The introduction to the China Chair Project and its catalogue begins with a quote by Richard Artschwager: “Art is useless; furniture is useful. If you sit your ass on it, it’s a chair, if you walk around and look at it it’s art …In fact, the more layers of meaning, the better.” Curated by Paul Hughes, this exhibition features designs by artists given the task of creating a chair. Most of the artists chosen for the commission had never worked in three-dimensional media prior to this, and were given no instructions as to medium or design functionality. The result, however, was a collection of fantastic usable pieces of sculpture on display in Miami last week. Shown above is Space Cadet by the Unmask Art Group.
The pieces in the China Chair Project were sculptures of a variety of media. Xiang Yun’s Spinal Gel Cactus with Footstool is a voluptuous mass of hand-molded silicon, while Nuts and Balls and All Things Nice is a glittery, glamourous chair based on something as simple as the lowly nut. The hand-carved wooden Royal Flush, Let Them Eat Cake by Qu Guangci is one piece that is definitely more sculpture than chair, but spectacular all the same. More exhibits from the China Chair Project after the jump.
Nuts and Balls and All Things Nice by Wang Qinsong
Royal Flush, Let Them Eat Cake by Qu Guangci
Anthro Steps by Li Dazhi
Tate Modern by He Yunchang
Jabba the Hug (fibreglass) by Xiang Jing
Kill Bill, a cocktail table by the Unmask Art Group. The tops of the stools can be removed to serve as footrests.
Re-education Through Inquisition by Shi Jinsong, an echo of torture methods.
Suckling Piglets Feeding from the Cornucopia of Nature’s Eternal Wellspring by Shi Jianminvia: artsonearth