“Wear Your Chair” Exhibition
An interdisciplinary exhibition exploring the intersection of furniture and fashion.
November 5th-20th, 2022
NOMIA — Brooklyn, NY
Emmanuel Popoteur
Pitter Patter and &e
Voidfill Studio and Lil Mariko
Gustavo Barroso
Ellie Richards
Anh Dao Ha
Yara Flinn
Drew Seskunas
Phil Panza
Sitting Alone
Points of Sail
Nathaly Delacruz
Nifemi Ogunro
CAOS MOTĒ
Lane Walkup
Matt Pecina
Nethaneal Zechariah
Olivia Crosby (Opening Reception Pop-Up)
About
A while back, our very own Matt Pecina started a passion project called “Wear Your Chair.” The project functioned as an Instagram archive for streetwear and other apparel pieces that featured graphics of furniture and design objects, furniture repurposed as clothing, and everything in between.
As the project grew and was absorbed into our wider work at Pink Essay, we began to more expansively explore this intersection between furniture and fashion.
With projects like our guest editorial for cultural marketplace StockX entitled “What’s Design Got to Do With It?”, we’ve drawn connections between the worlds of furniture and clothing, asking, “Are they really so different after all?” Thinking more largely about these disciplines as “design for the body” allow us to more fluidly explore the ever-changing relationship between material, space, and the human body.
For this exhibition, each exhibitor was invited to intrepret the concept “wear your chair” through their own medium and process, resulting in a diverse array of work that redefines what design can be. It really all comes down to our Pink Essay motto of “re-designing design culture.”
Equally important to this project are the active celebration of and credit to the legacy of streetwear culture that has empowered makers to expand beyond the confines of the old-school fashion world. We see design culture set for a similar path: a future in which small makers free themselves from the expectations and exclusionary thinking of the old school, choosing to value identity, activism, community, and connection over everything else.
With the “WEAR YOUR CHAIR” exhibition, we seek to set a new norm: that we have nothing to lose and but everything to gain when we stop telling creators how to define their work and start celebrating the mind-expanding impact of interdisciplinarity. Design truly is for everyone.
Press
Installation — Photos by Matthew Gordon
Opening Reception — Sponsored by Recess, Ten to One Rum, ISH Cocktails, and Two Robbers — Photos by Kevin Tecson
