A project by performance artist Fyodor Pavlov-Andreevich with Olga Treivas, Antifurniture is a collection of performative sculptures. These objects maintain the illusion of furniture when viewed from a distance, but any semblance of practicality fades away upon closer look.
The rules of human’s behavior are shaped when a person first encounters the outer space. The first image of an outer structure is often furniture — cradle, chair, table, etc.
There go the phrases ‘Don’t put your elbows on the table’, ‘Don’t sit on your chair with your feet up’, ‘Don’t lean on doors’ — they regulate our behavior from the early childhood. The movement is limited with the table height, bed’s headboard, and chair’s armrests.
The furniture doesn’t allow extra action after it is produced: this is when the criteria of commodity are determined. Antifurniture soothes the future user with its sturdiness and it can be comfortable in the common understanding of the term. Just like mass-produced furniture it has some rules of use. The divisive static of these pieces is compensated with the movement of their users. Visitors are welcome and encouraged to submit their bodies to the circumstances that the Antifurniture creates: objects that immediately transform into sculptures on first contact with the human body, testing its limits.
The Antifurniture collection, developed by by Fyodor Pavlov-Andreevich with Olga Treivas, consists of three pieces. ‘Centipede’ is the ladder for three people; ‘Egoboat’ (previously ‘Procrustes’) is a rocking chair that makes one bend over instead of reclining back and ‘Lord Of The Fishes’ is the armchair that makes one twist the spine. The aim of these sculptural pieces is to envelop the visitor’s body and relieve them of their fears.
- While on the sculpture, please place your phone in airplane mode.
- Choose if you would rather be on the top, middle or bottom (if you experience vertigo please choose the bottom level).
- Climb and sit on your chosen level.
- Firmly grasp the ankles of the person above you. If you are sitting on the top level, cross your arms on top of the upper portion of the sculpture.
- Close your eyes and repeat the mantra “All my fears remain in the past” to yourself, 21 times in total.
- Upon finishing, open your eyes and carefully exit the sculpture, please do ask for help if needed.
Artist’s instruction for ‘Centipede’ sculpture
The visitors just have to relax and repeat a simple mantra while they interact with Antifurniture: ‘All my fears remain in the past’.
The Antifurniture collection, developed by Fyodor Pavlov-Andreevich with Olga Treivas in 2022, was exhibited at the 13th Bienal do Mercosul. In 2023, two pieces from the collection were featured in Fyodor Pavlov-Andreevich’s exhibition at the London Design Museum.
