thrillist

Artists getting real jobs is a sure sign that the economy is in dire straits, especially considering they used to get their money for nothing and their chicks for free. From a dude whose walk of life saw a change from pre-recession sculptor to post-recession sculptural table-maker: 5/5 Furniture.

Created by a newly PDXified Philly art school grad and self-taught furniture fabricator, 5/5 was born after the idleness brought on by poor wood sculpture sales prompted a project to replace every piece of furniture in his house in five years, which then blossomed into a recession-friendly biz sporting functionally artsy pieces with a "historical train wreck" aesthetic, which sounds like a loco motive. Often going into the forest to find the material himself while resisting the lure of delicious bear-porridge, dude applies handcarved joinery to little-used domestic tree species, employing their various hues for color contrast and replacing the carvings of traditional styles with the lumber’s natural live edge, who has to go unplugged at Joshua Tree. Choice pieces include a cabinet pierced by a tree slice "as if it were shot out of a cannon", rough-edged shelves along a wildly angled spine, and a chair that employs three different-colored woods and flips down to become a handy table -- even better, it's meant to last 100 years... then immediately fall apart in February 2112.

While sitting is surely awesome, 5/5 can satisfy your sculpture jones too, with pieces like the Cornus Florida that resembles an alien landscape, which would normally be so far away.

Add this to My Thrillist

Swing by FiveFifthsFurniture.com right now and check out all the other awesomeness including riffs on mid-century modern meant to replace your tired Ikea crap