Fascinating concepts from designer Lucas Maassen, who gets his sons to paint furniture

Date
25 May 2012

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Girls just wanna have fun right? Well apparently furniture designers want the same, or at least Dutch designer Lucas Maasen does. He has a range of projects that flirt with the boundaries of the way we perceive objects, playing with how they’re presented to us or the way they’re created – he personifies the beloved if overused phrase, “thinking outside the box.”

His latest project Lucas Maasen & Sons Furniture Factory, sees Lucas employing his three sons; Thijme (nine), Julian (seven) and Maris (seven), to paint the furniture that is built in the factory. They get paid one Euro for every piece of furniture they paint and can only work for three hours a week due to Dutch child labour laws. As a result speed is essential and the finished products gleam with genuine hardwork and personality with brush marks and drips or exposed wood where they haven’t been able to reach being displayed.

Abstract, sometimes bewildering but always intriguing, this guy’s mind is pretty fascinating with other projects including the Singing Chair a celebration of post-digital design that sings back to us deeply like the colour of the wood. Or D/struct which questions the relationship between virtual and physical products and somehow breaks down physical objects into powders and QR codes. I for one can’t wait to see what Lucas does next!

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Lucas Maassen: Lucas Maasen & Sons Furniture Factory

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Lucas Maassen: Lucas Maasen & Sons Furniture Factory

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Lucas Maassen: D/struct

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Lucas Maassen: D/struct

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Lucas Maassen: Singing Chair

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About the Author

Rebecca Fulleylove

Rebecca Fulleylove is a freelance writer and editor specialising in art, design and culture. She is also senior writer at Creative Review, having previously worked at Elephant, Google Arts & Culture, and It’s Nice That.

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