There's a lot of talk about artisanal products right now, and about craftsmen who painstakingly construct pieces by hand. Danish contemporary design specialists Overgaard & Dyrman have gone beyond the talk, and shot a short film inside their workshops as their signature Wire Saddle Chair is made.
These Copenhageners like to merge traditional ways with 21st century technology, as a way of preserving craft skills and of celebrating the virtues of imperfection. The Overgaard & Dyrman approach means that no two pieces will be the same, and that, in a world of mass production by multi-nationals, gives these chairs their beauty and value.
Nothing happens too fast in the making of the Wire Saddle Chair. The design is a nod to classic Eames chairs, but with a wire frame rather than a fibreglass shell. Each piece of wire is individually welded into place. There's no production line, rather a series of work benches where the chair gradually takes shape.
This is authenticity in action. Leather is hand cut to cover the wire frame, and stitched to fit. There are just two people working on each chair, and their unhurried work produces a unique, numbered, object.
Overgaard & Dyrman's approach, and their decision to film the process, is characteristic of a range of small companies producing their collections - whether it's Tsovet watches, Epperson backpacks or Grenson shoes - using methods that eschew mass production.
