The Mother of Chairs
Aline Schmidt
Over the decades, the realm of design advanced not only in its understanding of functionality, as one that can both be utilitarian and emotional, but also broadened its scope in art and psychology. According to German sociologist Gerhard Schulze, due to the increase in leisure time and prosperity after the Second World War, society shifted its desires from goods to experiences (Schulze). Hence, new possibilities left designers freedom for exploration, diving into the domain of affective experience. Defined as the “contemporary Leonardo da Vinci,” American-Israeli, MIT Professor Neri Oxman, is an excellent example of evoking one’s senses in her designs and allowing the user to experience an affective engagement that also has artistic value (Green).
In this sense, Oxman fits with design theorist Dean Sudjic’s definition of the designer as “an artist, one whose tools differ somewhat from those of his predecessors, but an artist nonetheless” (169). Meaning, design, and art are not two separate entities but rather work hand in hand. A remarkable example in which Oxman merges artistic components into her designs for the search of a sensuous experience is Gemini, the unique and multifaceted chaise, was designed by Oxman in 2014 for the “Vocal Vibrations” exhibition in Paris (Oxman). The chaise offers “a stimulation-free environment, recapitulating the ultimate quiet of the womb as it echoes our most inner voices” (Oxman et al. 108). Neri Oxman aims to transcend the primary function of a chair as Gemini materializes its dual aspects in fabrication, purpose, and materiality offering and affective experience, as one that influences an individual’s emotional state by bearing on the senses of sight, hearing, and touch. Oxman defines experimentation and process as essential steps in the creativity cycle that leads to state-of-the-art knowledge (Appendix 1). Hence, to what extent does the experimentation of composition, materiality, and color work on the user’s affective experience? In order to answer this question, Gemini will be analyzed in terms of how it successfully translates experimentation into an allusive and intuitive experience in the user.
Arguably, the experimentation within the boundaries of the Gemini’s composition impacts the user on an unconventionally intimate level. As a result of the chairs’ sophisticated spatial configuration, the users are not only stimulated visually but also encouraged to explore their sense of hearing and touch. Experimenting with a large piece of cherry wood and “subtractive wood milling,” Oxman achieves an organic, semi-enclosed, and complex composition, each adding depth to the individuals’ emotional experience (Oxman et al. 113). For instance, Gemini’s top composition, precisely the cocoon shape, plays upon what can be described as a womb-like sensation (Figure 1).
The half-sphere structure and sound-absorbing composition of “cells” provide a soothing space creating a sense of security and voluntary isolation (Oxman et al. 110).
Once the individual is seated, he or she is expected to build an emotional connection with the overall presence of this object that surrounds their vision, body, and auditory boundaries. Hence, one remembers the feeling of trust and reliability a baby develops in the nurturing womb of the mother (Figure 2). Oxman’s aim to create an experience that revolves around motherhood may not come as a surprise. The designer primarily references nature, which beyond Gemini, can be seen in her works named ‘The Silk Pavilion’ and ‘Carpel Skin.’ Furthermore, the cocoon, enforces “the prenatal experience of the fetus,” encouraging a positive value (Oxman et al. 108). Within the harmonious silence the chaise offers, one can feel a sense of ease and a deep meditative state. This feeling successfully achieves its purpose through the experimentation and process of applying acoustic properties like curved compositions and non-linear surfaces seen in the cells (Figure 3). “The features of the chaise are on the order of the wavelength of sound, and they, therefore, interact strongly with sound and get absorbed effectively” (Oxman). Precisely the application of cells, as Oxman defines the knobs, further functions to deliver “structural support and comfort” and add a sense of belonging while experiencing the chaise (Figure 4) (Oxman et al. 108). Similar to the nurturing qualities of umbilical cord, the use of textured and anatomical ‘cells’ creates a “connection” between the chaise and the user (Figure 7) (Cells For Life). According to Donald Norman, the father of user-centered design, the applications of “sensuous feelings, sounds, and shapes” as well as symmetry, smooth and curved surfaces create positive affect (Norman 29).
However, it is a common problem for designers to design within the idea of universality and expectancy of a uniform response among users.
