waste not
Shopping cart chaise lounge, 2011, found shopping cart, recycled chrome tubing, upholstery
Necessity, Mother of Cool Furniture The once-mighty capital of rubber had long been struggling by the time Meyer graduated from high school. In his art classes, he “fell in love with sculpture,” but he didn’t have the money for college. So after working in a straw factory for $6.15 an hour, he and a few friends hit the road and headed for California. They made it to Salt Lake City before the cash ran out. Meyer stayed, found his way into the Job Corps, a tradeschool program for low-income youth, and learned to weld. Armed with new skills, he headed back to Ohio and found industrial work. Off the job, he began scavenging abandoned bikes and
Chrome frame tower, 2011, recycled sheet metal, found and recycled chrome tubing, 6 x 2.7 x 1.3 ft.
026 american craft design 2013
Photos (4): Doug Meyer
doug meyer nabbed attention with wheelchair loveseats and shopping-cart chaise lounges that dare the adventurous to go careening down the cereal aisle. But his work also includes a sleek, neo-deco Paperclip console and an elegant, post-industrial Capsule coffee table. “There are facets of my creativity I always have to fulfill,” says Meyer. “Some of my work is damn serious, and some of it’s just straight-up goofy. It’s all what you see in it.” Others see plenty. His work has been picked up by Corey Daniels Gallery in Wells, Maine, and Liza Sherman Antiques in New York, by a high-end home furnishing store in Boston, and for merchandising displays for well-known retailers, such as Tommy Hilfiger and J. Crew. Not bad for a kid from Akron, Ohio, who learned his craft the old-fashioned way: on the job.