Versioned Chairs explores the effect of translations acted out on a series of canonical chairs.
The original design was first translated into a textual description that attempts to describe the physical characteristics of the chair as accurately as possible.
These texts were then translated back into images through sketches drawn by a group working without knowing the original reference of the text.
One of each example was then translated from sketch to 3D form and then printed as a model.
The rapid prototyped outputs are versions many times removed from their original reference. The models record the misreadings and mistranslations that occur in the process.
Versioned Thonet No. 14 Chair
Micheal Thonet / Sam Jacob / Lionel Eid / Kit Bencharongkul
Versioned Le Corbusier LC2
Le Corbusier / Pierre Jeanneret / Charlotte Perriand / Sam Jacob / Insoo Hwang / Wataru Sawada
Versioned 250lc Barcelona Chair
Mies van der Rohe / Sam Jacob / Henry Lim / Minh Van
Versioned EA 117
Charles & Ray Eames / Sam Jacob / Lionel Eid / Lionel Eid
Versioned Tom Vac
Ron Arad / Sam Jacob / Lionel Eid / Akhil Bakhda
Versioned Chairs is at ‘About a Minute’
The Gopher Hole
350-354 Old Street,London EC1V 9NQ
10th Dec 2010 – 13th February 2011
http://www.davidbyrne.com/art/chairs/about/chairs_why_db.php
I did this years ago as an exercise in mis(communication) during a management training day I was running. I used Lego models as the original. It is also commonly done with drawings It is interesting to see a management game translated into an artistic context like this.