Virtual Art Encounters “Exquisite Chair” October 1, 2020
Exquisite Chair
Exquisite Chair
Exquisite Chair
Joyce Lin
Studio65, “Chiocciola” Chair, designed 1972, made 1973, polyurethane foam and upholstery, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Dennis Freedman Collection, gift of Dennis Freedman. © 1972 Studio65 / Kent Pell, photographer
Urano Palma, Armchair, from the Diapositive series, c. 1970–74, wood, possibly silk, and foam, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Dennis Freedman Collection, Museum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund / Kent Pell, photographer
Alessandro Mendini, Monumentino da Casa, 1974, wood and Formica, the Dennis Freedman Collection. © 1974 Estate of Alessandro Mendini / Kent Pell, photographer
Pull up a chair, but before you do—let’s make one! Get together with your friends and be a part of the collaboration to create your own “Exquisite Chair.”
Houston artist Joyce Lin is prompting you to join in a collaborative design project by playing “Exquisite Chair,” based on the popular drawing game Exquisite Corpse, which traces its roots back to the Surrealists. To play “Exquisite Chair,” two to six participants take turns drawing the chair back, seat, and legs, keeping their creations hidden until the end. Then everything is revealed and taped together to become a wonderful, outrageous three-dimensional miniature chair.
To get started on your own “Exquisite Chair,” download the design template and watch the instructional video. Want to make your chair even more exquisite? Visit the MFAH to check out the unique chairs on view in Radical: Italian Design 1965–1985, The Dennis Freedman Collection.
Share your “Virtual Art Encounters” on social media and use the hashtag #ArtEncountersMFAH to be part of the collaboration.
Q&A with Joyce Lin
Meet the Artist
Joyce Lin is a Houston-based artist and designer passionate about making furniture and sculptural objects that deconstruct material, form, and the ever-shifting relationship between humans and their environment.
About the Program
Led by artists and inspired by art, Virtual Art Encounters brings the Museum’s popular studio-style art project online.
Art Encounters receives generous support from Learning Ninjas.
Learning and Interpretation programs receive generous funding from the Jerold B. Katz Foundation; Institute of Museum and Library Services; H-E-B; MD Anderson Cancer Center; Sharon G. Dies; Sterling-Turner Foundation; Houston Junior Woman's Club; Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo; The Brown Foundation, Inc.; Susan Vaughan Foundation; and additional generous donors.
