VERVEMAGAZINE.IN 29NERVE | CULTURE
JOSHUA NAVALKARABOVE, LEFT: A COMMON OFFICE CHAIR ; RIGHT: CROSS CULTURAL CHAIRS’ INDIA CHAIR; BELOW: MATTEO GUARNACCIAMATTEO GUARNACCIAtechnique of the charpai, albeit in a more intricate version.
Having visited India several times (“Every time I come, I fall in
love again”), Guarnaccia realised early on that the country has
a ‘floor-sitting culture’, much like the other three in Asia (Japan,
China, Indonesia) that he has travelled to. “But I noticed that
India, unlike the others, merges the two seating postures,” he
shares. “In Japan, for example, the difference between sitting
on the floor and on a chair is clear, and it’s mainly dictated by
the presence of the tatami on the floor. In India, I noticed that
people cross their legs on the seat while sitting on a chair, both
in an official and social context,” he states, adding, “I think this
also comes from the types of shoes that are worn, which are
usually easy to take off.” This was something that he wanted
to express in his creation, which he did by designing a curve
on the armrest and transforming it into a leg-rest instead. “So,
when someone crosses their legs while sitting and, say, drinking
their chai, they will accidentally discover a soft-edged surface
to rest them on.”
Despite his efforts to view and decode cultures through
the lens of chairs, Guarnaccia maintains that his project is
concerned more with people than with chairs. He shares,
“The chair, as an object, performs its duty only when it is
used by someone, so I am trying to understand the how, why,
where, when....”
Something for him to sit on and ponder....HAVE A SEAT
JOSHUA NAVALKAR