Chair/Chair II 1973

Editor: This graphite drawing on paper, called "Chair/Chair II," was created in 1973 by Richard Artschwager. It strikes me as strangely solitary, almost forlorn. What draws your eye when you look at this piece? Curator: You know, I feel it too—a bit like a stage set after the actors have left, just the props remaining. It's got this minimalist vibe, stripped down to its bare essence. It makes you question, doesn't it, what really makes a chair a chair? Is it the object itself, or the idea of a chair? The shadow, so solidly rendered, almost feels more present than the chair itself. It almost tricks you, eh? Editor: Absolutely. I hadn't considered the presence of the shadow versus the almost ghostly quality of the chair. Does this blurring of lines fit within any artistic movement of the time? Curator: Artschwager was slippery like that, dodging easy labels. He was playing with perception, pushing the boundaries of minimalism and conceptual art. He took the ordinary, a chair, and transformed it into something unsettling, thought-provoking. Is it furniture? Sculpture? A drawing? I wonder... is it comfortable? I wouldn't trust that shadow. Would you? Editor: No, I don't think I would! This makes me rethink how I view even the simplest objects and their representation in art. Curator: Exactly! Artschwager pulls us in close, whispering secrets about reality, representation, and our own darn assumptions. And that, my friend, is the best trick any artist can pull.