Felicia Neuhof + Samuel Aguirre
Shellf Life Chair, Part of the Chair 03vXX Series

Oyster Shell, Mussel Shell, Clam Shell, Plywood

Shellf Life  is the latest edition in the Chair 03vXX Series, a collection of novel chairs which explore the many applications of natural (compostable) materials across a spectrum of fabrication: from handcraft to mass production. From sea to seat, Shellf Life Chair is calcium carbonate based bio material made of local Rhode Island sourced shells from oysters, mussels and clams. The colors are influenced by the climate where they grow and the contents of their diet. Shellf Life is strong like concrete, elastic like steel and beautiful like ceramic. Shellf Life goes beyond net zero and presents an opportunity to fertilize soils, filter water and capture carbon as it grows and cures.

Artist Bio
Felicia Neuhof  @hi___felicia
Felicia is an artist and architect. working with shells, she combines dry and wet, land and sea, applying energy to physically and chemically transform bio-materials to a programmable medium. She seeks answers in collaborating with non-human intelligence to find new ways of being, making, living, and sharing.

Samuel Aguirre @sam_indaman
Samuel Aguirre is an artist, designer, researcher, and collaborator currently pursuing an MFA in Furniture Design at Rhode Island School of Design ('24). He takes an experimental approach to his sculpture, objects, and furniture and intentionally works with commercially available, bio-based materials to objectively show what is possible, at scale, here and now, to reduce our dependence on oil. Samuel's process involves deep material research into origin, composition, production, life-cycle, and end-of-life analysis. The work leverages this circular mindset to objectively show that our hurdles are not a matter of resources but design ingenuity and industriousness.  

Samuel is a Hyundai Collaborative Research Fellow, a Maharam Fellow, and is the recipient of the RISD Grad Commons Grant and Windgate Foundation Scholarship. His work has been shown at Wanted Design (NYC) as a Launchpad Finalist and in multiple group shows including the 2023 NAHP Juried Exhibition "Sustainability in Chaos" (Providence), Studio SII Gallery (NYC), and the Robert C Williams Museum of Paper Making (Atlanta).

"There is a disconnect in that our furnishings are typically used for five to ten years, but produced to exist for hundreds of years. Society needs to consider not only where materials come from and how they are sourced, but also how long they will be used, where they go at end of life, and how the entire lifecycle will impact stakeholders: the environment, the economy, and the community."  - Samuel Aguirre

Other objects by Felicia and Samuel
Shellf Life Tapestry (Felicia)
Credenza 01 (Samuel)