This post is bit for the records – since many of these works are well-publicized elsewhere -, but not only. There´s something definitely new here even for the Mono-cognoscenti among us, scroll down.
The common denominator, in any case, is material: All below works do not alter the Monobloc´s shape, but use off the shelve original non-designs. Most are made from one single new material, which would be boring – if it wasn´t for various twists being applied to ..

It must have been three or so years back when Bryan Ropar emailed me from Pennsylvania, and to my surprise came out as a another monobloc chair collector. Occasionally he ever since emails photos of his collection and new acquisitions, and recently he helped me to sort out a specific mono question. In September 2009 the local Pittsburgh Tribune ran a larger portrait of him, I just tought I should share.

My fav shirt is a 1997 or so Alexander McQueen houndstooth check with off-road tire patterns criss-cross printed over the standard fabric. Couple of years ago I only reluctantly gave that double-layered sweatshirt with dozens of burn holes in the upper layer to my then bf, although I purposefully bought it for him in order to lure him away from that off the shelve skater-cum-Abercrombie look. Greil Marcus´ “Lipstick Traces” (”Geez, we used to hang out with this kid from the blurbs back in West-Berlin times”, friends informed me …

If there is one, uhm, designer who was at the very forefront of the mono revival we have seen throughout the recent four or so years, it would certainly be Barcelona based, self-proclaimed “ex-designer” Martí Guixé (*1964). Already in 2004 he presented a series of ten monobloc plastic chairs with “STOP DISCRIMINATION OF CHEAP FURNITURE” written on it ..

After a while you get used to being referenced to; people refer to the site, to the mono, to me – sometimes they just borrow though -; and that initial thrill of being noticed in some press or blog has long been gone. After all I do this because I am convinced it is relevant in the first place. Pretty weird though, when you see your work and the registered-name-yourself unexpectedly appearing on page one or two in a novel..