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Non Sequitur: "Chicken Chair" by Sebastian Errazuriz

By Ray Hu - April 27, 2012

in Furniture Design

We bumped into the inimitable Sebastian Errázuriz on our very first excursion in Milan, some six hours after we'd landed at Malpensa, and he was as amiable as ever, noting that he would send a few projects our way. The "Chicken Chair" is as cheeky as any of his work, a distinctly '99%' take on a dining chair (as opposed to his last project).

If the piece itself isn't enough of a statement in itself, the Brooklyn-based designer elaborates:The Chicken Chair came as a quick thought out of the blue. I drew it in the back of a business card and showed it to my wife and friends but they all thought it was dumb. Despite their remarks I was obsessed with the little drawing of my chicken chair and continued to carry it around with me in my wallet.

I don't know why I loved the Chicken Chair. Maybe it brought me back memories as a kid in South America seeing some chickens running on the dirt in someones back yard. Maybe it reminded me of "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" by Roald Dahl.

I create furniture pieces that incorporate conceptual and sculptural themes in a functional piece. I work a lot investigating existential issues of life and death. I have used bird taxidermy in my furniture many times, but never a live one. There was something very beautiful with the idea of bringing actual life into a lifeless furniture piece. If wooden strips are commonly used in the back rest of the chair, why couldn't those same strips close out the virtual space under our legs and create a cage for a live animal to live in? In my mind it made sense, it seemed so beautiful, obvious yet simple.

It had to be a chicken—I don't know why, but a raccoon, rabbit or dog caged under a chair would be plain wrong. I guess chickens are either always running around or caged, therefore if you where to place a cage on top of them you would probably also need to sit on the chair to avoid the chicken from toppling over the chair and escaping...

Exclusive video and more after the jump...

That's where you get this tension that fascinates me; Because sitting on top of a pecking chicken in order to keep it from escaping seemed pretty scary: all that ruffling of feathers, and nervous croaking plus the thought of getting your legs and butt pecked was quite unsettling. It reminded me of the fighting cocks I had seen in Indonesia kept trapped under giant wicker baskets until their next fight.

We never see live chickens any more except skinned and cellophane wrapped in the supermarket isle. I remember reading somewhere that the US consumes more than 8 billion chickens a year, if we do the math that's roughly some 20 million per day, 250 killed per second...

I like eating chickens, but I also like for people to be aware of how they live and the consequences of the little decisions they give for granted everyday. I would like people to see a chicken again in their daily life, to find it both uncomfortable and beautiful at the same time. I see the Chicken Chair as a simple but beautiful furniture piece, an exercise in awareness a chair that literally comes to life and assumes a new function literally pocking, pecking and croaking—questioning us.

o

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Noel

12 years ago

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In response to the 'poor chicken' comments: Anybody who buys this chair and puts a chicken in it for any period of time probably treats their chicken(s) a lot better than the 'real' 'poor' chickens who are basically grown and doped and live to die to be eaten. It seems like the chicken in this chair could represent the 'real' 'poor' chickens, but with further thinking, it could also represent or cater to real free range chickens. Someone who farms chickens as an industry probably does not want a chicken under them when they eat.
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Antonio Larosa

12 years ago

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...and of course, the designer too! (deserves to replace the chicken under the chair!). This design is mean. and pathetic!
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Antonio Larosa

12 years ago

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I think the person who posted this project deserves to be replaced with the poor chicken!
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Rod

12 years ago

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The traditional philipino bench incorporates a cage at the bottom, visitors would arrive to your house and will leave their fighting chickens underneath
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Sport

12 years ago

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It is design. It's art. It's stupid. It's clever. It's useful and useless all at once and if you don't understand that you needn't be an amateur critic because you sound dim. Also this part of this site is a blog. It's not a delivery system for your personal tastes.
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aLEX IN MONTREAL

12 years ago

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What a great idea! Often when I try to enjoy a nice meal in my dining room, my chickens can become annoying when they pluck and pec all over my house. It's doubly annoying when they run around and you can't catch them. This chair would solve that problem.
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Mike

12 years ago

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Taz, is it also unethical to put a dog in a kennel when it's being transported? Get over yourself.
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Mike

12 years ago

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Finally, I can sit AND keep my chicken.
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M4RK

12 years ago

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LOL @ Scott! Good point!

Even as an art piece this fails, there is no connection to humanity here. Bad publicity for design.
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Taz

12 years ago

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Very unethical, treating a living creature in this way, with no sign of respect, simply to fuel an egotistical, poorly considered design concept.
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Scott

12 years ago

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Sometimes it pays to listen to your wife and friends.
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Kishore

12 years ago

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Has the rooster ever bitten you
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mike

12 years ago

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I beginning to wonder why I bookmarked this site. I'm seeing less design and more wasted time.
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nemicon

12 years ago

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there is also a traditional filipino bench called a "gallinera" that provides a bigger chicken cage.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/apolakay/6022175417/
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M4RK

12 years ago

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Its a fun art piece but definitly not design.
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