Faye Toogood | Assemblage 6: Unlearning

FAYE TOOGOOD

Assemblage No6

Unlearning

Volume I

FAY E T O O G O O D

INTRODUCTION

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

Introduction When I learned that the sixth and latest iteration of Faye Toogood’s Assemblage series was titled Unlearning--in an attempt to rethink design from scratch--I was intrigued, but I wasn’t surprised. Since meeting Toogood, just over a decade ago, I have come to admire her fearlessness.

After establishing her creative studio in 2008, Toogood’s explorations were varied and prolific.

Having designed spaces and installations, Toogood soon turned to furniture design, and in 2010 unveiled Assemblage 1, a group of handmade pieces that included the Spade Chair, a slender, contemporary hybrid of two traditional British objects: A three-legged milking stool and the handle of a shovel. This juxtaposition of new and old is also evident in the clothing—modern takes on British tradesmen’s garments--that Toogood has designed since 2013 with her sister Erica, a pattern maker, and in residential interiors that deftly blend modern and antique, or fine and rough.

Assemblages 2 through 5 saw Toogood exploring new materials like steel mesh, fiberglass, bronze and glass, new media like tapestry and sculpture, and new forms, like the spherical contours of the Roly-Poly Chair, which reflected her experience of motherhood.

But a few years ago, Toogood realized that she “couldn’t get away from the geometry that I’d created,” and embarked on devising what she calls “a new alphabet.” After she and the people in her studio had made dozens of maquettes of furniture designs out of throwaway materials like wire, cardboard, paper, and masking and cellophane tape, a handful were turned into the full-size pieces of Assemblage 6, their cheap materials translated into bronze, wrought iron and fiberglass, for example, but with their rough, ad-hoc forms and details intact—a process described in greater depth in Glenn Adamson’s essay for this catalogue. “We needed to preserve the naïveté, the point of creation,” Toogood says. But she hasn’t finished with this line of inquiry. “I’ve got boxes and boxes of maquettes,” she says, and “fuel for quite some time.” I look forward to seeing how much more Toogood can unlearn.

Pilar Viladas writes about design and architecture. A former design editor at T Magazine, she is the author of three books on interiors, and a monograph on the work of the Italian architect and designer Achille Salvagni.

01

FAY E T O O G O O D

UNLEARNING

Such poor materials: cardboard and tape, wire and cloth!

But the twisted scraps of the maquettes are anything but worthless.

Faye

02

FAYE TOOGOOD

Masking Tape

Assemblage No6

Unlearning

Volume I

03

FAY E T O O G O O D

MASKING TAPE

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

MAQUETTE 004 /

MAQUETTE 010 /

MAQUETTE 015 /

MAQUETTE 018 /

MAQUETTE 028 /

MAQUETTE 034 /

Masking Tape Bench

Masking Tape Chair

Masking Tape Daybed

Masking Tape Console

Masking Tape Stool

Masking Tape Stool

MAQUETTE 035 /

MAQUETTE 036 /

MAQUETTE 042 /

MAQUETTE 046 /

MAQUETTE 051 /

MAQUETTE 055 /

Masking Tape Light

Masking Tape Light

Masking Tape Sculpture

Masking Tape Chair

Masking Tape Stool

Masking Tape Side Table

MAQUETTE 063 /

MAQUETTE 066 /

MAQUETTE 070 /

MAQUETTE 075 /

MAQUETTE 079 /

MAQUETTE 082 /

Masking Tape Vitrine

Masking Tape Light

Masking Tape Table

Masking Tape Armchair

Masking Tape Armchair

Masking Tape Light

VOLUME I

04

FAY E T O O G O O D

MASKING TAPE

MAQUETTE 072 /

Masking Tape Light, 2020

A S S E M B L A G E No6

Stainless steel, resin coated canvas, LED 70.75 x 67 x 23.5 inches

UNLEARNING

180 x 170 x 60 cm Edition of 8

VOLUME I

05

FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 072 /

Masking Tape Light, 2020

MASKING TAPE

Stainless steel, resin coated canvas, LED 70.75 x 67 x 23.5 inches

180 x 170 x 60 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

06

FAY E T O O G O O D

MASKING TAPE

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

MAQUETTE 090 /

MAQUETTE 095 /

MAQUETTE 097 /

MAQUETTE 102 /

Masking Tape Light

Masking Tape Sculpture

Masking Tape Side Table

Masking Tape Vitrine

MAQUETTE 111 /

MAQUETTE 123 /

MAQUETTE 134 /

MAQUETTE 137 /

Masking Tape Light

Masking Tape Vitrine

Masking Tape Chair

Masking Tape Vitrine

MAQUETTE 144 /

MAQUETTE 150 /

Masking Tape Bread

Masking Tape Chair

VOLUME I

07

FAY E T O O G O O D

MASKING TAPE

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

MAQUETTE 151 /

MAQUETTE 158 /

MAQUETTE 160 /

Masking Tape Console

Masking Tape Sculpture

Masking Tape Chair

MAQUETTE 162 /

MAQUETTE 163 /

MAQUETTE 170 /

MAQUETTE 173 /

Masking Tape Table

Masking Tape Light

Masking Tape Sample

Masking Tape Chair

MAQUETTE 188 /

MAQUETTE 192 /

MAQUETTE 195 /

MAQUETTE 199 /

Masking Tape Table

Masking Tape Sofa

Masking Tape Stool

Masking Tape Light

VOLUME I

08

FAY E T O O G O O D

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

09

FAYE TOOGOOD

Canvas

Assemblage No6

Unlearning

Volume I

10

FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 267 /

Canvas Chair, 2020

C A N VAS

Cast aluminium, acrylic paint 30.75 x 43.25 x 35.5 inches

78 x 110 x 90 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

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FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 267 /

