Constructs & Glitches

Christopher Stuart May 9 - June 30, 2016

The Future Perfect presents Constructs & Glitches, a collection of new work by contemporary designer Christopher Stuart. Stuart’s debut show at The Future Perfect will be held alongside the launch of Equalizer, a new lighting concept by Dylan Davis and Jean Lee of Ladies & Gentlemen Studio, created in collaboration with glass artist John Hogan.

Constructs & Glitches showcases the intentional and unintentional distortion of furniture forms. As Stuart was experimenting with the “constructs” of his new collection, he repeatedly encountered “glitches” with the CAD software. Rather than work around these errors, he instead embraced and exploited them, incorporating the “glitches” into his collection. In celebrating these unusual forms, Stuart brings together the functional and non-functional to create works that challenge our traditional notions of what furniture should be.

Created exclusively for The Future Perfect, the Constructs & Glitches collection consists of the Zigzag Bench in mirror polished stainless steel, Chamfer Table 1 in brass, and Chamfer Table 2 in aluminum. Two sculptural Glitches round out the collection; Glitch 1 in mirror polished bronze and Glitch 2 (a desk) in blackened steel. Stuart’s acclaimed U Bench will also be on display in bronze, a never-before-seen finish for the piece.

THE PRESENT TENSE

ABOUT CHRISTOPHER STUART

 

Christopher Stuart is an American artist and designer. His critically acclaimed work – part sculpture, part furniture – is singular in its dramatic expression of minimalism, and bound by an ever curious conceptual rigor.

Stuart’s deceptively refined pieces – elegant, spare and striking – play on contradictions: between form and function, extravagance and restraint, design and art.

Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, Stuart began his career as a welder. At first, art was a side pursuit; he taught himself graphic design, then eventually found work as a prototype maker for an industrial design firm, where he quickly worked his way up the ladder.

Constructs & Glitches, a range of limited edition and one-of-a-kind sculptural furniture, was his first comprehensive collection as an artist. Regarding its genesis, Stuart said: “I ask myself: what exactly is a function? And shouldn’t furniture meet our emotional needs as well?” These ideas are brought into sharp focus in his Chamfer Table 2 in Aluminum, and the Zig Zag bench – pieces that subvert our expectations for the role they can play in our lives.

EXHIBITED WORKS