GRANDMOTHER'S CHAIR
December 23, 2009 
There is an antique chair in my grandmother's warehouse. Though, It is the attractive chair having a beautiful silhouette, it is clear that the chair is becoming too old and one leg is broken and the backrest is so damaged and then it shows the tragic appearance. However, the chair is still attractive. I tried to repair the chair in order to manage to reuse.
I believe that it is sad to repair something old by changing it into something new, erasing all of the old elements of it, because it's as if the memories that built up over many years are reset. In addition, it is also saddening to make new parts look old by using aging skills because it's as if the memories it has are being forcefully written over.
Even if things are old and damaged, all events which happened to them in the past make up the items history and memory. I try to use such an idea in my design. I repaired the lost leg and the backrest of the chair by using clear resins, imagining the original shape. Clear resins used are nothing but vague visually. In my work, I took the experience of the chair; it lost something, as a design element, while keeping lost things visually.
These days we are having misgivings about exhaustion of resources and trying to take various measures. However, I wonder we will repeat excessive consumptions if users do not have attachment to things. ”Grandmother's chair” is a new trial that expresses the attachment to something by respecting the memories that it withholds.
Source: h220430.jp
Reader Comments (1)
This is a really lovely narrative. I like your thoughts on attachment, consumption and time. Thanks!