside curve' to be precise. This gave me the size and a shape.

For this design, I believe I used approximately 500 carrier bags.

As I was progressing with the project, I needed to think about its usability. I realised that to have purely a hammock chair is not enough. I needed to be able to carry it around. So I made up a story to go with it.

1. Made out of carrier bags, first I use it as a shoulder bag itself and take it to a shop (Tesco to keep to the theme). There I buy myself a picnic that would be placed and carried in this 'bag'.

The two shoulder straps of the 'bag' are the two vertical connectors between the top and the middle part that represent the back support of the Hammock Chair.

Also, note the little hook visible at the middle section of the top horizontal connector. This holds (hooks) the whole 'bag' together.

2. After my shopping, I get to the park to relax in the Hammock Chair and enjoy the picnic.

If you focus on this image you will just about distinguish the bottled water popping out from the 'bag'. For obvious reasons of holes, I had to tuck the entire picnic in so that I do not lose it.

What I would describe as a tail is a 'rope' (also made out of carrier bags) that attach the Hammock Chair to (in this case) a tree. This 'rope' makes and fills the inside of the 'bag'.

3. Time to sit and enjoy a day in a park.

I remember how stretchy the 'rope' became. This was an unexpected element of the design. This introduced a new potential of the material yet to be explored.







Nowadays, supermarket's carrier bags are made out of a biodegradable material and so last for only a few years. I say 'only' but from an ecological point of view I have my thumbs up. After all we need to be responsible for next generations.