b-loud: Claudie Bastide’s Chair Rase
// October 22nd, 2009 // View Comments // b-loud
We asked chair-loving artist Claudie Bastide, interviewed in yesterday’s blog post, to tell us more about her art, and to cherry-pick one of her pieces to feature on our blog.
Claudie selected Chair Rase, one of her famous chairs turned into a character with hair, a mouth, eyes, a nose, a hat and breasts. The engraved caption on the seat of the chair reads “faisons chaise-rase des idées reçues” which translates as “let’s break free from pre-conceived ideas”, thus challenging the viewer to perceive objects around him in a completely different way. “This sculpture is very much the illustration of my artistic approach”, Claudie adds.
Claudie is a militant against meaningless chairs, and by using what she calls the “chair language”, wishes to unsettle the viewer and force him to ask questions about life, himself, others as well as art. Claudie openly admits that she’s not entirely sure whether her chairs are comfy, at b-uncut however, we think they are thought-provoking!
Claudie has nicknamed her chairs the “troublemakers”, as they do challenge the perception, we as humans, have of objects we take for granted.
As Claudie points out:
“Many people ask whether they can sit on them or not and what may happen if they sit on them. I answer that it is an effect of their mind that sitting becomes a thoughtful act and that my chair-sculptures are links between their bottom and their mind!”
You can check out Claudie’s pieces in the b-uncut gallery, or why not purchase a little something from our store? 
How would sitting on Chair Rase make you feel?
