Bizmuth is a Brooklyn-based furniture collaboration between furniture maker Bronson Ablon and film director-turned-software engineer Jared Scheib. Jared, inspired by his fascination with the transformation of the natural element bismuth, partnered up with Bronsin, a designer who has created many high-end lighting fixtures and pieces of furniture, to create the Bizmuth Origins collection. First debuting four pieces as an official selection of WantedDesign Launch Pad NYC in November 2021, Bizmuth now has expanded its furniture line with more unique creations. Find out more about this duo in this week’s Maker Monday.
The Twisted edges of these trays are inspired by the element bismuth, a naturally occurring metal known for its sharp edges and geometric patterns.
Andrew Joseph: What was your first job?
Bronsin Ablon: My first job was for a large, busy interior design firm. Not only was it a new world of design for me, but I learned how to quickly iterate and design all types of furniture for diverse locations and styles. From residential to hospitality, I worked on tables, case goods, beds, lighting, and hardware in a wide range of materials. While some designs stayed concepts, many became real one-off’s or scaled productions. Nothing beats seeing a design come to life, especially right out of school!
AJ: Are you a good cook? If so, what’s your specialty?
BA: At the start of COVID I picked up two new recipes, with a shared similarity of being flat. The first is the Scallion Pancake; a salty, savory, fried flat bread. The Scallion Pancake is made in many ways, with regional differences, ingredients, and flavors. I’ve played with many varieties and arrived at a hybrid recipe that accomplishes a chewy, savory flavor. The second is hand pressed corn tortillas, a classic for homemade tacos or enchiladas. Missing my family and home during COVID travel advisories caused me to yearn for a fresh tortilla hot off the stove of my apartment. There’s a learning curve to getting the dough just right, but with a hot cast iron pan I figured it out!
Jared Scheib: I’d say I’m a pretty good cook, pretty creative. I finally brought home the bacon during the pandemic by developing my intuition around food & cooking. My general specialty is kitchen sink dishes, figuring out how to use exactly what I’ve already got to turn out a yummy & balanced soup, stir fry, or something else outlandish & snazzy. For example, during lockdown in early 2020, I had all my healthy yogurt mixins but was plum out of yogurt, afraid to leave my apartment, and had a bunch of eggs. So I made up a dish called Green Eggs & Hizzlesteak where I mixed spirulina, flax seed, hemp hearts, & pineapple powder into scrambled eggs, then topped this hearty quasi-omelet with warm chia seed maple syrup, fresh berries, & fresh grilled pineapple, and rounded it out with a side of fried sausage. Ridiculous and delicious.
As you move around this small black walnut table, each twist becomes larger and more pronounced.
AJ: What are your beauty secrets?
JS: No better way to radiate than to let your light shine through. Not the answer you may have expected, but my beauty secret is that I intentionally focus on personal transformation through emotional processing & integration. They don’t sell that technique on shelves, but I’m sincere, serious, & vigilant about being with & processing what past emotional experience I hold within my psyche, and what new experience arises daily in life. In fact, Bizmuth, our furniture line, is inspired by this concept: our cumulative inner beauty that we reveal in ourselves as we transform, as we grow over time, as we become real. From my perspective, I can play an intentional role in my own self-realization. I think of this as self-iteration. But besides that mumbo jumbo, my beauty secrets are: body soap straight to the face, same shampoo every day, don’t let social perception get in the way of expressing myself, sometimes put my hair in a top-pineapple, and genetics.
Each piece in the Bizmuth Origins collection is designed and manufactured in Brooklyn.
AJ: How would you define your work in three words?
BA: Thoughtful, Elegant, Useful. As a designer I want the designs I execute to be thoughtful in the way it’s made and interacted with. Elegant in the way it appears, giving off a feeling of consideration and study. Useful in the way it accomplishes its purpose, whether simple or complex, its use should be clear, direct, and communicated through the design.
AJ: Best advice you’d give your teenage self?
JS: You are capable. You are valuable. You are loved. Ask for help when you feel discouraged. Find mentors. There’s always a way forward. You can learn and grow from everything with time. Everything eventually integrates. Be patient & persistent. Work diligently. Remain equanimous. It gets better.
About the Makers | Bronsin Ablon is a furniture designer and fabricator based in Brooklyn, NYC. He earned a bachelors of Industrial Design from Pratt Institute & went on to design furniture, lighting, hardware, and carpets for several high-end interior design firms in Manhattan. Bronsin started his own design/build firm called Work At Hand in late 2018. Since then he has produced a growing line of furniture and worked with many clients to bring furniture designs into reality. As a designer of Bizmuth, Bronsin has pushed his own idea of furniture to a new level, elevating his sense of craft, form, and design intention
Jared Scheib is an entrepreneur, designer, technologist, film director, software engineer, & all-around human living in Brooklyn, NYC. He likes to create transformative experiences through furniture, film, & festivity. He’s made & sold apps, movies, plays, fine art, pineapple-themed restaurant pop-ups, & now furniture. His & Bronsin’s furniture line, Bizmuth, is inspired by the transformation of pure metal Bismuth, a phenomenon & symbol that captivated Jared as a kid growing up in Texas.
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