Tuesday, September 29, 2009

It’s all happening…here in Wonderland.

It’s a Sunday-after-Fiction-Saturday morning, and I’ve equipped myself with my infamous sidekick, a chewed pen and a box of Marlboro’s. I’m lost in a plethora of stairs and wide spaces, closed doors and silent echoes. The Woodstock Industrial Centre, where all things creative are happening, is the kind of place that you want to get lost in. I haven’t had my coffee, but I’ve taken my Ritalin. Like the Shins say “it’s a luscious mix of words and tricks”. ....



Say Hi guys. Say Hello and How Are You to Mister Sean Smith. Who is he? Well, Sean Donald Wilson Smith is the Creative Director of Idoidea Creative Boutique, and a prolific force of inspiration. He’s also the guy behind TYRED FURNITURE, an initiative still in early stages that represents everything Sean is about: practical innovation and creative solutions of revolutionary potential. ....


Originally from the ruthless city JHB, he’s now living his work and “doing” his ideas in ....Cape Town...., our underground Wonderland of all this strange and beautiful. Sibling rivalry over childhood Lego constructions, nowadays Sean is challenging Trend Prescriptions, constructing relentlessly without compromise and without the frivolities. It’s refreshing and it’s infectious. Like the blue box sitting on a pile of tyres in the corner, Sean converses, fondles and understands the tools of creativity, he’s a humble academic of the Arts. ....



With nine years in the industry as an Art Director, what has he learnt? “I learnt that leaving it was the best thing I could have done”. Time chewing and traffic jams, he was tied down by the ego-tipsy, in a world of gross consumption and wall-hanged success. Part of the crude Perversion of Mass. But Sean got the fuck out, wearing a smile and armed with determination. ....



Like you, he is an every-day voyeur of the discarded and the thrown away, but his vision has not been jaded. Like the lonely chair in Juno, it all started with an abandoned family of tyres. In a beautiful green park. A problem? Yes. It started with trash, and it’s become functional innovation. A solution? Indeed.....



“It’s not about cool stuff; it’s not even about selling stuff. I have started a project that not only gives me satisfaction, but puts food on the tables of families who need it”. This is a concept that has the potential to continue to build momentum, a selfless endeavour from a guy with a very clear vision. ....



“When normal people, not just artists, open their hearts and minds to the world outside, to the other people living on this planet together, the most extraordinary things happen. Being in the right place at the right time allowed me to see beyond tyres and “junk” (like Heath Nash) and take them and change the perception of what “junk” actually is.”....


What’s next for TYRED? Well, Sean has received an application from the DTI, inviting TYRED to showcase at the Artigiano in Fiera, ....Milan.... in early December. “All things come to those who create”. And I couldn’t agree more. What else? You’ll have to wait and see.....



All for winter hibernation and summer lovin’, coffee interludes and nicotined reflections, Sean’s hands on and eyes wide open. His studio is his home, and a space where creative solutions have the power to uplift, not just sell burgers. “Art is life. Period. It is the connection of an inside yearning to create”.....


This is only the start for TYRED. No goodbyes, only Hellos. Throw away your television, turn on some beats and get comfy.....

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