03 Magazine: April 05, 2024

More documents

Recommendations

Info

The art of seating A fascinating new exhibition arriving at Objectspace this month will have Christchurch saying “chairs”. We spoke to curator and gallery director Kim Paton about The Chair, which showcases a select group of singular seating from a project collating 110 chairs made across 170 years, each piece chosen for its expression of design and making in Aotearoa. INTERVIEW JOSIE STEENHART | PHOTOS SAM HARTNETT
Arts | <strong>Magazine</strong> 67 Kim, what sparked the idea for this exhibition? It all began with a desire to take a single object form, one that was recognisable and broadly relatable, and consider it over an extended timeframe. We were curious about how one object could express something about material culture in Aotearoa – what stories and insights might emerge. The chair was an easy choice. As a design object, the form jumps across disciplines, speaking strongly to craft-based practice as well as design and architecture. It’s also a particular object in terms of how democratically it is used throughout domestic, public, and professional contexts – it’s ubiquitous, although holding a body in a seated position at a particular height is no easy design task! For many reasons, chairs remain sought-after and well-loved objects. Tell us a little about your personal chair history… The chairs I remember from my childhood came in suites. Tightly stuffed armchairs that belonged to a three‐part set, upright and plump with a pleated fabric fringe that hovered off the ground. The steel-tube-lines of the chairs and Formica table in the kitchen. The original chairs from my grandparents’ Oamaru farmhouse with a red-chequered seat – these are still used every day by my children, the tiny matching table long since delegated to the sewing room. The most memorable single chair I remember encountering is the La-Z-Boy. My grandparents each had one: in prime position by the fire and with a clear line to the television, the two objects dictated the hierarchies of the lounge. They were luxurious and costly for the time; under no circumstances were they to be sat on by grandchildren. “Chairs have come from all across the country – spotting something familiar is highly likely!” The Objectspace website states of the exhibition, “This is not the definitive history of chair design and making in Aotearoa. Instead, it is a story of ad hoc research and discovery that begins and ends with an evocative whalebone chair that resides today in Auckland Museum” – could you talk to this a little bit, and tell us about that chair? One of the first chairs that made it to the list for The Chair is the Whalebone chair that resides today in Auckland Museum. Found in Russell in 1944, it’s thought to date to before 1880. Composed of a whale vertebra, with three bones inserted for legs, the chair is a product of necessity, made by a whaler needing something to sit on. It’s an evocative thing, bringing to life a time of early colonial settlement and the unpalatable conditions of the whaling industry. Not many of us have seen the Whalebone chair in real life (myself included) and yet it’s one of the few pieces of historical New Zealand furniture that have been documented and written about with some frequency.
Page 2 and 3:
Creating Friendships... Spinning ya
Page 4 and 5:
VERY BEST OF VIETNAM From charming
Page 6:
6 Magazine | Editor’s note As I w
Page 9 and 10:
NoN-Surgical Hair reStoratioN We ar
Page 11 and 12:
Designing Interiors to Treasure Eve
Page 13 and 14:
LATEST DIGITAL ISSUE OUT NOW Scan h
Page 16 and 17: 16 Magazine | Newsfeed Art for art
Page 18 and 19: 18 Magazine | Newsfeed Seeing stars
Page 20: 20 Magazine | Newsfeed Open doors W
Page 23 and 24: 4 Normans Road, Strowan MoN -FR i 1
Page 25 and 26: Shop 5, 1027 Ferry Road, Christchur
Page 28 and 29: 28 Magazine | Feature Quite a numbe
Page 30: 30 Magazine | Feature MIRANDA’S C
Page 33: Promotion | Magazine 33
Page 36 and 37: Photo: Paula Vigus “People used t
Page 38 and 39: Photo: Anthony Behrens “I have be
Page 40 and 41: When Jeffrey met Joanna A series of
Page 42 and 43: 42 Magazine | Feature Later on he s
Page 44 and 45: 44 Magazine | Feature Thinking insi
Page 47 and 48: Interiors | Magazine 47 Pounamu & p
Page 49 and 50: Interiors | Magazine 49 A pool tabl
Page 51 and 52: Treat Mum this Mother's Day Gift Mu
Page 53 and 54: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS with Tim Goom SET
Page 55 and 56: Promotion | Magazine 55
Page 57 and 58: Travel | Magazine 57 “What really
Page 59 and 60: Travel | Magazine 59 I enjoyed an i
Page 62 and 63: 62 Magazine | Recipe PARMESAN-CRUMB
Page 64 and 65: 64 Magazine | Recipe BAKLAVA CHEESE
Page 69 and 70: Arts | Magazine 69 The 1800s whaleb
Page 72 and 73: 72 Magazine | Read Book club Great
Page 74 and 75: 74 Magazine | Win Win with 03 Every
Page 76: THE NEW MINI COUNTRYMAN. BIG LOVE.
show all

03 Magazine: April 05, 2024

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?