Ninja Tacks are thumbtacks designed to give the illusion that throwing stars are embedded in a surface. This product is an informal re-imagining of an often overlooked essential office tool. [x]
The Bourgeois Brass Knuckle is a cross between two iconic objects whose cultural and socio-economic associations lie at opposite ends of the spectrum from one another.Originally designed by Jonathan Sabine, the BBK was later produced in a numbered limited edition run of 50 by the Chromoly studio. Each chrome plated Bourgeois Brass Knuckle came in a laser etched handmade walnut box.
They were sold exclusively at Ministry of the Interior. The design was later licensed to a company in the UK. The initial run of those is sold out, and there are currently no plans produce more. The design will on display at SFMOMA from November 20, 2010 - April 17, 2011.[x]
In new & improved, the missing or broken parts of old wooden furniture are replicated in bronze. This reverses the relationship of the broken parts to the whole: what were once the weakest parts of the furniture have become the most permanent and precious. This questions the conventional understanding of repair with its exhortations that things be restored, objectively, to their previous state. If you’re going to change something, why not make it better?. [x]
Jonathan Sabine is a Toronto based designer. His work has appeared in several publications including I.D., Playboy, & Wallpaper. When not working on Chromoly projects he develops designs for his studio, Mat Cult.
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Chromoly studio is art director Adam Pickard and product designer Jonathan Sabine. Far better at design than they are at Call of Duty, they nevertheless spend disproportionately more time on the latter pursuit. Jonathan Sabine is a product designer by profession. This informs his preference for the practical and well-rounded AUG assault rifle (with FMJ, hard-surface-penetrating bullets). Pickard produces work that is clever and unexpected. This tendency is paralleled in his Black Ops preference for the quick draw Mac-11 (extended mags), complimented by an abundance of melee attacks. Both partners in this design project appreciate the pursuit of purity in ideas and form, and they also both prefer claymores to frag grenades when forced to choose between the two. Pwning noobs, and having a design in the permanent collection at SFMOMA are their main achievements to date. [x]
The Road Popper is a bike-mounted bottle opener that we developed for our own use and decided afterward to share. We designed it to attach discreetly to the rails on the underside of the saddle to help keep your bike looking crisp. So far, it's worked on all the bottle caps we've tried it on. We have it rapid prototyped to order in bronze infused stainless steel by Shapeways in Holland. Here's a link to the store. We recommend taking a look at this info sheet if you're interested in buying one. [x]
Two of Chromoly's past designs, the Ninja Tack and especially Bourgeois Brass Knuckle, emerged as problematic to market. Potential manufacturers were consulted by their lawyers to stay away from them, and scandinavian retailers had the products taken off their shelves by the police. The objects were being treated like the weapons from which they borrowed their forms. They were clearly carrying semantic baggage with them. This despite the fact that the products have no more potential for lethality than do many common household objects like hammers, kitchen knives, broken bottles. The items were the target of censorship while the equivalent or even greater potential many everyday objects have to cause harm goes unacknowledged.
The Ninja Tacks and Bourgeois Brass Knuckle modified two weapon types to serve a different, non-violent, function. Everyday Weapons inverses this formula so that the capacity of everyday things to be used violently is drawn out of them. A wrench and a pair of scissors are housed in leather holsters, putting them in a context of readiness for use as weapons; and a sling transforms a glass tumbler into a projectile. The leather apparatuses weaponize the objects without altering them. [x]
The faux antique metal powder coat used on this pendant fixture and the twisted steel used in the side table - along the facilities that produce them - are common in some Toronto neighbourhoods. Despite this, these materials are generally held in fairly low regard. Little Italy assumes that these materials are a part of a sort of overlooked Toronto Vernacular and acknowledges the positive qualities of these materials that have led to their ubiquity.(click on the links below) [x]
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