Shredding is supposed to be a last step into an informational abyss, where secrets are buried forever and trash is recycled into new forms. Instead, this series of ultra-sturdy furniture puts shredded paper on display.

Some of these fossilized items by Jens Praet are made from white-page document sets while others come from a single magazine title with enough issues available from which to build a side table, bench, console or shelving unit.

Mixed with clear resign, the limited-run objects are made in a mold then finished by hand. As needed, they are then topped with additional transparent polycarbonate to add structural rigidity or create a flat surface for everyday use.

While the effect is neat regardless, it would be even more compelling were the magazines chosen visibly different in terms of the color spectrum – remixed together within single pieces, it is still impossible to tell the titles apart.

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WHAT STARTED AS A RESEARCH PROJECT, TURNED OUT TO BE A CONTINUOUSLY GROWING FURNITURE COLLECTION THAT ENDED UP TRANSFORMING SEEMINGLY USELESS DOCUMENTS AND LEFTOVER MAGAZINES INTO USEFUL OBJECTS. PAPER WASTE RETURNS TO OUR LIVING OR WORKING AREA AS USABLE FURNITURE.

THE SHREDDED PAPER IS MIXED BY HAND WITH RESIN AND PUT INTO A MOULD TO HARDEN. ONCE HARDENED TO A FIRMNESS SIMILAR TO WOOD, THE WORK IS FINISHED BY HAND. THOUGH WE USE A MOULD IN SHAPING THE PIECE, EACH WORK IS IN FACT HAND MADE AND UNIQUE, BECAUSE THE EXACT MIXTURE OF PAPER AND/OR MAGAZINES DIFFERS FROM ONE PIECE TO THE NEXT, AFFECTING THE COLOUR AND APPEARANCE.

About Jens Praet

STUDIO JENS PRAET WAS ESTABLISHED IN 2007 IN SAN GIMIGNANO, A BEAUTIFUL MEDIEVAL TOWN NEAR SIENA IN ITALY, AND RUN BY BELGIAN DESIGNER JENS PRAET UNTIL HE TOOK ON THE ROLE AS CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF GALLERIA J (*), A JEWELLERY, FASHION, ART & DESIGN STORE, IN 2017.

JENS STUDIED INDUSTRIAL DESIGN IN FLORENCE AND ATTENDED THE MASTER CLASSES AT THE RENOWNED DESIGN ACADEMY IN EINDHOVEN UNDER DROOG DESIGN’S CO-FOUNDER GIJS BAKKER.

STUDIO JENS PRAET’S WORK HAS BEEN EXHIBITED AT IMPORTANT INTERNATIONAL VENUES AND HAS BEEN FEATURED IN MANY MAJOR DESIGN PUBLICATIONS AND NEWSPAPER WORLD-WIDE.

PRAET’S SHREDDED SIDE TABLE IS PART OF THE PERMANENT COLLECTION OF THE CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF ART IN PITTSBURGH AND THE MINT MUSEUM IN CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA.