If you haven’t heard about the antics of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford as yet, most likely you have just now emerged from a hibernation that started before May 2013 or you have arrived back home to Earth after battling an alien invasion in the Kepler galaxy for the past year. Understandable! Unfortunately, for the rest of the world, everyone has heard about Toronto’s notorious mayor in one way or another.
The City of Toronto’s beleaguered mayor Rob Ford has been ridiculed, lampooned and relegated to mock celebrity status worldwide. After over a year of Rob Ford’s continuous public outbursts, embarrassing moments and inability to stop providing the media with more ammunition to use against him, I was inspired to make a rocking chair based on this man who constantly moves “forwards and backwards” in how he acts and retracts. As someone who was born and raised in Toronto and cares about how the world sees our first class city, the international Rob Ford saga has constantly been top of mind for me.
As to why I made a rocking chair specifically, the answer comes down to Rob Ford’s ability to do outlandish things, apologize publicly, promise to change and then do something else completely outlandish month after month. The chair acts as a physical metaphor for Mayor Ford’s behavior and retractions.
The handmade chair is 100% made out of recycled cardboard and glue and is capable of supporting upwards of 250 pounds in weight. It features digitally altered pictures of Rob Ford originally taken by photo journalist Mark Blinch. It took around two days to complete – most of that time dedicated to letting the industrial glue dry and for spray painting.
As I told local media and Yahoo News, this chair is available for “…weary and tired individuals to relax their crack on while rocking back and forth between personal problems.” Thus, I gave this invention the colorful moniker ‘The Rockaford: Crack Rocker’.
With Toronto’s election in full swing until fall of this year, the soap opera of Rob Ford is far from over. Even in rehab, he can’t stop making international headlines. At least now I have a comfy chair to rock back and forth on as I watch the ongoing soap opera from home. Ah, Rockaford!
ADVERTISEMENT
