Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Not JUST a Chair!

Chairs are used every day without a second glance. Students use them at school to sit at their desk and learn. Some people sit in an office chair from 9am to 5pm five days a week. The public uses chairs at the library, movie theaters, restaurants, and so on. The chair, an object that I'd say people take for granted, is very necessary to our everyday schedules. Personally, I find it easier to put my shoes on sitting down, or eating a meal sitting down, or even doing my homework sitting down. Sitting in this swivel desk chair writing this post, I wonder who created the first chair. According to the author of the article "Who Invented the Chair?",
 Some accounts say that the Egyptians invented the chair because archaeologists found chairs in Egytpian tombs.  Others point out that the Sumerians must have been the inventors because there is a 4,500 year old statue of the goddess Inanna showing her sitting on a throne-like chair.
With a world full of chairs, it's hard to imagine a world without them. I can only imagine the publics' reaction to the first ever chair. Luckily, Ryan Bowen's short video can show this reaction better than I can describe.


It's funny how a chair was once something so simple and was used for functional purposes. Now manufacturers are not only making chairs to be functional, but also to serve as art work. The chair below I wouldn't consider fashionable, but it looks very comfortable. Art is a form of expression and at times conveys beauty. I'm sure there are those out there who would appreciate the sight of this chair in their home, maybe a gamer perhaps?
I love animal print. Would I have a chair like this one in my home? Probably not, but this chair would fit someone's sassy personality and home. I can see this chair in a teenage girl's bedroom, or maybe a single young lady's apartment. It's a very fun and flirtatious chair, but elaborate chairs like this one do not fit in just any space.
The chair below is fairly simple compared to the one above. The designer of this chair, I think, was going more for functionality over flare. The designer wasn't trying to catch your eye with elaborate prints and bright colors, but with the fact that this chair is a 2-for-1. Not only can one sit down, but they can read, write, or do homework without being next to a side table with a lamp on it. This chair with the built in over light is a brilliant idea when it comes to functioning purposes. I wonder how it was constructed though. Did a heat resistant fabric have to be used? If the bulb went out, would it be easy to replace? I wonder how much this chair cost to produce and how much it's going for in department stores.

Here's another 2-for-1 piece. This chair serves as both a chair and a table. I think it's amazing how a chair was meant to be sat in, but over time the chair has evolved. Imaginations have gone wild. Designers are taking more risk. Notice the many variations of the chair in this blog post and in the real world (in stores, online, etc.). New and innovative creations are being made every day, and a chair is not just a chair anymore.
The chair featured in this video is a very simple chair and easy to assemble.

"Proceeds will be spent securing time on CNC machines, buying the raw materials, producing packaging and delivering your stool to you. We want to make low-volume local production runs efficient by spending time finding the closest machine to you, maximizing sustainability and getting your stool to you as quickly as possible." -Kickstarter

1 comment:

  1. I don't know if we'd have an archaeological record of the first chair used...chairs in antiquity were made of materials like wood or thatch, which would deteriorate over time. It's enough to say that with the advent of civilization (in which people meet together), we imagine some sort of specialized seating/seating arrangements were used.

    I wonder: does the table/chair adjust in height so one could use two concurrently? Also, the chair/light was pretty fascinating as a sculpture. Can you find any data on its cost if you scour the internet? I know readers would be interested in learning if they can afford any of these pieces of art.