Reviews
Chair Transformation Collaboration Project
Hi, all. Claudie and I (Deirdre) have been testing folding and cutting as a way of approaching a collaborative project among those interested from this group. We hope you will join us. I started a profile page for the project, Chair Transformation Collaboration, because I could not get the pictures to load here. It will also give a place to post the images and diagrams as they develop. So far, we have found that there is plenty of room for error and change, which is a good thing.
Chair Transformation Collaboration: Join Us.
We invite you to participate in a chair collaboration,
transforming a chair into different states of being
through folding and cutting, and through passing in
and out of two and three dimensions as the chairs pass
through email from artist to artist.
The process...
Artist A:
Step 1: Design paper chair constructed by folding and
cutting.
Step 2: Make a diagram of the folds and cuts. Write
folding and cutting instructions.
Step 3: Take photos: front, back, side views.
Step 4: Forward diagram and written instructions to
Artist B by email.
Artist B:
Step 1: Print diagram and instructions.
Step 2: Reconstruct chair from diagram and
instructions.
Step 3: Take photos: front, back, side views.
Step 4: Transform reconstructed chair with new folds
and cuts.
Step 5: Take photos: front, back, side views.
Step 6: Make a diagram of the new folds and cuts.
Write additional folding and cutting instructions.
Step 7: Forward the diagrams and instructions to
Artist C by email.
Artist C:
Step 1: Print diagrams and instructions.
Step 2: Reconstruct chair from diagrams and
instructions.
Step 3: Take photos: front, back, side views.
Step 4: Transform reconstructed chair with new folds
and cuts.
Step 5: Take photos: front, back, side views.
Step 6: Make a diagram of the new folds and cuts.
Write additional folding and cutting instructions.
Step 7: Forward the diagrams and instructions to
Artist D by email.
And so forth, back to the original Artist or until the
instructions and diagrams become too difficult to
follow.
The chairs will change in expected ways through
intentional transformation and in unexpected ways
through the process of translation and human error.
The chairs will eventually reach points in which they
will be too complicated to translate and reconstruct:
the chairs will have reached natural ending places.
These points likely will differ chair to chair.
The photos and diagrams can be exhibited on line, and
the perhaps, an exhibition of the chairs themselves
can be arranged down the line.
Chair Transformation Collaboration: Join Us.
We invite you to participate in a chair collaboration,
transforming a chair into different states of being
through folding and cutting, and through passing in
and out of two and three dimensions as the chairs pass
through email from artist to artist.
The process...
Artist A:
Step 1: Design paper chair constructed by folding and
cutting.
Step 2: Make a diagram of the folds and cuts. Write
folding and cutting instructions.
Step 3: Take photos: front, back, side views.
Step 4: Forward diagram and written instructions to
Artist B by email.
Artist B:
Step 1: Print diagram and instructions.
Step 2: Reconstruct chair from diagram and
instructions.
Step 3: Take photos: front, back, side views.
Step 4: Transform reconstructed chair with new folds
and cuts.
Step 5: Take photos: front, back, side views.
Step 6: Make a diagram of the new folds and cuts.
Write additional folding and cutting instructions.
Step 7: Forward the diagrams and instructions to
Artist C by email.
Artist C:
Step 1: Print diagrams and instructions.
Step 2: Reconstruct chair from diagrams and
instructions.
Step 3: Take photos: front, back, side views.
Step 4: Transform reconstructed chair with new folds
and cuts.
Step 5: Take photos: front, back, side views.
Step 6: Make a diagram of the new folds and cuts.
Write additional folding and cutting instructions.
Step 7: Forward the diagrams and instructions to
Artist D by email.
And so forth, back to the original Artist or until the
instructions and diagrams become too difficult to
follow.
The chairs will change in expected ways through
intentional transformation and in unexpected ways
through the process of translation and human error.
The chairs will eventually reach points in which they
will be too complicated to translate and reconstruct:
the chairs will have reached natural ending places.
These points likely will differ chair to chair.
The photos and diagrams can be exhibited on line, and
the perhaps, an exhibition of the chairs themselves
can be arranged down the line.
