Blow

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Not on display

This object consists of 2 parts, some of which may be located elsewhere.

Artist/Maker	Zanotta SpA (manufacturer) De Pas, Jonathan (designer) Lomazzi, Paolo (designer) Donato D’Urbino (designer) Scolari, Carla (designer)
Place of origin	Nova Milanese, Italy (manufactured)

PVC film welded by radio frequency. The chair is inflated through a valve at the centre of the back; the separate seat cushion has its own valve and fits onto the chair on a membrane to form the seat. Another membrane lies across the underneath of the seat, for additional stability.

Object details

Categories	Furniture Plastic Household Objects
Object type	Armchair
Parts	This object consists of 2 parts. Armchair Cushion for Armchair
Title	Blow (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques	PVC film seam-welded by radio-frequency Polyvinyl Chloride Ultrasonic Welding
Brief description	'Blow' inflatable armchair and cushion, PVC, Zanotta SpA, Italy, 1967
Physical description	PVC film welded by radio frequency. The chair is inflated through a valve at the centre of the back; the separate seat cushion has its own valve and fits onto the chair on a membrane to form the seat. Another membrane lies across the underneath of the seat, for additional stability.
Dimensions	Height: 74cm Width: 120cm Depth: 103cm taken for Cold War Modern exhibition (summer 2008)
Style	Pop
Gallery label	(September 2008) Blow chair Jonathan De Pas (1932-91), Donato D'Urbino (born 1935), Paolo Lomazzi (born 1936) and Carla Scolari Designed 1967, manufactured 1968-9 The Blow chair was the first inflatable seat to be manufactured and marketed on a mass scale. Cheap and disposable, the chair was intended to counter the expensive and cumbersome nature of traditional furniture. Italy Manufactured by Zanotta SpA, Italy PVC film seam-welded by radio-frequency V&A: Circ.100:1-1970
Object history	Purchased in 1970 from Aram Designs Ltd [70/1273]
Association	Aram Designs Ltd
Bibliographic reference	p. 106 Katz, Sylvia. Classic Plastics: From Bakelite to High Tech (Thames & Hudson, London: 1984)
Collection	Furniture and Woodwork Collection
Accession number	CIRC.100:1, 2-1970

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Record created	May 25, 2005
Record URL	https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O112351/blow-armchair-de-pas-jonathan/

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