Canvas Chair, 2020

C A N VAS

Cast aluminium, acrylic paint 30.75 x 43.25 x 35.5 inches

78 x 110 x 90 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

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FAY E T O O G O O D

C A N VAS

MAQUETTE 217 /

MAQUETTE 258 /

MAQUETTE 262 /

Canvas Armchair

Canvas Armchair

Canvas Side Table

MAQUETTE 265 /

MAQUETTE 268 /

MAQUETTE 272 /

Canvas Armchair

Canvas Sculpture

Canvas Stool

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

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FAY E T O O G O O D

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

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FAYE TOOGOOD

Canvas & Foam

Assemblage No6

Unlearning

Volume I

15

FAY E T O O G O O D

C A N VAS & F OA M

MAQUETTE 266 /

MAQUETTE 269 /

MAQUETTE 271 /

Canvas & Foam Armchair

Canvas & Foam Seat

Canvas & Foam Seat

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

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FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 234 /

Canvas & Foam Sofa Charcoal, 2020

C A N VAS & F OA M

Primed washed canvas, upholstery foam, fabric paint 27.5 x 133.75 x 53 inches

70 x 340 x 135 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

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FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 234 /

Canvas & Foam Sofa Charcoal, 2020

C A N VAS & F OA M

Primed washed canvas, upholstery foam, fabric paint 27.5 x 133.75 x 53 inches

70 x 340 x 135 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

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FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 234 /

Canvas & Foam Sofa Charcoal, 2020

C A N VAS & F OA M

Primed washed canvas, upholstery foam, fabric paint 27.5 x 133.75 x 53 inches

70 x 340 x 135 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

19

FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 234 /

Canvas & Foam Sofa Rust, 2020

C A N VAS & F OA M

Primed washed canvas, upholstery foam, fabric paint 27.5 x 133.75 x 53 inches

70 x 340 x 135 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

20

FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 248 /

Canvas & Foam Daybed Charcoal, 2020

C A N VAS & F OA M

Primed washed canvas, upholstery foam, fabric paint 15.75 x 118 x 39.25 inches

40 x 300 x 100 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

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FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 248 /

Canvas & Foam Daybed Charcoal, 2020

C A N VAS & F OA M

Primed washed canvas, upholstery foam, fabric paint 15.75 x 118 x 39.25 inches

40 x 300 x 100 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

22

FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 259 /

Canvas & Foam Seat Rust, 2020

C A N VAS & F OA M

Primed washed canvas, upholstery foam, fabric paint 27.5 x 70.75 x 53 inches

70 x 180 x 135 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

23

FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 259 /

Canvas & Foam Seat Rust, 2020

C A N VAS & F OA M

Primed washed canvas, upholstery foam, fabric paint 27.5 x 70.75 x 53 inches

70 x 180 x 135 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

24

FAYE TOOGOOD

Cardboard

Assemblage No6

Unlearning

Volume I

25

FAY E T O O G O O D

CARDBOARD

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

MAQUETTE 008 /

MAQUETTE 049 /

MAQUETTE 050 /

MAQUETTE 008 /

MAQUETTE 069 /

Box Screen

Box Chair

Box Screen

Box Screen

Box Screen

MAQUETTE 099 /

MAQUETTE 116 /

MAQUETTE 124 /

Box Stool

Box Stool

Box Screen

MAQUETTE 141 /

MAQUETTE 198 /

MAQUETTE 275 /

Box Stool

Cardboard Sample

Box Stool

VOLUME I

26

FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 016 /

Box Stool, 2020

CARDBOARD

Cast bronze, acrylic paint 17.75 x 19.5 x 18 inches

45 x 50 x 46 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

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FAY E T O O G O O D

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

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FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 166 /

Box Stool, 2020

CARDBOARD

Cast bronze, acrylic paint 16 x 19.25 x 16.5 inches

41 x 49 x 42 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

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FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 060 /

Box Screen, 2020

CARDBOARD

Cast aluminium, acrylic paint 63 x 67 x 27.5 inches

160 x 170 x 70 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

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FAY E T O O G O O D

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

31

FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 031 /

Box Bench, 2020

CARDBOARD

Cast bronze, acrylic paint 18.5 x 59 x 22.75 inches

47 x 150 x 58 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

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FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 031 /

