A work-from-home wardrobe for Air-Chair : investigating (play + logic = wit) design : an exegesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Design, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
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Date
2011
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Massey University
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Abstract
In my background as an art director in advertising, I used graphic wit as
a communication tool to evoke emotion and connect with my audience;
to trigger a smile in the hope of capturing their memories. The thought
process behind wit is often a collision of two ideas which Koestler (1964,
35) refers to as ‘bisociation’. Heller (1991, 11) describes “wit and humour
in design occur when play and logic are seamlessly intertwined”.
This research project uses ( play + logic = wit ) to explore practical furniture
solutions through an intuitive and conceptually driven creative practice.
Instead of dressing myself for work, I dress my work chair according to
mood or business of the day. This activity revealed the lack of boundaries
and transition between work and home and the effects humour can play
on everyday life.
I have extrapolated this previous experience from 2D to 3D in the
context of a collection of suits that dress Jasper Morrison’s Air-Chair.
The unstructured, understated tactility and vivid colour palette of wool
felt allows me to use local raw materials, to create a fabric to tailor the
suits that suggests a language of three dimensional cartoon characters. In
the act of dressing the chair for work, the suits invite me to an interlude
of play. In a ritual transition between work and domesticity, the chair
becomes a companion. The chair and I have a subtle dialogue, an experience
that creates a platform to further explore lightness in everyday
objects through wit.
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Keywords
Graphic wit, Chair design, Working from home, Office furniture, Air-Chair