Studiomake

Type: Hardware
Service: Designer/Fabricator
Location: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan USA
Year: 2009

Clamps are frequently used to form temporary joints; however, Domestic Clamps are intended for non-permanent joints. It’s a semantic distinction, but the difference is related to intent. A clamp used in the process of construction will be removed before the piece is finished, whereas a Domestic Clamp finishes a piece, for now. Construction clamps are removed when there is structural transformation: when glue dries, when the screw has been driven, when the weld has been placed. Domestic Clamps would be removed when the user goes through a situational transformation: when a larger apartment becomes available, when you find a new slab of wood for your coffee table, when you upgrade your ham radio antenna.

Domestic Clamps are tools that allow people to control their built environment. They encourage a sustainable relationship with the objects around you; rather than replace, you can modify and manipulate, reuse and recycle. If your favorite chair has no arms, you can clamp an arm to its back. If you have a slab of wood and four old baseball bats, you can make a table. Domestic Clamps don’t require special tools or knowledge to operate. An aggressive DIY attitude is not a prerequisite. They can exist as a utilitarian product with weatherproof finishes and tamper-resistant hardware, or they can be chrome-plated and sold with elaborate knobs. They can be the star or labor as a supporting actor.
Domestic Clamps are utopian and perhaps a bit quixotic; they really just want to help everybody in every situation.