MARINA’ S DESIRE was created in cooperation with Gebrüder Thonet Vienna and looks into traditional design and the possibilities of further development.
MARINA’ S DESIRE is a study on seating habits and a reminiscence to the performance of Marina Abramovic called “The Artist Is Present”. The armrest, which can be individually added to existing chairs, questions the necessity of constant new developments in design. It plays with the curved shapes of the bentwood classics of chair design. The basic form of MARINA’ S DESIRE for the Thonet No. 14,5, the bent roundwood, skilfully entwines the design classic, although the distinctive bend radii never allow it to form a perfect unity with the original chair. Even a mishmash of different chairs will be given a homogeneous appearance with and by this product. Without challenging the original work, MARINA’ S DESIRE can lend an old collector’s item individual character and a new life. MARINA’ S DESIRE shows that handling traditional products and designs makes sense and is allowed to be radical.
“For a whole year I broke my body of the habit of lunch.” says Abramovic. “Abstaining from water was more difficult. After all, I could not disappear to the toilet in the middle of the performance. Therefore I learned to wake up at night, drink and supply my body with water.” However, she said that the biggest mistake was to dispense with armrests on the chairs, which means that the body had no support, it slumped down, the rips pressing on the organs. “After 20 days of sitting the pain was indescribable”, says the artist.
Tim Ackermann 18.02.12, „Die Welt“
