The International Contemporary Furniture Fair [ICFF] is one sexy show. We made our first foray to the New York City-based fair this past May, and it absolutely lived up to our expectations. With a more artistic bent and a keen focus on craftsmanship, ICFF was very different than any expo we had previously experienced. As we only had time to explore a fraction of the show’s footprint at the Javits Center, we hardly came close to seeing everything we wished to, and even then it was painfully difficult to pick 10 of our favorite finds because it meant we had to exclude others; therefore, we included them in a Spied @ ICFF 2012 Facebook album, complete with links to find out more. So on to this year’s chosen exhibitors in the areas of Artful Lighting, Puzzle-like Pieces, Men at Work, American Craftsmanship, and Technophilia…

ARTFUL LIGHTING
Nervous System | 3-D printing is the future, and MIT alumni Jessica Rosenkrantz and Jesse Louis-Rosenberg are embracing it. Their computer simulated designs inspired by biological structures found in nature become reality through digital fabrication, creating jewelry, art, and ornamental light sources.	TON Art, LLC | Like the monumental carved figures on Easter Island, their sculpture is dreamlike and inexplicable. Their handcrafted works made from a range of materials, often including light sources and 23k gold, evoke organic forms and radiate warm glows. Whether free-standing or wall-mounted, they draw attention.
PUZZLE-LIKE PIECES
Folditure | The Leaf chair resembles its name. Like a leaf, the chair collapses flat for efficient storage. Instead of stacking up or out, when not in use the chairs can hang in a 24” deep closet or on a mobile garment rack. Bonus: Because we actually sat in them, we can report that they are actually comfortable.	At Labo | This Japanese company’s Mokusei Lamp truly comes as a kit of parts as the pieces ship flat, requiring some studied assembly. Their handsomely grained, thinly cut wood pieces are laminated with a transparent polypropylene, fitting together via built-in tabs, resulting in an origami-like piece of illuminated sculpture.
MEN AT WORK
Peter Glassford | We’re good friends with Peter’s brother, but that fact doesn’t discount his artistic dexterity. With one foot in Mexico and the other in Texas, he uses scraps of lightweight woods discarded from his furniture company, Tables and More, to envelop walls with or create individual, wall-hung assemblages.	Nick Davis Art | This artist creates his unique, eye-catching bronze sculpture and furniture pieces in his British-based studio-foundry. The abstract and prickly mash-ups present in his tables, cabinets, seating pieces and lamps highly contrast against the more painterly, softer forms of representational sculpture.
AMERICAN CRAFTSMANSHIP
Motawi Tileworks | We have a supreme weakness for tile, and the intricacy, beauty and quality of their offerings made us swoon. Their visually and tactilely textural designs are inspired by forms found in art, architecture and nature, and their tile becomes, by the nature of each installation, a work of art in itself.	Tracy Glover Studio | We had the pleasure of meeting Tracy in her booth and were impressed as much with her graciousness as we were with her stunning collection of hand-blown glass lighting, which includes pendants, sconces and lamps. The richness of color and softness of shape drew us and held us captive.
TECHNOPHILIA
Spectral | Leave it to the Germans to create the ultimate in über-sleek, auto-like, high-tech furniture that makes being untidy and disorganized virtually impossible. Sporting integrated sound and visual systems and customizable with any color in the Pantone rainbow, their products will make men and women both happy.	Symbol Audio | Old school meets new school in these cabinets for both vinyl record storage and modern digital equipment. An homage to analog, their designs are an antidote to typical unsightly audio storage, and the fine furniture bent marries well with the current hipster craze sweeping throughout the USA.

More Spied @ ICFF 2012
Interiors & Sources: Picks | Metropolis POV | Dwell: Picks | Dwell: ICFF Editors’ Awards