Old office furniture gets new life as artworks

• Published date: 25 April 2024
• Author: Tamlynne Thompson tamlynne.thompson@acm.co.za
• Publication title: Atlantic Sun

Among the art pieces was a 2050 workplace wonderland – crocheted cassette tape fronds hanging from a repurposed dustbin chandelier; a giant helix-shaped swing with swing seats made from desk legs; an Oxygen Farm Work Pod, ironically crafted from discarded Covid-19 desk dividers, with an upcycled cabinet, and a seed library for the preservation of plants

There was also a towering tentacled floor lamp made of 82 bookshelves and 100 blue bins.

The exhibition was a collaboration between Sanlam, property advisory company JLL and design, and furniture business Tétris Design and Build.

The idea was to upcycle office equipment no longer being used due to hybrid ways of working after the Covid-19 pandemic. A large amount of office equipment is sitting in storage or piling up in landfills, as it often costs more to fix than to replace.

The partnership saw Sanlam give the unused office items to artists commissioned by JLL and Tetris to come up with sustainable art pieces.

Tapiwa Likona, from Hout Bay, was one of four artists who worked on the 2050 workplace wonderland at Re.Bag.Re.Use, a company which repurposes plastic into bags.

She said the experience was fun and the outcome was surprising.

“I think upcycling is important because we will be saving the environment. We won’t be wasting a lot if we make things that we can upcycle and reuse in a better...