Box Bench, 2020

CARDBOARD

Cast bronze, acrylic paint 18.5 x 59 x 22.75 inches

47 x 150 x 58 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

33

FAYE TOOGOOD

Clay

Assemblage No6

Unlearning

Volume I

34

FAY E T O O G O O D

C L AY

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

MAQUETTE 003 /

MAQUETTE 013 /

MAQUETTE 019 /

MAQUETTE 024 /

MAQUETTE 026 /

MAQUETTE 037 /

Clay Seat

Clay Seat

Clay Seat

Clay Sculpture

Clay Daybed

Clay Bench

MAQUETTE 039 /

MAQUETTE 040 /

MAQUETTE 043 /

MAQUETTE 045 /

MAQUETTE 053 /

MAQUETTE 054 /

Clay Sculpture

Clay Seat

Clay Daybed

Clay Sample

Clay Shelf

Clay Sample

MAQUETTE 056 /

MAQUETTE 058 /

MAQUETTE 065 /

MAQUETTE 067 /

MAQUETTE 080 /

MAQUETTE 083 /

Clay Sculpture

Clay Bench

Clay Sofa

Clay Seat

Clay Sofa

Clay Seat

VOLUME I

35

FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 047 /

Clay Bench, 2020

C L AY

Cement composite 38 x 112.25 x 131.75 inches

97 x 285 x 81 cm Edition of 3

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

36

FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 047 /

Clay Bench, 2020

C L AY

Cement composite 38 x 112.25 x 131.75 inches

97 x 285 x 81 cm Edition of 3

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

37

FAY E T O O G O O D

C L AY

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

MAQUETTE 086 /

MAQUETTE 088 /

MAQUETTE 089 /

MAQUETTE 092 /

MAQUETTE 094 /

MAQUETTE 100 /

Clay Sofa

Clay Bench

Clay Bench

Clay Seat

Clay Sofa

Clay Sculpture

MAQUETTE 106 /

MAQUETTE 108 /

MAQUETTE 112 /

MAQUETTE 109 /

MAQUETTE 118 /

MAQUETTE 120 /

Clay Seat

Clay Daybed

Clay Seat

Clay Seat

Clay Bench

Clay Bench

MAQUETTE 129 /

MAQUETTE 131 /

MAQUETTE 133 /

MAQUETTE 138 /

MAQUETTE 140 /

MAQUETTE 145 /

Clay Daybed

Clay Bench

Clay Side Table

Clay Coffee table

Clay Daybed

Clay Sculpture

VOLUME I

38

FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 115 /

Clay Sofa, 2020

C L AY

Cement composite 33.5 x 78.75 x 47.25 inches

85 x 200 x 120 cm Edition of 3

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

39

FAY E T O O G O O D

C L AY

MAQUETTE 115 /

Clay Sofa, 2020

A S S E M B L A G E No6

Cement composite 33.5 x 78.75 x 47.25 inches

85 x 200 x 120 cm Edition of 3

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

40

FAY E T O O G O O D

C L AY

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

MAQUETTE 148 /

MAQUETTE 154 /

MAQUETTE 155 /

MAQUETTE 157 /

Clay Seat

Clay Sofa

Clay Seat

Clay Daybed

MAQUETTE 159 /

MAQUETTE 168 /

MAQUETTE 171 /

MAQUETTE 175 /

Clay Seat

Clay Seat

Clay Stool

Clay Bench

MAQUETTE 194 /

MAQUETTE 196 /

MAQUETTE 277 /

MAQUETTE 278 /

Clay Bed Table

Clay Seat

Clay Sofa

Clay Seat

VOLUME I

41

FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 143 /

Clay Coffee Table, 2020

C L AY

Cement composite 17.3 x 52.75 x 31.5 inches

44 x 134 x 80 cm Edition of 3

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

42

FAYE TOOGOOD

Paper

Assemblage No6

Unlearning

Volume I

43

FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 208 /

Paper Chair, 2020

PAPER

Cast aluminium, acrylic paint 29.5 x 44 x 35.5 inches

75 x 112 x 90 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

44

FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 208 /

Paper Chair, 2020

PAPER

Cast aluminium, acrylic paint 29.5 x 44 x 35.5 inches

75 x 112 x 90 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

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FAY E T O O G O O D

PAPER

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

MAQUETTE 203 /

MAQUETTE 210 /

MAQUETTE 212 /

MAQUETTE 221 /

Paper Seat

Paper Seat

Paper Chair

Paper Chair

MAQUETTE 226 /

MAQUETTE 237 /

MAQUETTE 242 /

Paper Seat

Paper Chair

Paper Seat

MAQUETTE 245 /

MAQUETTE 250 /

Paper Table

Paper Seat

VOLUME I

46

FAY E T O O G O O D

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

47

FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 208 /

Paper Chair, 2020

PAPER

Cast aluminium, acrylic paint 29.5 x 44 x 35.5 inches

75 x 112 x 90 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

48

FAYE TOOGOOD

Parcel Tape

Assemblage No6

Unlearning

Volume I

49

FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 247 /

Parcel Tape Console, 2020

PARCEL TAPE

Cast aluminium, acrylic paint 35.5 x 63 x 23.5 inches

90 x 160 x 60 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

50

FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 247 /

Parcel Tape Console, 2020

PARCEL TAPE

Cast aluminium, acrylic paint 35.5 x 63 x 23.5 inches

90 x 160 x 60 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

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FAY E T O O G O O D

PARCEL TAPE

MAQUETTE 204 /

MAQUETTE 216 /

MAQUETTE 227 /

Parcel Tape

Parcel Tape Chair

Parcel Tape Seat

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

MAQUETTE 231 /

MAQUETTE 236 /

MAQUETTE 239 /

Parcel Tape Seat

Parcel Tape Seat

Parcel Tape Stool

MAQUETTE 249 /

MAQUETTE 253 /

MAQUETTE 255 /

Parcel Tape Seat

Parcel Tape Seat

Parcel Tape Stool

VOLUME I

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FAY E T O O G O O D

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

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A S S E M B L A G E No6

FAY E T O O G O O D

FAYE TOOGOOD

Tape & Wire

Assemblage No6

UNLEARNING

Unlearning

VOLUME I

Volume I

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FAY E T O O G O O D

TAPE & WIRE

A S S E M B L A G E No6

MAQUETTE 103 /

MAQUETTE 117 /

MAQUETTE 201 /

MAQUETTE 202 /

Tape & Wire Chair

Tape & Wire Vitrine

Tape & Wire Cabinet

Tape & Wire Light

UNLEARNING

MAQUETTE 205 /

MAQUETTE 206 /

MAQUETTE 207 /

MAQUETTE 209 /

Tape & Wire Chair

Tape & Wire Light

Clay Seat Light

Clay Bench Cabinet

MAQUETTE 211 /

MAQUETTE 213 /

MAQUETTE 214 /

MAQUETTE 218 /

Clay Bench Table

Tape & Wire Chair

Tape & Wire Stool

Tape & Wire Coffee Table

VOLUME I

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FAY E T O O G O O D

TAPE & WIRE

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

MAQUETTE 220 /

MAQUETTE 223 /

MAQUETTE 224 /

MAQUETTE 225 /

Tape & Wire Cabinet

Tape & Wire Table

Tape & Wire Chair

Tape & Wire Cabinet

MAQUETTE 233 /

MAQUETTE 235 /

MAQUETTE 238 /

Tape & Wire Cabinet

Tape & Wire Light

Tape & Wire Table

MAQUETTE 240 /

MAQUETTE 244 /

MAQUETTE 246 /

MAQUETTE 251 /

MAQUETTE 254 /

Tape & Wire Light

Tape & Wire Stool

Tape & Wire Light

Tape & Wire Table

Tape & Wire Table

VOLUME I

56

FAYE TOOGOOD

Wire & Card

Assemblage No6

Unlearning

Volume I

57

FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 270 /

Wire & Card Chair, 2020

WIRE & CARD

Zinc coated steel, cast aluminium, acrylic paint 39.75 x 36.5 x 26.5 inches

101 x 93 x 67 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

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FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 270 /

