The artists’ collective We-Are-Familia transforms Fritz Hansen remnants into stunning receptacles for ephemera.
We-Are-Familia, a global network of artists, recently partnered with the Danish furniture company Fritz Hansen for an exhibition of keepsake boxes fabricated from found and recycled materials. But these aren’t your typical rectangular receptacles for safeguarding valuables; instead, they’re eye-catching creations that house ordinary things. The container imbues the contents with significance, rather than the other way around.
Fourteen of the 25 boxes were part of the Kin Coda exhibition at Fritz Hansen’s New York showroom; 11 were completed and displayed earlier. All are assembled from found and recycled materials, including parts of chairs designed by Danish greats Arne Jacobsen and Poul Kjaerholm. Steph Mantis’s Keepsake Box No. 22, for instance, is a houselike structure constructed from swatches of Fritz Hansen vinyl and fabric and propped up on a base from Kasper Salto’s Nap chair.
