Graphic designer, furniture designer, accessory designer and Renaissance man Chuck Routhier has a process and philosophy that emphasize the ordinary, and he has become an astute observer of all things mundane. The beauty he finds in objects designed for utilitarian purposes – the vaguely parametric-looking curves of a toilet plunger, for example – informs inquiry and investigation. An interesting object begs the question of how else that thing can be used. Routhier explains that the mass produced, everyday objects he appropriates are “a little silly…but I think when you elevate them from their normal daily life, that that’s when it becomes quirky and memorable.” The unpretentious elegance of his furniture highlights the truth in this philosophy. Notably quirky and memorable, the Occasional Table combines refined woodworking with what some might consider the profane: a body of finely polished Baltic birch plywood rests on four unmatched toilet plunger handles. Routhier intends for the recognition of these objects out-of-context to evoke a memory, reasoning, “we all have experience with these common objects and that’s what makes it interesting and personal for everybody. We all have stories…”