Tags: chair, collaboration, digital, paper, sculpture, transformation
Replies to This Reviews
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Permalink Reply by Deirdre A. Fox on -
It was below when I was writing, but ended up above ;)
On color, I think there's room between limiting to one plain color and doing whatever comes to mind. For example, the exquisite corpse project combines the limitation of using a piece of the prior artist's image and whatever comes to mind for the subsequent artist. Not suggesting the corpse as the model to use, as it involves hiding part of the prior artist's image from the subsequent artist. For another example, see the attached quick photoshop edit I did of 48073's colored chair. I think we would just need to agree on a format and any process limitations, and see what happens with adorning the chairs. I really do think our individual styles will be apparent and distinguishing.
I'd love to play with the scale ... I think if we keep proportional to the diagram, we should be okay? - Attachments
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chair4_48073_fill1DFedit.jpg, 161 KB
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Permalink Reply by 48073 on -
haha, yes. but then applied to your transformation of chair#4. If we let each stage go around we will have to apply surface on 35 chairs.
i like the scale idea. Love to see some of them full scale. it would not perse have to be paper then, also metal or plastic comes in mind. It would be nice to be able to sit on them.
:)
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Permalink Reply by CLAUDIE BASTIDE on -
To sum up our discussion , I can see two directions
First : transformation of what we have already done with colours and decorations and I like 48073's idea of decorating everybody's chair differently,this would generate a lot of interesting images.
Second : the scale which implies true sculpting work,stock...
and much more time and money if we decide to be able to sit on it !
what do you think ?
As for me ,I am not a pro on scales,but it is a question of trying it !
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Permalink Reply by Deirdre A. Fox on
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A third possibility -- on the color -- is to start a new line of chairs in which we also vary the surface, rather than going back to the prior chairs that we've already made. In any case, I suggest if we color the prior chairs, we make new versions of the chairs to color, or we color copies of the photos with photoshop rather than the chairs themselves. I like the idea of keeping a set that just has the diagram markings because I think they are interesting in and of themselves.
We can scale up without making them functional. If we want to be able to sit on them -- I love that thought -- it will take some more thinking on forms ... I doubt a number of these chairs would be stable even if realized in metal or plastic ;) . I have a hard time visualizing some of the designs translating without change into metal or plastic. But we could allow for some adjustment of design for the translation to a new material while trying to stay true to the paper form. It's also possible to translate some of the forms to fabric, though they might not be functional.
I do like the idea of using a durable material, even though I am at a bit of a loss on working with plastic and metal as both are outside my range of experience. What's the minimum equipment/tools/facilities that would be needed to work and bind the plastic or the metal? Can anyone weigh in with specifics here? It would be fun to try, and I am actually looking for ways of making forms from my own work out of more durable materials, short of sending to a fabricator, which I suppose is always an option.
As an aside, I ran across a site recently in which someone had developed a origami pattern for making a functional chair out of cardboard (twas for kids), so it is possible to use cardboard and still be able to sit on the chair, though cardboard obviously is less durable than plastic or metal.
Anyway, let's discuss all of this further. I am up for rising to the challenge.
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Permalink Reply by CLAUDIE BASTIDE on
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Hi Deirdre
I quite agree on the idea of keeping the set of original chairs with their marks and make a new set of chairs with a scale (2 or 3 times bigger) with a stronger paper that would bear colour without fading away;actually ,I think that photoshop colours on our images "don't look real" like real painting would . In this case,could we bind and fold strong paper ?We must try to know.
As to making a chair to be able to sit on it,that is another question !
If you think of plastic(like altuglas or plexiglas)it has to be heated to bind ,it can also be stuck and heated but for a satisfactory result,better ask a specialist but then we fall into the realm of design !!!which for me is not an aim .
As for metal,either we use hard metal then we have to weld it to make it strong or we use soft metal and we will never sit on it !You need a proper place to weld and proper instruments...my studio doesn't allow it unfortunately.
If other participants have new ideas,we are open !
I also saw armchairs made of several layers of corugated cardboard stuck together .
