I'm obsessed with this chair. The artist takes a flimsy hunk of injection-molded plastic that's been cost-cut to hell and back, and insists that we look at it with fresh eyes and understand its beauty. And they went about it in the most labor-intensive way I can think of.

Absolutely nothing about this design is convenient to execute in wood. Every piece is curved, most have compound curves. This is artisan craftsmanship: it's inherently slow, manual, and skilled. Notice, also, that most features of this chair must be thicker and heavier than on the plastic chairs being imitated. Injection-molded chairs can be produced in this shape in a matter of minutes with far less material at very low cost.

If these flowing, organic curves are so beautiful in polished wood, perhaps they are also beautiful in the mass-produced chairs that are far more accessible. Perhaps we should remember to admire designs that succeed enough to become ubiquitous. I don't know about you, but I'll never see injection-molded chairs the same way again.

‘Mysterious Sphinx’, Charles Van der Stappen Brussels, Belgium 1897 Ivory, silver

The ‘Mysterious Sphinx’, sculptor Charles van der Stappen’s best-known work, is considered a quintessential example of Symbolist and art nouveau sculpture. It was created for the Hall of Honour at the Colonial Exposition in Tervuren in 1897, where it was displayed on an onyx base set on a pedestal designed by Henry van de Velde. The ivory and silver sculpture is a shoulder-length portrayal of a young woman holding her right hand to her lips in a mysterious gesture. Her helmest is surmounted by an eagle, a reference to war and victory. On the other hand, her armour is decorated with poppies, symbolizing sleep. The serpent around her wrist represents death. Alluring beauty combines with the intoxicating destructiveness of the femme fatale, a central figure in the fin de siècle – a period characterized by a tension between confidence in and fear of the future, often with overtones of decadence.

Jianhao Chen's "David"

Wonder Festival 2020 Shanghai

There’s a very particular eeriness that befalls ruins during the golden hour. I’m living for it.

Persepolis, Iran // August 2018

Apollo and Athena on a full moon 🌕

Academy of Athens

Votive, Asklepieion of Athens, ca 350 B.C [500x588]

SWITCH TO FIREFOX AND ADD UBLOCK ORIGIN

Rosace, Palace of Versailles. Materials and documents of architecture and sculpture. v.9. 1915.

Internet Archive

Ivan Mestrovic, Archangel Gabriel