Raphaël Buedts : The Stairway to the Heart
we demand of a chair that we not only be able to ‘rest’ in it, but – due to the transition from physical work to mental work – that we can also be ‘active’ in it. The piece of furniture should feel comfortable to one’s bottom, which should be able to rely on a welcoming support. Sitting enjoyed the attention of the American artist and sceptical empiricist Donald Judd.9 According to Judd, the ideal height for a chair seat was fifty centime tres. At that height, his radical argument ran, sitting was comfortable for everyone. In furniture, Man is still the measure of all things. The furniture objects appear to be thrown together with a dash of playful intuition. Never theless, they are the constructions of an unorthodox geo metrician – Euclidian or non-Euclidian – who opts for improvisation rather than sterile geometrical accuracy.
z.t. [Untitled], 2004 Potlood op papier / Pencil on paper, 21 x 29,7 cm Privécollectie / Private collection
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Furniture for a Bird In 1985, Buedts published Furniture for a Bird. The book includes fifteen reproductions of charcoal draw ings. Beneath each drawing is a concept. Buedts writes and draws : ‘hedge’, ‘table’, ‘stillborn’, ‘incline’, ‘bird’, ‘span’, ‘engine’, ‘depend (wimp)’, ‘seat’, ‘tent’, ‘oblique’, ‘side wind’, ‘ladder’, ‘hour’, ‘lean’. The lines of the drawings are broad, grainy and geometric. Word and image pervade one another in their complementary simplicity. Birds’ postures and their attributes are stilled into a Zen-like movement of the hand. Furniture for a Bird 9. Donald Judd Furniture : Retrospective, (Rotterdam : Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, 1993).