A chair as an object has always played a big role in everyday life.
Its power can be already seen in the chair’s massive presence, which depends highly on who’s sitting in it. The chair of a director, judge, or pope … is more solid, bigger, heavier and more resistant to any damage than a regular dining chair would be.
It is usually heavy and thus cannot be moved easily, which serves as a great metaphor for those (political, social …) functions as well.
For instance, the Supreme court justice in the United States serves a life term.
(Their chairs must be made out of lead …)
Another example would be in the expression “the chair of __”.
In the project, a person of importance is placed on a chair hanging from the ceiling. Its aim is to bring playfulness and doubt to the usual immobility of power. The experiment questions what that does to our attitude toward the person. Does it loosen their importance, and make them less God-like?
*also the name of a chair made by Luke Irwin