Wire & Card Chair, 2020

WIRE & CARD

Zinc coated steel, cast aluminium, acrylic paint 39.75 x 36.5 x 26.5 inches

101 x 93 x 67 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

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FAY E T O O G O O D

WIRE & CARD

MAQUETTE 232 /

MAQUETTE 257 /

Wire & Card Table

Wire & Card Seat

MAQUETTE 260 /

MAQUETTE 264 /

Wire & Card Chair

Wire & Card Stool

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

60

FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 270 /

Wire & Card Chair, 2020

WIRE & CARD

Zinc coated steel, cast aluminium, acrylic paint 39.75 x 36.5 x 26.5 inches

101 x 93 x 67 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

61

FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 243 /

Wire & Card Table, 2020

WIRE & CARD

Zinc coated steel, cast aluminium, acrylic paint 29.5 x 82.75 x 36.5 inches

75 x 210 x 93 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

62

FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 243 /

Wire & Card Table, 2020

WIRE & CARD

Zinc coated steel, cast aluminium, acrylic paint 29.5 x 82.75 x 36.5 inches

75 x 210 x 93 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

63

FAY E T O O G O O D

MAQUETTE 243 /

Wire & Card Table, 2020

WIRE & CARD

Zinc coated steel, cast aluminium, acrylic paint 29.5 x 82.75 x 36.5 inches

75 x 210 x 93 cm Edition of 8

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

VOLUME I

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FAY E T O O G O O D

WIRE & CARD

MAQUETTE 264 /

Wire & Card Side Table, 2020

A S S E M B L A G E No6

Zinc coated steel, cast aluminium, acrylic paint 19.5 x 23.25 x 24.5 inches

UNLEARNING

50 x 59 x 62 cm Edition of 8

VOLUME I

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FAYE TOOGOOD

Wire

Assemblage No6

Unlearning

Volume I

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FAY E T O O G O O D

WIRE

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

MAQUETTE 002 /

MAQUETTE 009 /

MAQUETTE 014 /

MAQUETTE 017 /

MAQUETTE 020 /

MAQUETTE 021 /

Wire

Wire Chair

Wire

Wire

Wire

Wire

MAQUETTE 023 /

MAQUETTE 025 /

MAQUETTE 027 /

MAQUETTE 030 /

MAQUETTE 033 /

MAQUETTE 038 /

Wire Coat Hanger

Wire Seat

Wire

Wire Stool

Wire

Wire Chair

MAQUETTE 041 /

MAQUETTE 044 /

MAQUETTE 052 /

MAQUETTE 059 /

MAQUETTE 062 /

MAQUETTE 064 /

Wire

Wire Coat Hanger

Wire Chair

Wire Chair

Wire Chair

Wire Coat Hanger

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FAY E T O O G O O D

WIRE

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

MAQUETTE 071 /

MAQUETTE 074 /

MAQUETTE 076 /

MAQUETTE 081 /

MAQUETTE 084 /

MAQUETTE 087 /

Wire Bench

Wire Chair

Wire Stool

Wire

Wire Coat Hanger

Wire Stool

MAQUETTE 093 /

MAQUETTE 098 /

MAQUETTE 104 /

MAQUETTE 110 /

MAQUETTE 113 /

MAQUETTE 119 /

Wire Chair

Wire Light

Wire Coat Hanger

Wire Shelf

Wire Chair

Wire Table

MAQUETTE 122 /

MAQUETTE 126 /

MAQUETTE 128 /

MAQUETTE 132 /

MAQUETTE 135 /

MAQUETTE 139 /

Wire Chair

Wire Chair

Wire Chair

Wire Chair

Wire Table

Wire Seat

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WIRE

A S S E M B L A G E No6

UNLEARNING

MAQUETTE 142 /

MAQUETTE 146 /

MAQUETTE 149 /

MAQUETTE 156 /

MAQUETTE 161 /

MAQUETTE 165 /

Wire Stool

Wire Sculpture

Wire Sculpture

Wire Chair

Wire Sculpture

Wire Table

MAQUETTE 169 /

MAQUETTE 172 /

MAQUETTE 174 /

MAQUETTE 177 /

MAQUETTE 180 /

MAQUETTE 182 /

Wire Stool

Wire Coat Hanger

Wire Light

