Maisons de Force
1991
Wood, glass, paint, cellulose lacquer
7 items: 92 x 42 x 45cm each. 92 x 800 x 45cm overall
The chair mediates between the body and the building and the arrangement of furniture within a room reflects evidence of the relationships between people using the space: witness a parliament, a court room, a school room, or a prison.
Seven white chairs containing models of seven prisons from Europe and north America. The plans of the prisons are cast as shadows on the floor, calling to mind the way we tend to become imprinted with the layouts of buildings as we use them.
One of the main functions of architecture is to shelter, contain, and direct social activity. The prison is the place where containment and order are achieved with more emphasis than anywhere else. In some senses the prison may operate as a metaphor for the social function of architecture.
Installation views:
Architectures capc Musée, Bordeaux, France 1995
Young British Artists Saatchi Collection, London, UK 1992
