Party Chair History

The Party Chair is actually a chair I previously thrifted and altered in my Sophomore Studio project. Originally, it was a nice dark wood chair with a cushion that was practically turning to dust. I removed all the layers of reupholstery, and replaced the cushion so it was actually comfortable. I painted the rungs of the back, then painted the rest white. I think it looked perfect when it was installed in my exhibit.

The chair then served as my desk chair at home until my senior year, when I decided to use it as my desk chair in my studio.

After I first put furniture in it.

Here it is, when it was a little dingy and faded from a couple years of use. The varnish actually started to ‘melt’ off, where it was almost gummy on the top.

Then it got roped into my thesis when the idea changed after my first review panel. I realized I’d need more chairs than I had previously planned, so I figured I’d just be resourceful and use it. I wanted to try and get it as close to finish as possible, so it was on par with the other two chairs. So, I worked on it for a full day. I know these pictures just look like the normal, finished Party Chair, but these are from almost 5 months before display. It really did not change all that much visually.

I later added more balloons, streamers, pompoms, more stickers, Mardi Gras beads, a piñata, and zip ties to the chair.

I also added the interactivity aspect of moving the chair around the gallery. The instructions tell you to both move it away, and move it back. I think that part was a huge hit at the show. I almost want to treat this as an ongoing piece in the future, and see how many forms this can take.