Solo 1

The Layers: 80 layers of tulle, 1 covering fabric layer

The frame

deconstructed old chair, cut off legs

The seating surface

wood, upholstered

The backrest

foam noodles, fixed in a fabric sleeve

The Tulle

fabric exploration

final decision: 100m of ivory and grey

draped and ruffled around the foam noodles, “exploding” around the chair

The Cover

plain but firm fabric, like a top dress

The Illustrations

Either 10 little stories all 8 layers, or on all of the 81 or only on the top layer.

Questions:

• How will the cover fabric look like?
• How will the embroidered illustrations look? What colour?
• How to I put together the differently coloured tulle layers?

Rachel Fallon – a repressed love story: The obvious part and the slighty complex tangled part

Next Second Session (19.5.)

Tulle Fabric

Key elemtents: empowering each other, solidarity, working together, holding together, passing on, sharing

Where I came from: layers

Layers: Stacking chairs

Tatami seating – The Zaisu Chair

Stacking Mechanism like DimSum-steamers or LEGO

=> Stacking chair, no legs, stackable back/armrests. Sitting is possible on each single one, on some or on all

Symbolisms:

1. One high or many low: keeping all (height-)privilege for power or sharing seating elements for non-hierarchical equality
2. Eye-level: possibility of changing the height of each chair so everyone at the table can eventually sit at the same level (same height party)
3. Empowerment/Solidarity: Sitting on each other’s shoulders, supporting and trusting each other – positive or negative (also: man-monster-theory)

Research: Female designs

Embroidery, Floral patterns, Pink/red tones, curvy, soft

Bokja – women,women, women; Anna Aagaard Jensen – untitled chair; Laia Laurel – Anti-manspreading chair; Tania da Cruz – Playmobilia; Gaetano Pesce – Up5/Donna

Sketches & first small models

First draft in Rhino

My approaches to make my chair speak “woman”:

Going for words

Stitch something onto the edge/bordure

(Leopoldine – my great great grandmother, Tricoteuses, Casdagli, Katharina Cibulka – Solange/aslongas)

Second draft in Rhino

sentences, “riddle”

Questions:

• What path do I take to make my topic clear to the audience? Primarily through material and colour/
  stitching in (riddle-like) words and sentences/
  a feature in the shape (corset binding, backrest shape)/
  by showing a setting or purpose for the chair (workshop etc)
• Do I take the positive route of empowerment (feminism) or the negative (man-as-monster)

• Feasibililty – what can I make, what do I have to buy

“Passing on“

Feminism from mothers to daughters

Hlabisa Bench – Mash T. Design studio x Houtlander

inspired by potjie pot of her grandmother and Zulu weaving skills passed down for generations

Passing on attidute rather than skills

Marianne Wex – Let’s Take Back Our Space

What if the chair was built only for and by women?

Key question:

“Whose fight/story are you sitting on?”

-> sitting on but also avoiding doing something

empowerment vs. disempowerment

Personal feeling: both (MeToo, awareness, Trump, Epstein etc.)

Modularity

Growing in length/height/number of people

Layers: building up on vs. deconstructing the past

materials:
wood – different ages, different tones, upholstery, linoleum