Freezing a moment in time

Pictures and videos have done a great job capturing moments of our lives. But can you think of capturing a moment in time and storing it in a chair? Sofa? Table? Lamp? This what Josh Urso- an emerging designer from New York is doing.

Josh Urso’s furniture and lighting designs are moments frozen in time that invite us to stop, observe and wonder. “Confuse, amaze and entertain your guests” is the pitch on Urso’s website for his aptly named Specter chairs.

To make them he takes fabric, infuses it with resin, then hand-molds it into the form of a seat casually draped with a sheet or blanket. Frameless, hollow, lightweight, the result is indeed ghostly (especially when done in see-through, openwork mesh) and deceptive in more ways than one. At once soft and solid, animated and inert, ethereal and sturdy, it’s a trompe-l’oeil sculpture you can sit on. Each Specter is oddly anthropomorphic, with a distinct personality depending on fabric and color: there’s the pristine white modern one, the earthy-brown embroidered one, the retro hipster with the Eames pattern.

Josh approaches furniture making from a scientific point of view. Focusing on the interaction of materials with the laws of nature, Urso creates pieces of furniture that exhibit scientific principles and properties: resin that changes from solid to liquid in an exothermic reaction or rope that has a tensile strength that is strong enough to lift a car. There is a connection between the kind of wonder people experience with natural phenomenon and the reaction of people to Josh Urso's work. By utilizing the unique properties of materials, Urso creates an unforgettable experience in reason and tactility.

“What we do is kind of a combination of design, furniture and art,” says Urso.

Josh Urso's products are featured at Chez Moi in San Francisco. Come and see how you can freeze moments and keep them in your home.