A genuine collection of furniture with symbolic essence or just a lazy attempt at mockery of contemporary decor? Artist Sarah Lucas who is known for her blatant parodying of modern design, has unveiled her new furniture series at the ongoing Salone Del Mobile at Milan.
Designed for the London-based Sadie Coles gallery, the whimsical furniture creations (of 14 limited edition pieces) comprise of sofas, chairs, small tables, desks and even a free standing partition wall. All of these specimens are oddly built from concrete cinder blocks symmetrically arrayed within lighter-hued MDF frames. The presumed metaphor provides a satire at the elegant bearing of modern furniture items, while at the same upholding their uncomfortable minimalist credential.
The British artist originally came into the media’s spotlight with her disturbingly depressing sculpture ‘Is Suicide Genetic?‘ which portrayed a burnt chair with a motorcyclist’s helmet (made from cigarettes) sadly perched atop the damaged seat. However this time around, the shock factor has been substantially toned down for a more aesthetically inclined design.
According to Lucas’s own words, the materials used for the furniture collection are –
…meaningful in terms of their uses in the outside world. They say a lot and are also low key, they don’t overwhelm the sculptures.
In any case, the debate will still go on – are these inconsistent progressive design elements not detrimental to the more fluent trend of furniture designs? And moreover, does such diametric statements actually hide the paradoxical lack of functionality exhibited by such ‘anti-art’ specimens?
Via: Theguardian
