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Custom Made U.S.A by Karen Ryan
British designer Karen Ryan has assembled objects and furniture found in American thrift stores and warehouses to make five new compositions.
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Called Custom Made U.S.A, the series incorporates an old television, baseball gloves and second hand books.
![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/04/dzn_Custom-Made-U.S.A-by-Karen-Ryan-2.jpg)
More about Karen Ryan on Dezeen:
Whittle Chair (June 2009)
Trilogy (June 2009)
In a Room (April 2009)
In the Woods (March 2009)
Another Chair (October 2008)
Wood Work (May 2008)
Untitled Lights (September 2007)
UNMADE 07 (July 2007)
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Here are some more details from Ryan:
'Custom Made U.S.A'
Chicago 2010 series No.1
Custom made U.S.A started with an invitation from Balloon Contemporary in Chicago to come over and make a collection of 'Custom Made' chairs using furniture that was left behind, unwanted in Converso's old warehouse.
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I spent two weeks in Chicago in another warehouse, making several trips to the Salvation Army thrift stores where I found other pieces of furniture I wanted to use.
![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/04/dzn_Custom-Made-U.S.A-by-Karen-Ryan-10.jpg)
Along with the furniture I selected I also included an old television, a see saw, a card board box and bag of old base ball gloves, a second hand copy of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Little Women, a bunch of small old keys and some red blanket material.
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As a starting point to this collection I took my earliest vivid memory of American culture which happened to be a black and white television series The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn based on a book written by Mark Twain.
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It was clear though having started at this point that the experience of being in America for the first time, the impact of the thrift stores and their social context built a deeper and darker relationship to the pieces I designed perhaps echoing Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/04/dzn_Custom-Made-U.S.A-by-Karen-Ryan-15.jpg)
There are five pieces in the 'Custom Made U.S.A collection they traverse autobiographical narratives remembered from childhood to new narratives of my experience of America.
![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/04/dzn_Custom-Made-U.S.A-by-Karen-Ryan-16.jpg)
![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/04/dzn_Custom-Made-U.S.A-by-Karen-Ryan-19.jpg)
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