The "designer chairs" trend may have cooled off, but the recent San Francisco Museum of Modern Art exhibition "Conversation Pieces: Contemporary Furniture in Dialogue" seeks to revive this once controversial topic --When "designer chairs" are concretely present in everyday life and can be observed and used up close, is the once controversial and sought-after pioneering design concept still topical?
Through the clever arrangement of the three curators, 40 "designer chairs" from the past 30 years are placed in six role-playing life scenarios - they are given Roles ranging from environmental activist, post-industrial craftsman, and master of high culture to scholar of racial history and modernist heritage seem to provoke the viewer's interest and lead to a series of conversations. The chair designers involved in these conversations include Stephen Burks, Dozie Kanu, Fernando Laposse, Jay Sae Jung Oh, Liliana Ovalle and Bethan Laura Woods. Bethan Laura Woods). The designers presented their ideas in a dialogue that also reflected topical concerns in contemporary design. Two of the most common topics were "racial equality" and "sustainability".
The chairs presented by Stephen Burks, who founded his studio in Brooklyn, New York, and Dozie Kanu, an American-born Nigerian designer, represent the two extremes of the design spectrum. Stephen's "KIDA" chair is designed to take the form of a swing. Its simple but open structure, light and able to support the human body to move freely on it, the designer in the creation of the scene is associated with the rotation in the air. "This is a personal 'introspective' chair for me, where I sit when I want to think in silence." And it is precisely the relationship between race and identity and design work that he has repeatedly mulled over.
Another designer, Dozie's 2018 work "Chair [v] (Electric Chair)," also puts a specific and personal spin on the concept of "racial equality," with a chillingly shocking effect. The chair is made of gorgeous and cool materials such as marble, steel and leather, but the design concept comes from a brutal truth. He explains, "It's a replica of an electric chair that still exists somewhere in Florida, USA, and a way to remind people not to forget the bad system in history. As a black man, this [chair] is also a reminder of how I try to recognize race and try to find ways to not fall victim to the system." He believes that designing objects that are narrative and functional can also have a comforting effect on the soul.
Germane Barnes' chair, Uneasy Lies the Head that Wears the Crown, also draws inspiration from black hair and black architecture. The porch chairs, common in American homes, play an important role in his vision: the chairs are made of metal, wood and rope, common in South Florida-style homes. The design of the back of the chair is derived from the combs used for black hairstyles. Similarly, the multi-colored ropes used for the chairs are a reference to the hair weaving techniques common in the black community.
The issue of racial equality is, in fact, also related to sustainability. In Jeremy Williams' latest book, Climate Change Is Racist, it is noted that while people of color are often the first to be affected by climate change, the root of today's climate problem is caused by white people in white countries. "The climate crisis reflects and reinforces racial inequality." He mentions. Therefore, it is important not to ignore the social dimension while discussing environmental sustainability. Mexican designer Fernando has been using design for years as a way to fight for more equal treatment for his country's traditional crafts and artisans.
His "Sisal" chair, shaped like a fluffy golden retriever, was a popular design, made from sisal (a fiber from the agave plant). In Mexico, sisal used to be used to make ropes and fishing nets. But after the advent of plastic in the 1950s, the industry nearly disappeared altogether. So the designer used the power of design to restart the industry and bring some life to the revival of indigenous communities in southwestern Mexico, helping them address local environmental issues. "As a designer, I want to use the platform of design to push more complex ideas to come to fruition, not just to buy something cool or something that can be reproduced in hundreds of thousands of pieces, but closer to craftsmanship and art." Finding the balance and intersection between design and agriculture has become a tenet of his practice.
When it comes to sustainability, chairs designed from waste are always topical: from Emerging Objects' "Rubber Cushion", 3D printed from tire remnants, to Max Lamb's "Poly Scrap", assembled from the trimmings of a polystyrene package. The "Poly Scrap" chair by Max Lamb, to the "Mono Thonet" chair by Martino Gamper, which combines plastic and wood, all show the plasticity of waste.
Other designers who work with chairs as their core are Seattle-based Wu Shizheng. Why do you love chairs? "Because chairs are more in complete contact with the human body than any other piece of furniture." She says that when she is thinking or reading, the chair provides her with a very personal space to be in close, direct contact with the object. This is also the case with her Savage armchair, a piece that falls somewhere between art and design. Sustainability is evident in the way the designer weaves together the structure of the chair with objects found on the street or in thrift stores. She laughs, "A lot of people ask me if it's hard to collect these items, but you know what? Unexpectedly, it's not hard at all to collect things that people don't want! We're so obsessed with finding new, more innovative, more beautiful things. These items that people throw away actually have their own stories, history, culture, and some of them may have been very important at one time."
Of course, if you don't want to get into such a heavy and complicated topic right off the bat, perhaps the glittering gold design Fragment of a Staircase can open up a lighter and simpler conversation: is it a chair, or is it a step? According to the author of this work, Lilliana from Mexico, the chair is both a social place, a part of a gathering, and an important object to eat or sit with. "It is a piece that can be redefined." She explains, "I was inspired by the moment when people sit down to rest on the steps. I captured the phenomenon of this space that is usually thought of as a walking path being used as a seat, and I wanted to change its use in some way."
Looking back at the original intent of the exhibition, what is the significance of the "designer chair"? Jennifer Dunlop Fletcher, one of the curators, feels that "[designer chairs] are first and foremost appealing for their visuality. What happens when several visually distinctive pieces are placed in the same space? --A party full of unexpected encounters and joy!"
Although the chairs are presented in a static state throughout the exhibition, the viewer may also become more curious and interested in the everyday objects after leaving the design "party" and getting to know the "conversation" behind the works. A chair is not just a sitting apparatus, from its form to the material and the charm it shows in the environment, it is a masterpiece of designers' ingenuity.
Article Source：艺术与设计
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