Designers create furniture made from hardware for Nuts & Bolts

Chad Phillips and Kristin Coleman, cofounders of the Tivoli, New York–based design store and gallery, Available Items, had been tinkering with an idea of doing an exhibit based on hardware. At this year’s Milan Design Week, they came across a designer making kinetic furniture out of wrenches. It was a sign. The duo began prepping a show aptly titled Nuts & Bolts. They reached out to 16 designers, artists, and makers. The brief was simple: use off-the-shelf hardware and pick from a list of furnishings to create a living vignette. The result: experimental, exciting, and so Enzo Mari–coded.

A table from Jesse Groom made of HVAC ductwork — Jesse Groom designed a table from HVAC ductwork (Summer Moore)

An orange dining chair at Nuts & Bolts exhibit — Orange Arrangement by Lisa Sacco is a dining chair constructed of steel extension poles, embroidered tarp, screws, and paint (Summer Moore)

Currently on view until November 3, the exhibition includes all New York–based creatives, including lighting designer David Weeks, architecture practice Office of Tangible Space, LikeMindedObjects, Huy Bui, Lucca House, Jesse Groom, and Boym Partners. “The idea for the show was to create livable objects from affordable materials that can be potentially replicated by a larger audience,” said Phillips. Here HVAC ductwork, garden hoses, and putty knives take on a chic new look. The scrappy, DIY ethos is a refreshing contrast from inaccessible collectible design and a call back to Mari’s democratic spirit of furniture-making.

A collection of vases on a table at Nuts and Bolts exhibit — Office of Tangible space designed vases made of aluminum tubes and bar rail molding (Courtesy Available Items)

But above all the show itself is fun. Coleman and Phillips put the designers’ ingenuity on display, and it manifests in intriguingly diverse ways. Hardware gets a bit romantic with Office of Tangible Space’s Flowers for Sam Malone, a collection of vases made with aluminum tubes and bar rail molding in clear, black, and barn red stains. Similarly, Bechara Maalouf manages to make something elegant and delicate out of industrial materials, using flat slickers, putty knives, and dust hose cuffs to create two dainty lamps.

A blue chair made from blankets by Eliza Axelson-Chidsey — The Open Source Chair by Eliza Axelson-Chidsey (Courtesy Eliza Axelson-Chidsey)

A floor shelf with a hose rug at Nuts and Bolts — The exhibition includes shelving by Shawn Carney and a Plug Rug by LikeMindedObjects (Summer Moore)

Other corners of the gallery skew bright and bold. Lisa Sacco’s dining chair is almost joyfully dystopian in its mix of neon orange steel extension poles that create the frame from the chair, alongside a camo tarp seat, held together with screws. Eliza Axelson-Chidsey, on the other hand, employs moving blankets, dollies, and ratchet straps to create lounge seating.

A wire mesh table with a clock made from a junction box by William Stone — A clock made from a junction box by William Stone and a side table by Fugazmente (Summer Moore)

David Weeks designed a floor lamp made of fiberglass driveway markers, gutter leaf scoop, and a dead weight pendulum (Summer Moore)

There’s also storage. Shawn Carney uses astro turf and steel tubes to create floor shelving. The hyper industrial design is contrasted with Huy Bui’s Palette Shelving whose whimsical colors and wooden material feel a little more cozy.

The Edgy Table by Fugazmente (Courtesy Available Items)

From larger scale designs like the HVAC ductwork table by Jesse Groom to smaller items like William Stone’s stone clock made from a junction box, metal pipe, and screws, Nuts & Bolts is a small show yet intriguingly vast in its breadth.

“We were completely floored by the results and surprised by the breadth of materials used: between all 16 designers, there’s literally no overlap,” continued Phillips. “Some of the objects are an inventive version of [the designer’s] known aesthetic and form (ie. the ingeniously minimal lamp by David Weeks), while others used this as an opportunity to experiment with new materials (for example, Lucca Zurray, who typically uses plywood played around with wire mesh panels to create a planter with a moire pattern).”

Filler Thrillers by Bechara Maalouf (Summer Moore)

Loose Parts contributed a floor lamp to the show (Summer Moore)

The designs on display are also available for purchase through the gallery. Coleman and Phillips hope to publish a zine with the works as well.

Nuts & Bolts is on view at Available Items from now until November 3.

At Available Items’ Nuts & Bolts exhibit, designers create furniture exclusively from hardware

DIY Chic

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