Sunday, October 5, 2014

Matthias Pliessnig

Matthias Pliessnig is an artist, a furniture designer, a boat builder, and much more. Best known for his steam bending of wood, Matthias is a pioneer of process and refinement in creating incredibly intricate furniture pieces which he markets primarily to architects (for new buildings) but also to lucky private collectors.
Matthias uses time sensitive steam bending techniques that require "good people, loud music, and a few beers," not to mention hundreds of clamps and an intuition that can only come from hundreds of experiments.
There is never a dull moment in the studio, as Pliessnig explores fresh forms by playing with sculpture (large and miniscule), boat and kayak building, carving, and finding inspiration in his pets.

Matthias' installation art/benches can run easily into the tens of thousands of dollars, and for good reason. Hundreds and hundreds of man hours are tirelessly spent creating these surreal pieces.
Matthias' advice for attempting to steam bend:
-Use long, straight grain wood  (white oak)
-be picky, get the air dried wood so that resin is intact
-build your own bender. Relatively cheap, easy and customizable, you just need PVC piping and a laundry service steamer.


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