You might have heard of Steven Harrington thanks to the work of National Forest, the design studio he co-founded in Los Angeles. However for several years now he's also been coming up with his own self-initiated projects and this side of his creativity has resulted in his first sculptural release - a deluxe, 8.5-inch tall white porcelain ampersand. And it comes in its own groovy screen-printed box.
The ampersand mark comes straight from the heart of Harrington's You & I brand - through which he sells his design creations. Each end of the form is shaped into a little hand. "All the work in my shop is hand-made and created by myself," he says. "I realised that there soon became this direct relationship between 'You', the people out in internetland, and 'I', me, the maker of the work. It's kind of my response to corporate Americana, where I find myself so far from the source of the products I purchase."
Having designed the ampersand in the You & I logo, he wanted to bring it into a physical form through sculpture, a medium he's been working with more and more lately. So he attempted to sculpt it himself but wasn't happy with the results. A friend recommended the Belgium creatives at Toykyo, and by collaborating with them he brought the physical object to reality.
"Mathieu and Benjamin at Toykyo are true craftsmen and amazing sculptors. They played a large part in making the concept come to life. They work closely with a variety of contemporary artists and help to create a perfect marriage between the creative and the production process," he says.
The sculpture has been made in a limited run of just 25. Watch for more from Steve Harrington in the coming months. National Forest is working on an experimental clothing line, some branding projects and a couple of top secret things too. Harrington himself has a big show planned for spring 2012 at the Known Gallery in LA, and is also working on some shoe designs with Generic Surplus.
