Funky yet func

Art doesn't have to be hung on walls or kept on a shelf — designers are creating sculptures that resemble furniture.

In the summer of 2002, I spent a month in Barcelona. One of my most enduring memories is visiting the Fundacio Tàpies, a museum that contains a vast collection of work by the eminent Catalan artist Antoni Tàpies. I was perplexed and enthralled by one particular exhibit. As the guide talked animatedly about the symbolic nature of the piece, she explained how Tàpies' work demonstrated artistic progression. Throughout her talk, however, I was consumed by one thought — it's a chair. I desperately wanted to ask how a piece of everyday furniture could be revered as art, even if it was given the contemporary strap-line.

It seems that my scepticism was just plain ignorance as Tàpies is not the only artist to have forged his reputation through furniture. There are many contemporary artists who are embracing the trend of using furniture as a foundation for their work. This has given birth to a new medium in the art world, aptly called design-art.

The same year I visited Barcelona, an unknown artist called Maarten Baas graduated from the Design Academy in Eindhoven armed with two designs. One was a series of charred furniture, dubbed the Smoke series. After successful exhibitions in Milan, London, and Paris, the Smoke series was revered by museums, critics, collectors and the design-informed public as an iconic collection of contemporary design. This catapulted Baas into the art world and established his reputation as a highly acclaimed artist.

Traffic art gallery

Zaha Hadid, who was the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Price in 2004, has also recently experimented with design-art. According to Rami Farook, founder and director of Traffic art gallery in Dubai — a gallery that deals in design-art — it was Hadid who caused those in the art world to consider design-art as a new and worthy medium.

"In 2005, Zaha Hadid designed the Aqua Table. This was a piece that had been commissioned by Established and sons, the highly acclaimed British design and manufacturing company," he says. "It was later auctioned for $300,000 (about Dh1.1 million)."

Farook believes this was a significant turning point
in the popularity of design-art. "Architects and designers started to look at designing limited, one-off pieces of design-art after the commercial success of Hadid's Aqua Table," he says.

In the design-art world, there is an emerging pattern for the type of furniture that artists will use in their work, especially if they are novices. "Designers have a lot of fun when it comes to chairs," says Farook. "Many design-artists start off designing chairs before moving onto side tables and coffee tables."

Indeed Baas' 2007 collection, named Sculpt, which was launched in Milan, comprises oversized chairs, cupboards and tables.

The key to design-art is not to view it as furniture. "Although it is functional, very often the furniture has not been designed with comfort in mind," says Farook. "It is better to view the art as a modern piece of sculpture than a functional piece of furniture. Artists and designers are increasingly designing sculptures that vividly resemble furniture," says Farook. And it seems that Baas is moving with the trend. "His Chankley Bore collection [which is furniture-based] was one of the most popular pieces of the year when it was exhibited in Milan," says Farook.

If design-art pieces prove too costly for your budget, then Art Effects, a Florida-based mural company, has a solution. Founded by Tim Haas and Linda Cassels-Hofmann, the company customises existing home furnishings by painting murals on them. "Instead of replacing what you already have, you can paint an older piece of furniture to create a more unique and interesting piece of furniture," says Cassels-Hofmann.

According to Cassels-Hofmann, the most popular requests are for children's rooms. "In children's rooms, the concept of designing or painting murals is best utilised," she says.
"Our custom-designed beds, closet doors and portable murals are becoming the most popular pieces of art."

Although already popular in the US, Cassels-Hofmann says she has received numerous enquiries from homeowners in the UAE. She believes this trend will continue. "Painting on existing furniture is a big money saver and is becoming more popular due to the present economic climate," she says. There is also another advantage, according to Cassels-Hofmann.

"It leaves the walls available for other art purchases," she says. Such as an original Tàpies perhaps.