Exploded Chair: A Fusion of Art and Functionality

Joyce Lin's Award-Winning Design Explores Connection and Disconnection

Lin's fascination with internal structures and mechanisms, and the interplay between connection and disconnection, served as the inspiration for the Exploded Chair. The designer sought to create an object that simultaneously expressed a state of unity and separation, challenging the viewer's perception of stability and function.

The Exploded Chair stands out for its unique design and construction. Composed of a disjointed wooden spindle chair encased in clear acrylic boxes, the parts of the chair are loose within their compartments. This allows them to shift angles when the chair is moved, creating an illusion of movement while remaining stationary. The chair is structural, yet the acrylic provides the support, emphasizing both the joinery of its parts and the form as a whole. This innovative design raises questions about the function of a chair versus its physical reality.

The realization of the Exploded Chair involved meticulous craftsmanship. The maple wood parts were turned and shaped by hand, burnished to a smooth surface, and left unfinished. The quarter-inch thick panels of acrylic were cut, polished, and constructed around the chair parts using a plastic solvent glue and numerous jig setups. Any minor scratches and solvent leaks were carefully removed with a plastic polishing compound.

Interacting with the Exploded Chair offers a unique experience. Participants who sit on the chair appear to be hovering above the wooden seat, adding to the illusion of disconnection. The project began in November 2016 and concluded in December 2016. It was exhibited in the Gelman Gallery in Providence until October 2017, after which it joined a private chair collection in Toronto.

Creating the Exploded Chair was not without its challenges. The primary difficulty lay in developing an acrylic welding method that would be precise and clean, to minimize visible blemishes on the transparent material. Lin overcame this challenge through extensive research and adaptation of methods used by museum case display contractors, using a series of right angle jigs and squares.

The Exploded Chair earned Lin the Silver A' Furniture Design Award in 2018. This prestigious award is given to designs that demonstrate outstanding expertise and innovation, and that introduce positive feelings, amazement, and wonder. The Exploded Chair, with its unique blend of art and functionality, certainly fits this description.