KYLEPETRIEDESIGN

Man’s Impression is a sculptural piece representing the reality of De Stijl as a male dominated movement. Man’s Impressionrepresents a 1963 Steltman Chair designed by Dutch Architect and Designer Gerrit Rietveld. Man’s Impression mirrors the form of the Original Steltman Chair which was originally commissioned by jeweller Steltman to rebuild and furnish his shop at Noordeinde in The Hague. There were originally 2 Steltman chairs and they were used for couples to pick out wedding rings. The original Chairs were covered in a white artificial leather while Mans Impression is made from soft wood hemlock and has an oil-wax finish. It has been put together with biscuit and domino joints to ultimately mirror Rietveld’s original Design. Man’s Impressions main feature consists of a stiffened Canvas form, inspired from the work of Maarten Baas and his clay series, it drapes over the Chair and the mould, creating a compelling contrast from the strict theories of De Stijl and goes against Mondrians theory of reverting back to basics after WW11. Yves Saint Laurent introduced the idea of bringing 2 dimensional artworks into 3 dimensional Pieces through his Mondrian Collection, these were a series of dresses that mirrored the famous paintings of Piet Mondrian in a 3 dimensional form. Man’s Impression uses canvas as a link to Piet Mondrians painting and similarly to the Mondrian Collection creates a 3-di[1]mensional finish over the mould. The Cotton Duck Canvas has a structural cardboard mould placed underneath it to create the Impression of the man sitting. This was done by laser-cutting pieces of cardboard that could be slotted together creating the organic form, then placed on the chair and covered in the canvas soaked in PVA and water and left to stiffen around the form. Moulded in relation to the male dominated nature of De Stijl, Man’s Impression reveals the imprint of a manspread to appeal comfortable to the average man and only the average man, as by moulding the chair into this position it forces the user to be sat in a masculine way possibly evoking a feeling of discomfort while sitting down in the chair. Man’s Impression goes against Mondrian’s Theory of Primary Blue being the ‘original blue’ as it uses an ultramarine pig[1]ment which was mixed in with the PVA and water solution to colour the chair. Ultramarine Pigment, deriving from Egyptian Blue was chosen as it is the first recorded blue showing the complete ORIGINAL BLUE. Man’s Impression ultimately shows the contrast of the strict, angular, horizontal and vertical forms of the chair against the organic and delicate forms of the canvas mould referring to Mondrians portrayal of men and women, he saw men as the vertical and dominant and women as the horizontal and submissive.