The Empty Chair

This installation is just one of those wow things that just make me think about how much bigger ones work can become. Made in 2003 this sculpture uses the humble wooden household chair with incredible symbolism. Salcedo wedged thousands of chairs into the space between two buildings. Taken separately each chair suggests an absent owner - like in "Van Gogh Chair" and Gauguin's Chair by Vincent Van Gogh's addressed his relationship to Paul Gauguin in a painting featuring a solitary chair. In its intirety it speack about callousl or monumental loss.

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The empty chair is a fascination I've had for sometime now. There is something visually enticing about it's unhomely-ness, here the chair lives beyond its functionality. It stands in place of someone, an "absent presents" or an "abandoned presents" if I may. There is something metaphorically beautiful and universal about the image and the idea of an empty chair. It could be the type of chair, which is also quit key in the discussion because an empty plastic chair would not evoke any relative feelings of the "absent present” as would an old wooden chair. The oldness then evokes a sense of nostalgia. Although this was never the initial interest in my chair series (below posts); I guess it was interesting how people wanted to know "whose chair was that" and I igure that I should probable go back to the idea of the chair to do some justice to my on going lust for the enigmatic four legged wonder. naf said