Wire Coat Hanger

Wire Coat Hanger

Wire Chair

MAQUETTE 185 /

MAQUETTE 187 /

MAQUETTE 189 /

MAQUETTE 191 /

MAQUETTE 197 /

MAQUETTE 273 /

Wire Chair

Wire Chair

Wire Sculpture

Wire Sculpture

Wire Chair

Wire Chair

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MAQUETTE 006 /

Box Screen Tapestry, 2020

TAPESTRIES

Wool, cotton 67.25 x 96 x 0.6 inches

171 x 244 x 1.5 cm Unique

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MAQUETTE 011 /

Box Screen Tapestry, 2020

TAPESTRIES

Wool, cotton 86.75 x 60.5 x 0.6 inches

220 x 154 x 1.5 cm Unique

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MAQUETTE 057 /

Canvas Chair Tapestry, 2020

TAPESTRIES

Wool, cotton 50.25 x 72.5 x 0.6 inches

128 x 184 x 1.5 cm Unique

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MAQUETTE 057 /

Canvas Chair Tapestry, 2020

TAPESTRIES

Wool, cotton 50.25 x 72.5 x 0.6 inches

128 x 184 x 1.5 cm Unique

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MAQUETTE 061 /

Clay Seat Tapestry, 2020

TAPESTRIES

Wool, cotton 28.25 x 42 x 0.6 inches

72 x 107 x 1.5 cm Unique

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MAQUETTE 073 /

Canvas and Foam Chair Tapestry, 2020

TAPESTRIES

Wool, cotton 58.5 x 77.5 x 0.6 inches

149 x 197 x 1.5 cm Unique

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MAQUETTE 085 /

Masking Tape Light Tapestry, 2020

TAPESTRIES

Wool, cotton 67.25 x 57 x 0.6 inches

171 x 145 x 1.5 cm Unique

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TAPESTRIES

MAQUETTE 085 /

Masking Tape Light Tapestry, 2020

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Wool, cotton 67.25 x 57 x 0.6 inches

UNLEARNING

171 x 145 x 1.5 cm Unique

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MAQUETTE 178 /

Paper Chair Tapestry, 2020

TAPESTRIES

Wool, cotton 39 x 55 x 0.6 inches

99 x 140 x 1.5 cm Unique

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MAQUETTE 193 /

Parcel Tape Console Tapestry, 2020

TAPESTRIES

Wool, cotton 40 x 56.75 x 0.6 inches

102 x 144 x 1.5 cm Unique

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MAQUETTE 193 /

Parcel Tape Console Tapestry, 2020

TAPESTRIES

Wool, cotton 40 x 56.75 x 0.6 inches

102 x 144 x 1.5 cm Unique

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MAQUETTE 263 /

Unlearning Poem Tapestry, 2020

TAPESTRIES

Wool, cotton 50.75 x 41.75 x 0.6 inches

129 x 106 x 1.5 cm Unique

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MAQUETTE 215 /

Wire and Card Chair Tapestry, 2020

TAPESTRIES

Wool, cotton 73.5 x 64 x 0.6 inches

187 x 163 x 1.5 cm Unique

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Material Samples & Misc.

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MATERIAL SAMPLES & MISC.

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MAQUETTE 001 /

MAQUETTE 005 /

MAQUETTE 007 /

MAQUETTE 012 /

MAQUETTE 022 /

MAQUETTE 029 /

Material Samples

Material Samples Light

Material Samples

Material Samples

Material Samples

Material Samples Light

MAQUETTE 032 /

MAQUETTE 048 /

MAQUETTE 077 /

MAQUETTE 078 /

MAQUETTE 091 /

MAQUETTE 096 /

Material Samples

Material Samples

Material Samples

Material Samples

Material Samples

Material Samples

MAQUETTE 101 /

MAQUETTE 105 /

MAQUETTE 107 /

MAQUETTE 121 /

MAQUETTE 125 /

MAQUETTE 127 /

Material Samples Light

Material Samples

Material Samples

Material Samples

Material Samples

Material Samples

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MATERIAL SAMPLES & MISC.

