Chairs are democratic in a way that everyone knows what chairs are; we sit on chairs daily, and you can find one in almost every home. They are not limited in numbers, as they are mass-produced. Even limited editions exist in larger quantities compared to most works of art. So, how can one say a chair is a work of art? That was my question about a year ago, before my enlightenment—I started working in the furniture industry. Enter designs like the Serie UP 2000, Liberty Lounger, O., Knotted Chair, Vermelha, and Wrinkle, to name a few. This furniture is functional yet evokes questions in the mind—a thought I had when I first encountered these pieces.
Now, can a chair be a work of art? The chair has long held symbolic meaning in art, often representing power and status. But what if the chair itself is a work of art, beyond just symbolic representation? When we look at the chairs mentioned earlier, they reveal sculptural qualities—the slightly curved backrest, bulbous shapes, fine details, and more. Personally, I see some chairs as both functional and aesthetically designed.
Blurring the line between furniture and art, even furniture galleries like Space Furniture, Xtra, Linds, and Trax now represent furniture makers similarly to how art galleries represent artists. These furniture galleries showcase their collections in a carefully curated manner. As New York architect Lee F. Mindel put it, “Interiors are no longer decorated; they’re curated.”
So, can a chair be a work of art? Yes, it can. A few art fairs worldwide now incorporate furniture into their curatorial programs, and institutions like The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) have even added certain pieces of furniture to their permanent collections. The Serie UP 2000 (UP5_6), LC4, and Knotted Chair come to mind.
What made MoMA collect the Serie UP 2000 (UP5_6) armchair by Gaetano Pesce? I've included a photo here if you haven’t seen it before.
What do you think of it? Personally, I see it as a sculpture first, an armchair second. Why? For one, its design was quite unconventional for its era—the late ’60s to early ’70s. Serie UP 2000, internationally known by names like Donna and Big Mama (which I’ll use throughout this essay), is an icon. Its bulbous shape, inspired by ancient fertility goddess figures like the Venus of Willendorf, is fused with the imagery of a prisoner’s ball-and-chain.
According to Pesce, the UP symbolized how he saw women at the time: “I see a woman: despite herself, the woman has always been her own prisoner. And so I wanted to give this armchair a feminine form with a ball at the foot.” He elaborated, “The issue of male violence towards women had just started being talked about back then. I thought that this serious sign of incivility would have lessened with time, but unfortunately, that was not the case.” Big Mama symbolizes “women suffering because of the prejudice of men. It was to challenge the sexism,” but this message has not always been well received. In April 2019, a 25-foot sculpture of the armchair titled Maestà Sofferente (Suffering Majesty) was erected in Milan, where it quickly drew criticism. A group of feminists protested in front of the work, holding slogans like Ceci n’est pas une femme (this is not a woman) along with texts by art activist groups like Guerilla Girls, rejecting the symbolism Pesce intended.
Le Corbusier’s LC4 is another iconic piece of furniture in MoMA’s collection. The LC4 is a chaise lounge designed with an infinite number of seating angles. The designers—Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, and Charlotte Perriand—intended it to serve both form and function in the name of relaxation. Le Corbusier, one of the trio, was an architect, designer, painter, and writer. He once described three types of furniture: type-needs, type-furniture, and human-limb objects. Le Corbusier defined human-limb objects as extensions of our limbs, adapted to human function. Experiencing the LC4 chaise lounge firsthand reveals this meaning immediately.
From my own experience lying down on it, I can say the lounge seems sculpted to fit the body precisely, offering comfort and relaxation. Another piece notable in art institutions like MoMA, the V&A Museum in London, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam is the Knotted Chair.
Designed by Marcel Wanders, this chair eliminates the line between artisanship and industrial production, becoming a work of art with romantic allure. Utterly unique in international design history, the Knotted Chair is constructed to resemble macramé, a technique of knotting thread or cord to create a textile akin to coarse lace. Inspired by miniature chairs from dollhouses, Wanders experimented with new materials and techniques, resulting in a sturdy and durable piece made with a carbon core and filled with epoxy resin. Though I’ve never seen or touched the Knotted Chair in person, I believe from Wanders’ other designs that it’s a unique and remarkable work of art.
As Wanders explored unconventional materials for the Knotted Chair, I immediately thought of Vermelha by Fernando and Humberto Campana. Vermelha, an armchair by edra, is an eccentric design using unorthodox materials.
Made of 500 meters of cotton and acrylic rope, it foregoes the conventional polyurethane or feather fill. If displayed in a gallery, I imagine people would admire it from afar, rather than sit on it. I know that’s what I would do. Valerio Mazzei once said, “The Campana Brothers are great storytellers. They look at existing materials with new eyes and give them new skin.” He added, “In their hands, rope turns into a chair, faux fur into a sofa, and raffia into a storage unit.”
So, can a chair be a work of art? Art takes many forms—poetry, performance, fine arts, and design among them. Each is different, but the creative process unites them. Fine art and design, while from the same larger family, are often seen as opposites. Fine art focuses on aesthetics, visual form, and content, while design emphasizes function over form. If we put aside the functional aspect of certain furniture (read: chairs), they can indeed be seen as aesthetic objects with content, making them works of art.
Comments
Post a Comment