One of my favorite 3rings themes over the years has been that of prestidigitation. Strictly speaking, the term refers to the sleight of hand and misdirection of eye practiced by magicians to trick you into seeing what isn’t (or not seeing what is), or otherwise provoke an apparent alteration of perceived reality. With regard to design, pieces like the Hyde Sofa or Mies’ Nightmare or—perhaps the best examples—the Fade Out and Shadow Chairs lull us into believing that a contemporary table can conceal a phantasmatic antique, or that a chair can stand on its two back legs. Designer Peter Bristol goes one better. Though only one of its legs remains whole and in contact with the ground, his Cut Chair is nevertheless perfectly firm and stable.
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The Mechanics Behind the Cut Chair’s Clever Illusion
Were it not for the leavings of an apparently maddened band-saw brandisher, The Cut Chair would be a basic white all-purpose model. But, alas, the piece has ostensibly been mutilated—leaving only one leg intact and several telling swaths of red exposed at the cuts. It’s a marvel enough that it remains standing at all, but it’s truly stunning that one could actually sit in it, and even miraculous that designer Bristol can stand on it. Ending the suspense as abruptly as it began, however, Bristol pulls back the curtain (in this case, a thick shag rug) to reveal that it conceals a bulky metal plate topped with equally hefty supports. The weight of the plate, coupled with the hidden metal tube that attaches to the Chair’s leg, gives the truth to the illusion, the material reality to Bristol’s clever inversion of our expectations.
Via Chairblog.
About the Designer: Peter Bristol is a lead product designer at Seattle-based development consultancy Carbon Design Group. In that capacity, Bristol “works to develop, evolve, and refine ideas that should exist and bring them to life in the right way.” Much of Carbon’s work involves the medical and industrial markets, and the company’s clients include Fortune 100 firms like Xbox, General Dynamics, and Spacelabs Healthcare. On his own time, however, Bristol focuses on contemporary A&D, as in his Cut Chair, LED Shade Lamp, and—for Established & Sons—Corner Light.
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