THE UNFORGOTTEN

2013. 1380 x 335 x 950mm h. American black walnut timber and stainless steel

FURNITURE DESIGN FOR KINSHIP CONNECTIONS

‘The Unforgotten’ is a furniture piece that challenges conventional furniture design as purely functional and mass-produced that once ‘old’ is discarded or loses value. ‘The Unforgotten’ is as functional as it is meaningful and built to age well, reflecting Forlano’s doctoral research in how people create and maintain a strong attachment to objects over time; what and why people collect and how it can become a family heirloom.

This work is about remembrance and family and is custom-designed with engravings reflecting meaningful family possessions, stories, events and places. ‘The Unforgotten’ continues the quilt-like form as a collage of memory akin to the ‘Endless Quilt’ project.

For this client, the engravings are replicated from disparate objects kept hidden for over 60 years in a small box so as not to be damaged through the passage of time. These objects are the only physical possessions left behind by the client’s mother after her passing during childbirth. Hand-made silk lace, hand-written poetry and hand-drawn diagrams of embroidery yet to be completed are engraved onto the surface. Now visible and textured, these engraved representations allow the precious objects to effectively seen and touched every day, without fear of damage to the original.