On your marks, get set, bodge! The Great Heal’s Bodging Race is under way and to finish our series we’re talking shop with designer’s Carl Clerkin and Sarah Kay.
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Carl Clerkin
Renowned for his off-the-wall interpretations of everyday objects, Carl Clerkin is a furniture and homewares designer based in London. Honing this craft from his “mess of a shed” studio, he believes his work is “unique in as much as they have their own special mistakes.”
What made you want to become a designer and maker? Did you study at university, does craft run in the family etc.
I like problem solving and making prototypes. I studied at Middlesex University and the RCA after that.
Why is it important to maintain the craft of bodging?
The essence of Bodging is being careful and intelligent with local materials to serve community needs. Something we all need to do more of if we’re to start looking after the place a bit better.
What role does the craft of a piece play in your design process?
Not much really, I’m interested in the process of making or manufacturing, but not for crafts sake.
What impact do you think the time limitations will have on your design and make?
They’ll force you to just get on with it. I like being put in that position.
Do you have any ideas of what you plan to make for the Great Bodging Race?
Not yet, I’ve just started collecting components. We’ll see I guess!
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Sarah Kay
While Sarah Kay’s background is craft-based, she has designer for a range of furniture suppliers, starting as one half of the award-winning design partnership Kay+Stemmer before going solo in 2012. Recent designs include her new Stipo range exclusive to Heal’s
hat made you want to become a designer and maker?
My grandfather was a carpenter while a great grandfather from the other side of the family was a cabinet maker and clock maker.I grew up in the country and we had animals, so I was always helping to mend things and make things out of whatever was to hand from chicken coops to fences.
I had an epiphany when I was 30 and had the opportunity to go back to college, I suddenly knew what I wanted to do. That’s when I decided to study fine craftsmanship and furniture design at Parnham College, in Dorset.
Why is it important to maintain the craft of bodging?
The beauty of bodging is its foundation in logic and the understanding of wood. It is a way of constructing a chair that is unlikely to be lost.