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MAQUETTE 130 /

MAQUETTE 136 /

MAQUETTE 152 /

MAQUETTE 164 /

MAQUETTE 167 /

MAQUETTE 176 /

Material Samples

Material Samples

Material Samples

Material Samples

Material Samples

Material Samples

MAQUETTE 179 /

MAQUETTE 183 /

MAQUETTE 184 /

MAQUETTE 186 /

MAQUETTE 200 /

MAQUETTE 222 /

Material Samples

Material Samples

Material Samples

Material Samples

Material Samples

Material Samples

MAQUETTE 229 /

MAQUETTE 241 /

MAQUETTE 252 /

MAQUETTE 256 /

Material Samples

Misc. Seat

Material Samples

Misc. Bench

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LIST OF WORKS

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List of Works 05–06

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42

MAQUETTE 072 /

MAQUETTE 016 /

MAQUETTE 143 /

Masking Tape Light, 2020 Stainless steel, resin coated canvas, LED 70.75 x 67 x 23.5 inches 180 x 170 x 60 cm Edition 8

Box Stool, 2020 Cast bronze, acrylic paint 17.75 x 19.5 x 18 inches 45 x 50 x 46 cm Edition of 8

Clay Coffee Table, 2020 Cement composite 17.3 x 52.75 x 31.5 inches 44 x 134 x 80 cm Edition of 3

11–12

29

44–45, 48

MAQUETTE 267 /

MAQUETTE 166 /

MAQUETTE 208 /

Canvas Chair, 2020 Cast aluminium, acrylic paint 30.75 x 43.25 x 35.5 inches 78 x 110 x 90 cm Edition of 8

Box Stool, 2020 Cast bronze, acrylic paint 16 x 19.25 x 16.5 inches 41 x 49 x 42 cm Edition of 8

Paper Chair, 2020 Cast aluminium, acrylic paint 29.5 x 44 x 35.5 inches 75 x 112 x 90 cm Edition of 8

17–19

30

50–51

MAQUETTE 234 /

MAQUETTE 060 /

MAQUETTE 247 /

Canvas & Foam Sofa Charcoal, 2020 Primed washed canvas, upholstery foam, fabric paint 27.5 x 133.75 x 53 inches 70 x 340 x 135 cm Edition of 8

Box Screen, 2020 Cast aluminium, acrylic paint 63 x 67 x 27.5 inches 160 x 170 x 70 cm Edition of 8

Parcel Tape Console, 2020 Cast aluminium, acrylic paint 35.5 x 63 x 23.5 inches 90 x 160 x 60 cm Edition of 8

20

32–33

58–59, 61

MAQUETTE 234 /

MAQUETTE 031 /

MAQUETTE 270 /

Canvas & Foam Sofa Rust, 2020 Primed washed canvas, upholstery foam, fabric paint 27.5 x 133.75 x 53 inches 70 x 340 x 135 cm Edition 8

Box Bench, 2020 Cast bronze, acrylic paint 18.5 x 59 x 22.75 inches 47 x 150 x 58 cm Edition of 8

Wire & Card Chair, 2020 Zinc coated steel, cast aluminium, acrylic paint 39.75 x 36.5 x 26. 5 inches 101 x 93 x 67 cm Edition of 8

21–22

36–37

62–64

MAQUETTE 248 /

MAQUETTE 047 /

MAQUETTE 243 /

Canvas & Foam Daybed Charcoal, 2020 Primed washed canvas, upholstery foam, fabric paint 15.75 x 118 x 39.25 inches 40 x 300 x 100 cm Edition of 8

Clay Bench, 2020 Cement composite 38 x 112.25 x 131.75 inches 97 x 285 x 81 cm Edition of 3

Wire & Card Table, 2020 Zinc coated steel, cast aluminium, acrylic paint 29.5 x 82.75 x 36.5 inches 75 x 210 x 93 cm Edition of 8

23–24

39–40

65

MAQUETTE 259 /

MAQUETTE 115 /

MAQUETTE 264 /

Canvas & Foam Seat Rust, 2020 Primed washed canvas, upholstery foam, fabric paint 27.5 x 70.75 x 53 inches 70 x 180 x 135 cm Edition of 8

Clay Sofa, 2020 Cement composite 33.5 x 78.75 x 47.25 inches 85 x 200 x 120 cm Edition of 3

Wire & Card Side Table, 2020 Zinc coated steel, cast aluminium, acrylic paint 19.5 x 23.25 x 24.5 inches 50 x 59 x 62 cm Edition of 8

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MAQUETTE 006 /

MAQUETTE 085 /

Box Screen Tapestry, 2020 Wool, cotton 67.25 x 96 x 0.6 inches 171 x 244 x 1.5 cm Unique

Masking Tape Light Tapestry, 2020 Wool, cotton 67.25 x 57 x 0.6 inches 171 x 145 x 1.5 cm Unique

09 Stainless steel framework in the canvas resin shell.

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MAQUETTE 011 /

MAQUETTE 178 /

Box Stool Tapestry, 2020 Wool, cotton 86.75 x 60.5 x 0.6 inches 220 x 154 x 1.5 cm Unique

Paper Chair Tapestry, 2020 Wool, cotton 39 x 55 x 0.6 inches 99 x 140 x 1.5 cm Unique

28 Raw bronze casting before patina.

73–74

80–81

MAQUETTE 057 /

MAQUETTE 193 /

Canvas Chair Tapestry, 2020 Wool, cotton 50.25 x 72.5 x 0.6 inches 128 x 184 x 1.5 cm Unique

Parcel Tape Console Tapestry, 2020 Wool, cotton 40 x 56.75 x 0.6 inches 102 x 144 x 1.5 cm Unique

