DO HIT CHAIR

Marijn van der Poll, 2000

Designer violence

The Do Hit Chair is sold as a gleaming steel cube, accompanied by a sledgehammer for the buyer to beat it into the rough shape of a chair. Want one pre-beaten? An example smashed into shape by the designer is also available — but for nearly twice the price. The work proposes an inversion of value, in which breaking the object makes it, and it elevates rough action over careful craft. Violence is framed as both release and a form of creative expression.

Image courtesy of the artist.