Chair Avatars
This is a display area for my spare chairs - my various Twitter avatars.
Why Chairs?
Chairs symbolize social interaction. They invite you to sit down and stay a while; take a load off. You're probably sitting right now. We sit down to digest news. We sit to think. We sit to be social. You might say chairs are the first social media. Okay, you wouldn't but let's pretend.
Some beautiful chairs are painful to sit on (talkin' to you Frank Lloyd Wright, and owners of Indian restaurants everywhere). Many comfy chairs can look quite ugly. Chairs can fit with all situations - from thrones to bean-bags. Lawn chairs say "relax, enjoy the weather." Kitchen chairs say "have a bite." Dentists' chairs say "sit down and scream a while."
As an early user of Twitter in '07, I began to explore a dynamic avatar idea – it was always easy to identify my feed based on the avatar's subject matter, but the actual image changed often. If you followed me and my meanderings, I hope you found the conversation fun and/or thoughtful. Pull up a chair.
The avatar history is captured below...
Feb 22, 2016
Hoffmann's Fledermaus Cabaret Chair
Influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement during a visit to the UK in 1902, Josef Hoffmann sought to develop a chair that embodied geometric simplicity plus bold styling. His Fledermaus chair was designed for the Cabaret Fledermaus in Vienna, and was well received. There were matching tables and a version with a brightly coloured (yellow!) stuffed leather seat and back. Another version tagged the Cafe Fledermaus has cloth seat. The 'ball' details at the prominent joints add a touch of style, and probably provide a convenient break-off projectile during a bar fight.
There were both white and black lacquered versions, and both the upholstered back and this open ladder-back structure. The wood is reportedly beech. It was introduced in 1906
Hoffmann was a prominent Austrian architect and designer who embraced a new modernism for the 20th century. He appears to be reasonably well received at the time, but in the late 1950s gained greater popularity during the midcentury period when his pieces again resonated with the design aesthetic of the time. Rather ahead of his time. His Kubus armchair wouldn't look out of place at your local furniture shop. His Sitzmaschine chair looks slightly Frank Lloyd Wright, slightly early-German anti-aircraft gun.
There were both white and black lacquered versions, and both the upholstered back and this open ladder-back structure. The wood is reportedly beech. It was introduced in 1906Hoffmann was a prominent Austrian architect and designer who embraced a new modernism for the 20th century. He appears to be reasonably well received at the time, but in the late 1950s gained greater popularity during the midcentury period when his pieces again resonated with the design aesthetic of the time. Rather ahead of his time. His Kubus armchair wouldn't look out of place at your local furniture shop. His Sitzmaschine chair looks slightly Frank Lloyd Wright, slightly early-German anti-aircraft gun.
