INSTALLATIONS WITH CHAIRS
This exhibition presents two installations by Ferrer made with chairs: one is from the 1984 series Installations with Chairs (Instalaciones con sillas), and the other from the 2018 series Suspended Chairs (Sillas suspendidas). Both projects are here materialized for the first time in an exhibition space. The artist clarifies the concept in the exhibition catalog, which reads:
I’ve always been interested in chairs, everyday and almost anodyne objects whose mere presence can nonetheless modify the space of a room.
I have always been struck by the number of models that have been created, and will continue to be created, for something as everyday and elementary as a chair. But what attracts me the most is its structure: wood, plastic or another material, folding or not.
Another interesting feature of the chair is its “anthropomorphic” quality of its structure, regardless of the material from which it is made. When stripped of upholstery and decoration, its “skeleton” forms a set of straight or curved lines organized in an almost organic manner. If the structural richness of a chair is combined in a set, either on a wall or in the round, the variety of resulting forms can be fascinating.
Perhaps my interest in chairs could be traced back to the flying chairs I used to ride on when I was a little girl. They moved at vertigo-inducing speed, hanging from chains attached to the rotating top of the swing ride.
I have created a number of installations with chairs. Sometimes, they are just different forms interacting with one another in space, hanging from thick or thin cables; other times, they carry a political or social meaning. I have set up installations and performances using just one chair or including other elements. I believe everyday objects are essential for performance art. Is there anything more ordinary than a chair? In any case, a chair has endless possibilities; it has even become a sound element in some of my acts.