The result is interesting but not new.
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Permalink Reply by 48073 on
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The first round is also not over yet. I still live between hope and fear for my last 2 chair instructions to arrive. :) Wondering if I will manage to reconstruct them. The further in line the harder it gets.
I suspect (and hope) that some chairlines will become lost in translation before end. Probably some (if not all) already are.
I like the pics of the chairs as much as those of the diagrams and written instructions. Also this thread, transforming chairs in words, also the sketches posted in this thread. They all influence future transformation results. I find all these aspects equally interesting.
Thinking full scale is logical to me as i have a background in industrial design. I love your black chair Claudie, reminds me of work by Ron Arad. That is why I daydreamed in metal :) In this case single color with 6 different colored folds/cuts.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Bowdidge on -
Just wanted to say that I kind of 'fell off' this project during the early discussions due to extermnal pressues, but I think what has gone on here is fantastic and very exciting.
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Permalink Reply by Chair Transformation Collaboration on -
Thanks, guys.
At present, the status, with the current chair holder in brackets, is:
Chair 1: Deirdre, Claudie, [Amy], 48073, Penny, Ali
Chair 2, Line 1: Claudie, Deirdre, Claudie, [Ali], Penny, 48073, Amy
Chair 2, Line 2: Claudie, Amy, Penny, 48073, [Ali], Deirdre
Chair 3: Penny, Claudie, 48073, [Amy], Deirdre, Ali
Chair 4: 48073, Deirdre, Penny, Claudie, [Ali].
If I am in error, please let me know. Also, if you currently have a chair that you think has become too difficult to reconstruct/transform -- we expect some to end before they reached all of us -- please let us know. If the chairs have piled up on you, and you wish to go ahead and pass a chair to the next person in line, please let me know.
Can we agree that we want to tackle scale, perhaps with less chair lines, next?
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Permalink Reply by CLAUDIE BASTIDE on
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I agree with the scale and with the idea that we should make less lines
It would be nice if every participant's chair would appear in different material : cardboard or metal or plastic or wood.or fabric ..
We could have for example one or two versions of each contributor:
one version in hard paper ,painted just as you like
another version of the same chair out of metal or platic or whatever
Of course,just as Scott says ,it will be time consuming but exciting
What do you all think ?
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Permalink Reply by CLAUDIE BASTIDE on
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I agree with you about full scale,after all ,a chair is made to sit on ,isn't it ?
But for our concern it looks unrealistic
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Permalink Reply by Ali Bramwell on -
Following the discussion about ways to move forward with the chair transformation collaboration project, its interesting that scale and permanence become important for an idea of 'real' sculpture.
without wanting to shut down possibilities -being concerned about things like functionality and technique tends to shift the whole focus towards design. ..and potentially away from playful reinvention and collaboration
from my point of view, speaking as an ex product designer and fairly competent metal worker/blacksmith: the thing that is most interesting about the chair transformation is the provisional nature. my sense is that making these delightfully wonky experiments straighter bigger and more solid would likely rob them of something important...
also the skill needed to keep hold of the directness of the small marquettes -in order to translate that energy into permanent materials at a large scale- is very great...
but perhaps the attempt and failure would open another yet unforeseen range of transformation possibilities that would make it worth the attempt.
I think that the folded paper has a particular aesthetic appeal that we have barely touched, and so does the 'blueprint' diagram or pattern -in this I agree with Deirdre.
I have been tending to think of the patterns/instructions as an image/endpoint themselves - Attachments
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chairfour_ali_side1_small.jpg, 66 KB
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chairfour_ali_above_small.jpg, 62 KB
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chairfour_ali_front_small.jpg, 71 KB
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Permalink Reply by Chair Transformation Collaboration on
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Sorry I have been out of pocket for a while. I have received some additional photos from Ali which I will post soon. At this point, I think we should perhaps consider the current line of chairs complete unless anyone is still working on one or another. I am swamped in transition. Perhaps we could revisit proceeding with the project in September? I'd add that looking at the chairs now, with some time having passed since I saw them, they really are quite delightful, and I would like to see us work further. - Dee
