Object of desire: Brodie Neill’s reclaimed ‘Flotsam’ coffee table
Tasmanian designer Brodie Neill creates bespoke furniture using sustainable and reclaimed materials. This table made from ocean plastic is both beautiful and meaningful
Brodie Neill’s ‘Flotsam’ in jet black is like no other coffee table you’re likely to sip espresso from. Quite apart from being a beautiful object – and one of only 20 pieces – this table also does its part to give a toxic raw material a second, healthier life.
“I try to imbue all my objects with a sense of transformation,” Neill explains. “This piece is made from Ocean Terrazzo, a material we developed that’s formed from reclaimed ocean plastic fragments. Everyone’s lives are touched by ocean plastic, and we wanted to create something that speaks to its presence in our world.”
Cast in resin, Flotsam gives microplastic a jewel-like quality. When the table is cast the plastic fragments float, twinkling beneath the surface – an eery reminder of how plastic behaves in the wild. “If it floats in the ocean, it’ll float in resin,” Neill says.
A critically-acclaimed designer based in London, known for his one-of-a-kind creations, Neill doesn’t just work in Ocean Terrazzo. Recycled metals, antique parquet flooring and even Hydrowood (native trees harvested from the bottom of artificial lakes), all go into his creations – nine of which were displayed at Sotheby’s in May, in a solo show titled ‘Material Consciousness’.
“I won’t throw anything away that I see potential in,” Neill says. “To be able to repurpose things and unlock that potential is why I do what I do.”