Max Schramp: Bead Chaise

Editorial is open for submissions: [email protected]

by Allison Harris

Max Schramp’s Bead Chaise exists right at the intersection of childlike whimsy and liminal space. Inspired by nostalgia, liminality, and the waiting room of the doctor’s office, this 3D rendering captures a unique magic found in the most ordinary of places, something on short supply due to the current coronavirus crisis. 

Bead Chaise is the latest release to SuperRare from the 23-year-old architect, designer, and digital craftsman. Previous designs by Schramp, like Love Seat and Froggy Chair, also have a whimsical touch to them. Bead Chaise contains a similar playful feeling, and introduces the element of liminality into the design. 

“I’ve been obsessed with it for a while.” Schramp says, of his interest in liminal space. “In architecture school we designed all of these spaces, for specific people and programs, and liminal spaces are an ignored result of that. We never learned about those in architecture school, but they’re so fantastical. It’s just very, very interesting and a cool tone and feeling to pull from.” 

Liminal space is defined as “an aesthetic that refers to the feeling of being in a transitional space that has been abandoned. This makes it feel frozen and slightly unsettling.” Any viewer might recognize Bead Chaise as a spin on the classic bead-moving maze playsets that occupy waiting rooms at dentist’s or doctor’s offices. The term “transitional” is particularly apt in describing these drab rooms we see once or twice a year, where we wait and wait for time to pass, searching for something to occupy our attention.  

“I think most of my ideas come from the environment around me,” says Schramp.  “So this one specifically is from doctor’s offices, but then other ones, like the Froggy Chair design I did is obviously from Animal Crossing, which like I’ve played for however many years at this point. So it was inspired by that. I wouldn’t say a lot of my artwork is inspired specifically by other artists, but it’s more like things I see and experience.”

During his designing process, Schramp researched the mazes that inspired his creation, and began to narrow his idea down, creating a mockup sketch of the final design. Early on, he had to 

“Try and figure out how to turn that into a chair. Not necessarily that you can sit in, but just something that would look cool.”

“Especially with the wooden base, I found a lot of the bead mazes had those two bars with like the cylinder wood pipes connecting them.” Schramp says. “So that showed up and it became a rocking chair, obviously. After that it was working at the shape of the chair itself. It almost was exactly like what it looked like in the sketches, in the final version. I took the dimensions of a normal lounge chair and adapted the curves to that. I wanted to get a lot of the spirals and stuff, because those are pleasing to the eye.”  

The end result is a cheerful and colorful design that moves and spins on its own, sure to delight any waiting room occupants. Bead Chaise is dynamic and engaging, almost hypnotic, in its ability to capture the viewer with its animated loops. 

“I think awakening that nostalgia in people.” says Schramp, on his hope for the reception of the design. “Usually when you look at 3D rendered stuff on the internet, you don’t really think much of it, or it’s sort of just aesthetically cool. But this might bring back some good or bad memories. Nostalgia is definitely something I want to portray with this one.” 

Bead Chaise is Schramp’s 3rd release to SuperRare. The site’s curation and partnership with creatives was a big draw, he explains. “They’re super helpful towards creators and artists and promoting their work.” says Schramp. “Works that I put a lot of effort into I want to go on SuperRare.” To viewers young and old, Bead Chaise is sure to delight, and fits right in with Schramp’s continuing collection of chair designs. 

Max Schramp’s Bead Chaise is up for auction at this (link.) Keep up with all of Schramp’s projects on Twitter @maxschramp.