Series of chairs, 2016-2017
Foam, plywood, plexiglass, fabric, etc.
“The idea for this piece was really for the Museum, thinking about the nature of the furniture that is in the Museum…[that is] meant to disappear.”
Galleries are designed to enhance a viewer’s experience of the art, not distract from it; which is why Reaves noticed the furniture in the Whitney slips into the background. In fact, museum chairs are designed so well that we usually don’t even notice them. A lot of work goes into a good chair, but that work is neatly hidden by clean finishes and sleek exteriors. Reaves responds to this phenomenon by inverting the interior and exterior of the chair. Consequently, she draws attention to how chairs are constructed. The process of how chairs are made is equally as important to Reaves as the finished product and its functionality. Reaves’ chairs were dispersed throughout the Whitney and took the place of the previous gallery seating.
Reaves’ work pushes the boundaries of functional art. Chairs were in the galleries before but they were just furniture. What is it that makes Reaves’ chairs art-objects? Was it that they were made specifically to be in a museum? Reaves’ chairs are interesting to look at but their structural integrity is questionable and the designs are not likely to be mass produced. So, these chairs serve more as a point of inquiry than as functional seating. That perspective may be why we are more comfortable referring to Reaves’ chairs as art rather than just furniture. For more examples of practical art see Cauleen Smith, Susan Cianciolo, and Rafa Esparza.
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