Droog Table

For the 2010 Salon del Mobile in Milan, the highly inventive, active and innovative company droog decided to buy various lots of remaindered items from liquidation sales, and then offered the batches of unusual things to 14 designers to transform in some way. Things like glassware and safety vests and dog baskets and wooden spoons … none of it particularly nice, so it was a challenge.

From the lot I chose 2 items: a single wooden table, and 80 wooden folding chairs.

For the table I had the idea that I wanted to print an overt “call to action” message on the table. Droog items can be pretty expensive so I imagined someone with quite a lot of disposable cash, and what it is I wanted to say to them … how I might possibly be able to influence them or their guests.

No one likes to have an overt message in their face all the time, so I devised a lettering system that is diguised as an attractive pattern. The message was laser burned into the wood. It says:  “Get up from this table and go make a contribution to Doctors Without Borders. Donate enough that it hurts a little. Then come back to this table and enjoy your meal. Really, really enjoy your meal.”

This way, I imagine visitors coming over for dinner, looking at the table, figuring out what it says, and then, yes, maybe … do you think they might …?

The one table from the Salon, was collected by the Centraal Museum Utrecht. So, now it’s in a museum, which is great, but it kindof defeats the dining purpose of the message. However, droog made a second version, seen below, with other droog things in a droog house.

Images courtesy of droog. Top image by Stefanie Grätz.

2010