Thrones

Thrones showcases contemporary chairs by artists, commercial producers, and furniture designers to consider the chair as a site where function, symbolism, and narrative converge. Far from being mere objects, chairs can be seen as material expressions and symptoms of the present moment. Drawing on the legacy of design exhibitions, Thrones engages themes such as bodily activities, gaming, transgression, virtuality, and appropriation, among other currents shaping contemporary culture.  

This 80WSE exhibition is organized and designed in collaboration with artist and designer Craig Redman.

In Thrones, the traditional physicality of the chair is transformed by its presentation: seen through glass windows and digital screens, it shifts from functional form to cultural artifact. This encounter simultaneously reveals and withholds, offering visual intimacy while maintaining physical distance, presenting objects once defined by touch into a mediated visual experience. In this interplay between access and separation, Thrones invites viewers to consider how chairs function/fail as a site between the body and the environment, challenging our understanding of spatial presence in a world where digital and physical boundaries increasingly dissolve.  

With:

Cometabolism Studio 

Cluvens

Duyi Han

Jesse Groom

José León Cerrillo

Serban Ionescu

Soft Baroque 

SR_A Studios / Kohler

Tom Hancocks 

Wentrcek Zebulon