AN ACRYLIC, FEATHER AND ALUMINUM STOOL, 1990

With the acrylic stool with feathers for the Tokyo boutique Spiral, Kuramata created one his most poetic yet minimalist designs. The clear acrylic of the stool is the most pared down of several works utilizing this material. It was only a few years before his death in 1991, that Kuramata discovered the inherent qualities of acrylic. While originally combining it with colors, he eventually arrived at the purity and playfullness of this colourless stool. The feathers captured in the block seem to float, weightlessly, creating an aesthetic deception as to the actual weight of the piece.

Shiro Kuramata 1934-1991, Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, exhibiton catalogue, Tokyo, 1996, p. 196, no. 4