Hospitality Furniture

How modern is too modern? Where does style end and functionality begin? If a chair falls down in the forest and there’s nobody around to sit on it, is it still furniture? These are the kinds of deep questions that, unfortunately, run through my mind from time to time.

Today, my muse is the Ekstrem armchair from Terje Ekstrom. It… well, just look at it:

It.. confuses me. Granted, that’s not terribly hard to do these days, but still. It’s a chair. I think. It reminds me of lots of things, actually, none of them chairs: a spider missing a few legs and trying to do a back-bend; a performance artist wearing a black body stocking and contorting himself in a way he can’t get out of; something that would come to life at night and make its way down my stairs.

But for the moment, let’s work with the assumption that it’s a chair. What inspired such a crazy creation? Who actually buys chairs that look like this? Who dares to sit on them? I like my chairs to have clearly-defined sitting areas. I’m not sure where I’d begin with the Ekstrem armchair. Worse, once I sat on it, could I ever stop sitting on it?

Now, Bonluxat’s site has photographic evidence that, yes, this chair can be sat upon. The model in the small picture on the bottom of the page seems to be precariously perched on an Ekstrem. I say precariously, because he looks like he’s about to make a run for it. Maybe he was startled because night was falling and the chair started to come alive?

I think this armchair would look out of place in most settings, but it could work at an art museum, very trendy coffee shop, or other super-modern establishments. I wouldn’t recommend buying this armchair for your grandpa, either. He might hurt himself trying to escape its clutches. Here are some safer alternatives.