Animal furniture to make people think
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaners - 21/09/2006 15:28:47
Carpet and upholstery cleaners might have to invest in some new equipment after an artist unveiled furniture made from animals.
Julia Lohmann's creations include a lighting display made from sheep's stomachs and benches made from whole cow hides.
She claims that her work is designed to question society's relationship with animals and how we categorise them depending on the context.
Talking to the Independent, Ms Lohmann said: "I wanted people to think of the object as beautiful first and not experience any kind of repulsion until they'd discovered what it was made from.
"I wanted them to think about why they now found it disgusting and to consider, if they wear an animal's skin or eat its muscles, how illogical that is."
Ms Lohmann, who also runs a graphic design firm, will be exhibiting pieces throughout the London Design Festival next week, including porcelain mice designed to look like the frozen ones used to feed snakes.
She describes them as a cross between "Walt Disney-ish mice" and "vermin mice" and claims that they are part of her work to "trigger emotions".
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