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MAQUETTE 061 /

MAQUETTE 263 /

Clay Seat Tapestry, 2020 Wool, cotton 28.25 x 42 x 0.6 inches 72 x 107 x 1.5 cm Unique

Unlearning Poem Tapestry, 2020 Wool, cotton 50.75 x 41.75 x 0.6 inches 129 x 106 x 1.5 cm Unique

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MAQUETTE 073 /

MAQUETTE 215 /

Canvas and Foam Chair Tapestry, 2020 Wool, cotton 58.5 x 77.5 x 0.6 inches 149 x 197 x 1.5 cm Unique

Wire and Card Chair Tapestry, 2020 Wool, cotton 73.5 x 64 x 0.6 inches 187 x 163 x 1.5 cm Unique

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PROCESS PHOTOGRAPHY

14 Raw cast aluminium detail of the canvas texture.

31 Patinating the parcel tape details on cast bronze.

47 Raw cast aluminium sections welded together.

53 Cardboard and tape pattern with raw cast aluminium section.

84 Material samples Raw cast bronze and aluminium in: card-board, parcel tape, canvas, greyboard and paper.

88 Cast aluminium half cooling in the mould.

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BASIC INSTINCT

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Basic Instinct “The children who love printed scraps, and paste them into scrapbooks printed with the legend ALBUM, bring greater hope to artists than any plethora of critics and museum directors.” That is the Danish artist Asger Jorn writing, in 1941. One can file his thought right alongside those of many other artists at the time, who had a similar affinity for the art of children, and the self-taught: what Jean Dubuffet evocatively called art brut. The impulse arose at a uniquely traumatic time in history, in the wake of the industrialized mass murder of World War II. “Civilization” seemed already to have indicted itself, and perhaps to have reached a point of no return. Attraction to what was then called the “primitive” was a widespread, multigenerational, and cross-disciplinary response. It was felt not only in Jorn’s immediate circle – most famously, Jean Dubuffet – but also by a diversity of other figures, among them painters from Pablo Picasso to Jackson Pollock, and architects like Le Corbusier and Charlotte Perriand. All saw raw intuition, primary invention, even anti-intellectualism as a necessary step at an urgent time.

In the wake of war, it was vital to reset human expression itself. So they sought to unlearn all they knew. To go back to basics. To begin again.

Fast forward to 2020. Our moment has brought no new World War – let’s try to keep things in perspective – but it does seethe with conflict, complicatedness, and contradiction. On the positive side, we have unprecedented access to information – but even this can seem overwhelming, a mental diet of too much, too fast. This is the large but necessary backdrop to Faye Toogood’s new body of work. It is the outcome of long thought, consideration and experiment. About three years ago, Toogood decided she’d had enough input. Like Jorn and Dubuffet, she wanted to strip her working process back to its essence.

The timing was right for this in personal terms, as well, for she had just become the mother of twins: a natural time for a reset. So, she determined that she would attend no exhibitions or events, and keep her consumption of other designers’ work to an absolute minimum. She would move forward by taking a big step back, to the ground zero of her own creativity.

For any designer, this would be a big decision; it’s a field that runs on influence, the exchange of ideas. For Toogood, it arguably had even greater significance, because she is so very adept at tuning into what’s happening around her, and responding in original ways. She started her career startlingly young, as a magazine editor. After about a decade of that, she started her own fashion line, then founded a Janus-faced studio, half-devoted to developing garments, and half to others genres

of design (interiors, furniture, ceramics, and other objects). In all this work, Toogood has partly responded to the zeitgeist, partly shaped it.

Even as she has honed her receptivity, though, she has placed an unusual emphasis on the exact opposite: naïveté, a certain innocent eye.

You can see this quality in her most important works: the Spade chair, her attenuated take on a farmer’s milk stool; the Elements table, which has the geometric simplicity of a child’s plaything; or her Roly Poly chair, with its friendly contours, a hug in the shape of a seat. The sensitivity that results in such ideas is a fragile thing, as Toogood knows well. So she has created a conceptual parameter for herself, in which her instincts can be protected: she calls it the Assemblage, a group of interrelated objects which share a common aesthetic. She has created five such collections before; in each one fresh ideas are introduced, while other typologies are reprised in a new key. Each Assemblage has a quasi-narrative structure, too, which infuses its constituent objects with meaning. But the format’s most important role is to free Toogood from the exigencies of a particular commission, to secure her free space to explore, so that she can follow her own lead wherever it takes her.

Assemblage 6 is, in one way, just another spin of this creative wheel.

Toogood expressly devised it as a zone for R&D, trial and error, and formgeneration. But it is wholly unlike all of her previous Assemblages in the rigor of its conception and the focus of its outcomes. As its title, Unlearning, suggests, it reflects Toogood’s desire to shed the sophistication for which she has become so well known. Each object in the collection enshrines a specific moment of intuitive play. Her first step was to make a large number of quick, rough models, in the materials she typically uses for this purpose: cardboard, wire, various kinds of tape, clay, paper, and canvas.

Normally, these initial sketches would be developed to prototype stage, but for Assemblage 6, Toogood stopped the process right there, and did something totally unexpected. She picked out her favorite maquettes and then recreated them at the scale of functional furniture.

Preserving immediacy was vital, at all stages. From idea to model, the only filter was two hands; from model to finish work, the only filter was the fabrication process, the only constraints, the materials chosen and the makers’ skills. Thus the original maquettes, fragile little objects which might otherwise have been thrown into a box or discarded, were instead treated as sacrosanct: relics of sorts, which must be paid due deference.

