- CollegeCentral Saint Martins
- CourseMA Design (Ceramics, Furniture, Jewellery)
- Graduation year2023
The Bodhrán chair has traditional seating elements transformed into large hollow chambers channelling and projecting sounds created by the movement of sitting, body strikes and the ambient noise of the location. Clinton’s practice centres upon the importance of sound, concentrating upon this sensory modality: often deemed secondary, superficial or overlooked, to explore methods to reintegrate sound as a design focus. He designs for interaction and to provide direct audio feedback, through incidental or performative approaches. Creating an enriched multisensory product experience, Bodhrán takes the name of the Irish circular frame drum, in itself a spiritual cousin, with a chair frame constructed from laminated maple selected for its tonal profile, and its long history in musical instrument making.
Final work
Bodhrán Drumming
Bodhrán adopts visual languages of musical instruments to indicate its interactive quality - direct audio feedback from physical touch.
Product misuse connotes a correct product use, however through exploration of non prescriptive and alternative use cycles a wider sensory experience opens up, forming greater emotional durability.
Bodhrán - Joseph Clinton
The use of tonewoods and large chambers to channel sounds, paired with the isolation of these chambers by supports reminiscent of drum hardware allows the piece to project sound. The track played is a multi layer loop derived entirely from the piece, with no modulation, amplification or adjustments made.
Percussive Lamination
The piece is constructed from hand laminated maple - selected for its tonal profile, and its long history in musical instrument making. This creates sound chambers of varying pitches and tones across the seats construction, with the large tapered seat body and tubular backrest each having their own set of acoustic output.
Research and process
Bodhrán - Fabrication
Bodhrán was created through use of traditional furniture and instrument making techniques - laminating layers of wood around purpose built formers to form a hollow resonant chamber, with supports milled and bent from mild steel to isolate these chambers in a manner reminiscent of a large floor tom, commonly found in most drum kits.
Materiality + Form
Sculptural form was derived from 20th century furniture and contemporaries, including the works of Serra, Eames, Fish and Bertoia.
The complex sheet and laminated forms allow enclosed, sweeping shapes to form within the piece, translating these into hollow bodies.
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