Many Chairs Make Much Art

No longer content to be an integral part of an overall interior, chairs are reclaiming their sculptural qualities and bridging the gap between art and design. (All this to seemingly sell chairs to be in your interior)

A feast for the eyes and a great way to show off variations in style and color, shooting chairs out of context allows the potential client to look at them in a very different way. The focus is no longer on how well the chair complements the rest of the environment, but on the formal character of the chair itself. Accordingly, the buying process is cleverly altered to one similar to buying art (which is certainly not chosen on how well in goes with a sofa).

Italian manufacturer Pedrali turns 50 this year, and to celebrate they have developed an ad campaign showing the top view of dozens and dozens of chairs laid out in geometrical shapes like the candles on a birthday cake.

 Arper, another Italian manufacturer, uses photos of their products stacked, piled or bunched together on a neutral background like topless models in jeans. Definitely shows off the curves, although not necessarily the scale of the piece.

Nothing says ‘garage sale’ like piling up all your furniture in front of the house.  But somehow if you pile it up in a photo studio, or line it up perfectly in front of the factory, it suddenly says ‘list price’.

To hell with scale, chair art translates easily to doll size pieces! Instead of arranging them in a small open-faced dwelling, they can be hung by their feet in a spherical shape around a light bulb with interesting shadow effects...

 Finally, for the no-longer-parentally-guided crowd, a little straight-up chair-porn mise-en-scène and photographed by the inimitable Karl Lagerfeld. From light necking, to a little upside-down plaisir à deux, to a pile-up of countless chairs, the fashion master plays up the leather and fur side of each piece.

By Claire Toussaint