2016, two scissor stage platforms, steel, wooden panel, synthetic fur, brand labels, height 74 cm (adjustable), 200 x 200 cm, fur throw 250 x 250 cm. (DRAX)

No. 2 from the limited edition of ten. With certificate of authenticity.

Lit.:
cf. Heimo Zobernig – Books & Posters. Catalogue raisonné 1980–2015, Cologne 2016

Provenance:
Galerie Meyer Kainer, Vienna – private ownership Austria

Zobernig developed this seat as a piece of relaxation furniture from prefabricated scissor platforms for the exhibition “Wood Painting” at the Malmö Konsthall in Sweden and subsequently revisited the object for further exhibition environments. In Malmö, the platforms were installed in pairs, inviting visitors to sit down and relax and become part of the exhibition scene.

“The covering alludes to the chequerboard pattern, a geometric motif frequently used in art since the Renaissance. The placement of the throw has a theatrically floating effect that emphasizes the aspect of geometric painting and its theoretical denial of narrative or illusionistic principles. A piece of fabric, the throw is also reminiscent of the costume of Harlequin, who similarly breaks free from rules, namely from those of social order. On the other hand, the materiality of the textile throw and its tactile quality counteract any rationally inclined discourse. Especially the way in which the throw has been draped over the platform interferes with the purist system of orthogonal coordination, the detached abstraction of the chequerboard pattern being deactivated by the bulges and recesses that force it back to painterly sensuousness. The cool distance expressed by the geometric structure is subversively and casually countered by a provocative moment of tactile perception. The throw and the stage platform form a sculptural unity that goes beyond the general notion of painting, causing it to team up with the medium of sculpture.” (Margareta Sandhofer)