Side Chair c. 1936

Editor: Here we have Nicholas Gorid’s "Side Chair," created around 1936, rendered in colored pencil. It's so detailed and precise, you can almost feel the texture of the woven seat back. What stands out to you when you look at this? Curator: What interests me is the act of depiction itself. The artist, Gorid, used colored pencil, a seemingly mundane material, to elevate a common, mass-produced object. Isn't it fascinating that this drawing captures a specific chair, which would have been manufactured within a network of resources and labor? How does that change our perception? Editor: So, you're focusing on the material and how it transforms the object. Curator: Precisely! The use of coloured pencil makes it less about the "high art" and more about labour and accessibility. This connects directly to the consumption culture of the time; could this image have been a design prototype? Editor: That's a thought! Could be a furniture catalogue? Curator: Possibly, highlighting the design, materiality and consumption of furniture production. Think of how much human labour was required to produce this chair, how does this influence the image’s worth in your opinion? Editor: I never thought of the material choice that way! It definitely prompts a different perspective to consider the entire production process. Curator: And to think, what stories a chair could tell!