Shape and Form

I will be designing a chair the duration of my internship at CDI [Center for Design Innovation].  As I began to explore shape and form, many questions circulate my brain waves. Having researched a number of chairs and artists, my brain waves have an oversized ball of clustered confusion!  To un-clutter I thought it'd be appropriate to answer some primary questions regarding the functionality, aesthetics, and the responsibility of the piece!  

However, equally important is the need to understand the DIALOGUE between the CHAIR and the SITTER!  I believe the only formula to a successful dialogue is by means of the five senses [sight, touch, taste, hearing, smell] and consequently the response to each. Initially the sitter is the active component when the desire to sit embarks the body, an immediate opportunity for connection through one or more of the senses materializes.  Then a response, a dialogue burgeon forth between the two!  How the sitter responds to the chair and how the chair responds to the sitter. Traditionally the SITTER ignites the dialogue acting as the active component as he/she emits the five senses and decide to sit or not. Suppose the roles reversed. A chair that evokes the sitter after just a glance, accelerates the tunes of a familiar song, hints to a particular taste and smell of nature, and once touched is unforgettable.

In my quest to unveiling a shape and form for my design....I began with the images below and video of The Kinetic Sculpture, found at the BMW museum.   I will also study the works of Alexander Calder, a contemporary artist who is thought of as pioneering kinetic art in the form of motorized and non-motorized mobiles. 

"The Kinetic Sculpture is a metaphorical translation of the process of form-finding in art and design.

714 metal spheres, hanging from thin steel wires attached to individually-controlled stepper motors and covering the area of six square meters, animate a seven minute long mechatronic narrative. In the beginning, moving chaotically, then evolving to several competing forms that eventually resolve to the finished object, the kinetic sculpture creates an artistic visualisation of the process of form-finding in different variations."

article and photos credit:  www.artcom.com