Each was imitated with exacting precision at enlarged scale, creating an Alice in Wonderland effect – an impression enhanced by Toogood’s 91

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decision to present the objects on gray MDF, the material she prefers for work surfaces. Viewers of Assemblage 6 may feel that they have been miniaturized and allowed to walk around on her studio tabletops. This is not just a clever bit of trompe l’oeil, though, but an act of conceptual time travel, back to an original moment of inception.

Initially, the idea of replicating the maquettes was just that, an idea.

To have any real power, it needed to be executed with all the finesse and expertise that Toogood has brought to all her previous work. So every object included in the Assemblage took an epic journey from initial conception to final realization; the duplication of each material was its own independent research project. Cardboard was transformed into patinated bronze, tape into resin. Blacksmiths were enlisted to recreate twisted wire in wrought iron. Canvas plays itself; one of Toogood’s go-to materials, often used in her garment designs, it has been treated with a resin binder, to stiffen it. It turned out that canvas was also the best option for reproducing the effect of masking tape; covered with a thin layer of fiberglass, it recreates the matte texture and the coloration of the original material with uncanny accuracy. The specificity and diversity of these material solutions lends Assemblage 6 a variability that jousts fascinatingly with its single, unified premise.

Previously, Toogood’s collections have been strongly guided by a theme – Assemblage 5, for example, which was presented at Friedman Benda in 2017, was occult in feeling, inspired by the elements of water and earth and the pervading light of the moon. It was an associative process, not totally dissimilar to the use of “mood boards” of fashion.

Here her approach is very different, more like the more rigorous methodologies observed in conceptual art. To the extent that Unlearning had a mood board, it consisted of things like TRASH, a sculpture by the British artist Gavin Turk, which is a dead-on replica in bronze of a cinched black plastic garbage bag filled with unseen refuse. Toogood also had in mind certain rustic furniture, and archaic objects, which she valued for their immediacy – things that felt like they had arrived all at once, without reflection or refinement. Things that seemed to tap into the essential human capacity to invent, and give shape to raw matter.

For another project, at another time, she might have been more direct in her borrowings from these sources. But for Assemblage 6 she wanted something more sui generis, and arguably more intellectually arresting: a mediation on what creativity looks like, an invitation to consider why it matters.

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There is a deadpan joke, in this project, about value: such care and Glenn Adamson is a curator and writer who works at the intersection of craft, expense lavished on imitating such poor materials, cardboard and tape, design history and contemporary art. He has previously been Director of the wire and simple cloth! But that’s the whole point. The twisted scraps Museum of Arts and Design; Head of Research at the V&A; and Curator at of the maquettes were anything but worthless. They reflect the most the Chipstone Foundation in Milwaukee. valuable thing we have: unfettered creativity, from which flow all human communication, connection, and expression. That this can be achieved with A few everyday materials, in a few moments, is indeed remarkable.

Nor is it accidental that Toogood employed this vocabulary at a volatile time in history. After all, the collection was developed during the same period that Brexit was dividing hearts and minds in her home country – a flood of conflict and ill-will, which had left so many feeling raw.

Assemblage 6 laps gently at this situation, floating in at the high tide, rather than confronting it outright. Toogood accepts that the work, so edgy by her standards, does reflect the anxious tenor of the times.

For her, the whole collection is pervaded by a sense of vulnerability: “of the original materials used for the maquettes; of myself as a designer, exposing the most private part of my process, the first iteration; the seeming vulnerability of the final pieces.” Yet of course, appearances are deceiving. The finished works are extremely robust. We might take them as physical metaphors for the strength that comes through self-exposure.

Thus the apparently simple objects in Assemblage 6 are pitched in a complex field. They stand ambiguously between alpha and omega, inhabiting neither position fully: the raw and the refined, the momentary and the monumental, and expressionistic and the austere, fragility and permanence. And this very complicatedness is part of the message.

Each of the objects in the collection derives from an instant of quiet improvisation. In honoring that private and transient experience, Toogood is showing us how much is contained within it. That is what Asger Jorn and his fellow lovers of art brut sought, too. They distrusted academicism. They did not want to make the mistake of valuing knowledge for its own sake; indeed, they saw that it could be a prison.

Only a very sophisticated artist would have thought to frame such an argument, of course; but sophisticated artists need freedom, too.

In Assemblage 6, Toogood has given herself that opportunity. She has taken herself to a place of supreme importance - right back to the beginning - and from that vantage, asked herself fundamental questions about her own practice, and the discipline of design itself. Toogood has dared to reinvent herself; and she has made the most of it.

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All works © the artist 2020 All texts © the authors 2020 Catalogue and all contents © the artist and Friedman Benda 2020 fayetoogood.com friedmanbenda.com Faye Toogood Jan Rose Tom Lawson Hannah Oakley Josephine Howard Katie Acornley Tom Stacey David Horan Stephen McCombe Walter Mingledorff Léa Duchein Dilara Atceken Product Photography Angus Mill Portrait Photography Philip Sinden Process Photography Tom Lawson Genevieve Lutkin Graphic Design StudioSmall Texts Pilar Viladas (Intro) Glenn Adamson (Essay) Special Thanks Friedman Benda Brent Dzekciorius Glenn Adamson Jan Rose

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