Recently having demonstrated his appreciation for record companies, tonight David Byrne unveils the fruit of his love for benches and back support. From his website:
I've been obsessed with chairs for a long long time. The cover of the mid-80s Talking Heads LP featured 4 photos of a drunken chair, showing off. A few years ago I began sketching them in books I carried with me. Maybe they are portraits, maybe self-portraits, maybe portraits of my interior state. Maybe they are also possible practical furniture design. Maybe all of the above at once.
...
What makes these different from most contemporary furniture is not the design -- furniture designers can be just as fanciful -- it is the absence of the "problem solving for the client" approach. Usually in commercial design one is given a budget and a material, price constraints and turnaround times. While I had financial constraints, the material constraints were absent -- I worked with whatever material seemed right to realize the drawing, which would not be practical if one were making a commercial run of even the wildest furniture.
...
Why chairs? Well, they have arms and legs and vaguely human scale -- and shape. They're people -- they hold you, support you, elevate you or humble you. They're funny or elegant, funky or gorgeous, social or aloof. They're characters with lives and histories...aren't they?
We're just gonna go ahead and assume he's not looking for an answer to that. Well, without further ado, here are Mr. Byrne's new "friends," named "Wedge," "Split Bamboo Mohawk," and "Log," respectively.
Long time (non-chair) friends say they saw this coming; after the release of his book Arboretum, this was the logical step in his blossoming tree fetish. And if you're into it, hit the collection's unveiling!
Furnishing the Self ? Upholstering the Soul
Pace/MacGill Gallery
32 E 57th St. New York NY
19 October ? 25 November 2006
We hear it's standing room only (har har). No, but just be careful where you sit; that "Wedge" character looks like he could be uncomfortable if greeted the, uh, wrong way.