Hence, if Gemini is designed for the ‘average-sized’ person, we should question whether the experience varies depending on the user’s body and size? (Oxman et al. 109) Additionally, being in a womb is arguably an experience based on high subjectivity, which in the case of Gemini was set on Oxman’s terms and conditions.
Considering the chaise’s idiosyncratic design language, it can leave the user with a slightly negative impression. Whether the chair is positioned upright or placed down, the peculiar composition can feel overwhelming (Figure 6). Thinking about user experiences in design Norman spoke of how “negative emotions kick in when there is a lack of understanding, when people feel frustrated and out of control — first uneasiness, then irritation, and, if the lack of control and understanding persists, even anger” (Norman 77) — In this sense, Gemini’s unfamiliar attributes may evoke adverse emotions due to their obscurities. Nevertheless, the various individual sensations Oxman aspires to articulate with the chaise were never intended to be conventional nor univocal. Hence, despite its obscurity, Gemini achieves to create an affective experience in different levels of perception with its striking, yet, sensual form, refined motifs, and ambiance that no other piece of furniture can create. Moreover, Neri Oxman builds the affective experience through the experimentation and development of heterogeneous materiality. The user’s senses of sight, hearing, touch are stimulated, calling on an emotional experience due to the color choice, acoustic property, and texture formed by materiality. With the help of contemporary technologies and indulging in the concept of duality or twin-like aspect of the chaise, Oxman applies additive fabrications to achieve the complexity of the interior that she calls “cellular skin” (Oxman et al. 108) (Figure 5). Stratasys Connex technology, the company that Oxman has worked with to accomplish the 3D printed texture, grants “a rich dialog between sound and light, rigid and flexible, natural and man-made materials” (“Stratasys Color”).
The skin-like texture of cells allows the user to recollect the moment of first skin contact unconsciously. Like babies, the chair nurtures the user with an accurate skin-to-skin contact to accommodate the bond with her or him (Figure 4).
Additionally, Gemini explores both rigid and smooth materiality. For example, “rigid opaque VeroMagenta and VeroYellow” colors establish the code of sensitivity in touch (Oxman et al. 111). The “44 different predefined combinations” or cells are sound-absorbing and simultaneously act as pressure points on the average human body, imposing the desired change of attitude in the sensorial realm (Oxman et al. 111). According to Donald Norman, positive affect occurs when “neurotransmitters broaden the brain processing, the muscles can relax, and the brain attends to the opportunities offered by the positive effect” (Norman 26). Therefore, those pressure points and sound-absorbing features of the cells can, if positioned correctly, relieve internal and external tension and pain due to the release of endorphins leading to a decrease in anxiety, a state of tranquility (Figure 2). Consequently, Gemini accomplishes a great sense of pleasure.
Furthermore, a positive stimulus can also be evoked in Gemini’s color choice, which plays essential roles in affecting one’s sensorial, thus emotional perception. Inspired by the sun, Neri Oxman establishes a visual system consisting of warm, radiant colors such as magenta, yellow, and orange, which create depth due to their opacities and tones (Figure 5). The cells’ colors radiate along the weaving surface of the chair. Their wide variety of colors, shades, and shapes come together organically to create a dynamic and striking presence. Conclusively, Oxman allows not only the materiality itself to ornament but also “color to be the ornament” (Sudjic 190). Through experimentation with color, she can assemble a piece of furniture that sparks curiosity at first sight. However, the colors achieve their real purpose when the user is surrounded by their warming radiations as they settle in, just like the electrons on the sun’s surface where their inspiration originates from (Figure 8).
In conclusion, the twin chaise Gemini designed by Neri Oxman experiments with distinct new technologies and elements that arguably have not been applied before in the realm of a design. The variation of compositions and intricacy of materiality, including architecture, texture, and color of the chaise, accomplish different levels of engagement with the senses and creates an affective experience.
However, such experience is heavily influenced by personal preferences. The design of Gemini exceeds the expectation of a chair and explores, and thereby challenges, beyond practical interpretations. Its explicit references to motherhood, specifically the womb, is viscerally felt by the user, making the design noteworthy in experimentation with contemporary techniques and processes in order to create an affective experience.
