2/19 Andrea Zittel "Carpet Furniture"

In Andrea Zittel's work "Carpet Furniture", carpet designs show the top view of all sorts of furniture, namely beds, desks, and tables. Zittel even goes to the extent of completing the details by adding "true" elements to the carpets, for example putting a vase of flowers on the carpet desk. Interestingly, Zittel's carpet designs essentially imitate what an architecture plan showing the interior furniture would look like. However we know that this is a two dimensional representation and contains no solid volumes that form what we know as furniture. Still, the two dimensional outlines are still recognizable to us as furniture, thus the carpet is no longer just a carpet, but a divider of space. There is where the bed is, and where the desk is. As seen in Zittel's images, people are resting on the "beds". If I walked into this room and were to sleep, I would likely sleep on the "bed" instead of just anywhere on the rug as well. We are conditioned to set function and value to certain objects, even if it's an illusion.

I chose the aphorism "ambiguity in visual design ultimately leads to a great variety of functions than designs that are functionally fixed". Zittel's design here gives the audience the option to view the carpet as they wish - as a simple carpet, or as boundaries of space. It can be used both ways, and it is completely dependent upon the audience. This gives the audience the freedom to create a function for the carpet furniture, instead of the fixated functions of "sitting on a chair" or "lying down on the bed".

In terms of De Certeau, Zittel's piece deals with the idea of spatial boundaries and its division. It is as if each outline creates a threshold that limits one's actions. People automatically attribute "spatial stories" to familiar objects, for instance as mentioned earlier, one would attribute "sleeping" to "bed", even if this space is not actually a bed. Zittel's work on carpet furniture really reminds me of Sanback's work - using simple visual illusion to divide space and limit one's spatial movement. Just because the carpet outlines certain furniture, people tend to associate its function with the three dimensional objects that are actually not present.
sandback