WHAT IS "FURNITURE WITH LIFE"?
GETTING SKETCHY ABOUT DÉCOR
Dear readers,
Reminder – FOR SCALE décor writing prize entries due Feb 15. Submit here. And, see you Thursday in NEW YORK for the “SIT WITH THAT” opening at USM? (RSVP here.)
But today →
We’re emerging from an exceptional, artistically and philosophically rigorous weekend in TORONTO, and the inaugural (?) “FOR SCALE” FURNITURE WITH LIFE, hosted at the ACE HOTEL (our pals!). A special thank-you to SUPER DUPER pal Shelley W., an ACE HOTEL V.P. (and we shall explain why).
A SNAPSHOT:
AND:
So →
What the f*ck is FURNITURE WITH LIFE and why the f*ck should we care and the answers are:
(1) it was a life drawing class with a very handsome nude model (WILLIAM MIGUEL) posing atop Very Excellent Vintage Furniture (Bertoia, Panton, Platner, etc., all provided by décor-source-to-know IN CORSO).
(2) why? we’re glad u asked. it’s because The Chair is for the body, don’t u know. And, it’s this weird thing where the formal décorworld is deep into talking about “CHAIR AS SCULPTURE” (everything is “sculptural” today! UTTERLY OVERUSED), and also very into talking about FORM, et cetera, and more specifically about the “FORM OF THE CHAIR” as some sort of lens thru which we can judge some d*signer’s overall taste or P.O.V. These are current preoccupations of Interiors Discourse.
Do not be seduced.
First of all, it’s the LAMP that is really a test of a designer’s skill. (We shan’t expand on this.)
But also if what is interesting about chairs is that they are a place for your body – that the form is for the body (even if the chair is “UNCOMFORTABLE”, and some CHAIRS are intentionally so) – then:
why the f*ck do we not, like, show bodies in chairs?
For example, unless it’s the designer, there are no bodies in chairs on KNOLL, like two on DWR, maybe three on Cassina (they need better stylists btw), a few more on B & B, um, you know – et cetera, et cetera. But exceptionally rare is this:
ET CETERA
BACK TO US…
And, LITTLE DID PARTICIPANTS OF “FURNITURE WITH LIFE” KNOW but this was really a psychological experiment. BODY AND CHAIR! WILLIAM M. gave us his exceptional poses, but then individual SKETCHERS decided for themselves WHAT was interesting about the BODY-CHAIR CONNECTION.
TAKE-AWAY:
You should likely sit in chairs in standard ways, for the sake of your spine. But what we can EXTRACT from these drawings is not modes of sitting but interpretations of WHAT DÉCOR MEANS TO YOU (“you” in this case is the Sketcher).
And, that is a question you can sort of ask yourself, as well. How do YOU (“you” in this case is You) feel about the purpose of a Chair?
We shall present two options, among Infinity.
Let us view them through the eyes of some select, anonymous Torontonians:
OPTION 1: KNOWLEDGE AND AUTHORITY
(BTW: “SQ. FT. FETISH” SOCKS BY LILY S.)
One might, for example, see and reproduce (with great skill!!!) – a formal interpretation whereupon the viewer appreciates the technicalities of Chair. A precision of material and curve, etc. BODY and décor interact, but they are “ATOP” Chair.
The world is unambiguous.
The Chair is solid.
The body adapts to Chair.
Et cetera.
And, there are décorlessons to be taken from this. But, like a f*cking tarot card reading, you are presented with some Information and you must sort of interpret its message through the eyes of your experience.
Do you, for example, seek more control and stability? Or, are you too controlled?
The Chair here is discreet and isolated; other surroundings were excluded. Do you perhaps seek for elements of your life, siloed and separate, to be integrated. Or, is the sense of focus and clarity actually a release from a personal chaos?
OPTION 2: AN ENVELOPING DÉCOR
Ok, these 2 are from the same Sketcher. And, we were DEEPLY INTRIGUED. Actually this Sketcher is the spouse of this Sketcher:
(So, that’s interesting, right?)
BUT OK,
Let us analyze. Because this Sketcher, “FOR SCALE” super pal Angela S., did two very interesting things that really sort of rocked us.
(1) on the left, the rug is not HORIZONTAL and BENEATH. It is floating and enveloping. Like a F*cking speech bubble
(2) on the right, the body and chair may have moved apart but the IMPRESSION of Chair reminds. (Bertoia does like to leave an impression)
HERE, Angela S. sort of rejects the idea that décor and body are separate. It is ALL AROUND US. It is (ephemerally) sort of PART OF US. This is very thrilling!
It is sort of impossible to capture in photography, but this is where the interpretative aspect of “FURNITURE WITH LIFE” enters the fold - that décor is really REALLY a play in disorder!
Let’s think about Gaston BACHELARD! - his “POETICS OF SPACE”, and that "inhabited space transcends geometrical space". Very, very Angela S.! Décor thinks too much in terms of “HORIZONTAL” and “VERTICAL”
That, in fact, décor does to you - light that will make you see, pattern that overwhelms the vision, that a chair might physically leave an impression! et cetera
THE POINT
You can peruse some drawings below to see the range of approaches, but what we wanted to highlight is that THROUGH the looseness of this exercise, we see our Sketchers really explore INTERACTIONS. And that is such an !!! INCREDIBLY !!! undervalued element of décor. But equally, that geometries are a tool of the brain to sort of make “sense” of something (which is fabulous) - but it’s quite pleasant and enjoyable to make nonsense of something too.
OTHER DRAWINGS FOR YOUR PERUSAL!!!!!!!!!
A favorite?
RE: the thank u to Shelley W. in the intro
We just want to say, SO RARE and WONDERFUL is it for someone (Shelley W.) to say to you: DO WHATEVER YOU’D LIKE and we’ll help make it happen. But precisely that is what happened. And, so a true and genuine thank-you to her and also the ACE.
WHERE SHOULD WE DO “FURNITURE WITH LIFE” NEXT? WHO WANTS TO HOST?
We might sort of do them as we trot around to various décor party weeks in PARIS and MILAN and NEW YORK and COPENHAGEN. (That’s the order.)
Right?
what a beautiful experience and way to bring new found perspective to décor not just being the combination of furniture, objects, colors, textures, lighting, art, but being something that also merges different perspectives and relations to the human body.
*adding Poetics of space* to my reading list.
Bertoia is troubling.