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Arch Digest is a terrible place to read about anything related to art or design. Judd was a seminal artist, and has some fantastically sharp essays(0), which a

Arch Digest is a terrible place to read about anything related to art or design. Judd was a seminal artist, and has some fantastically sharp essays(0), which are well worth reading. I agree that the chairs are not practical, but conceptually I think they're brilliant. Having such a pure vision (of reducing an object to its most essential form) and executing on it, I think is admirable. I think you're missing the point if you approach Judd from a practical position, and disregard the value of his ideas. (0) https://juddfoundation.org/artist/writing/ https://juddfoundation.org/artist/writing/ ("It's hard to find a good lamp" and "Some aspects of colour in general..." are good places to start)

blunte 6y ago
But is it reasonable to call that its most essential form when that form is so anatomically wrong? In other words, if a chair so badly fits most humans, should it be called a chair? A sphere can be used as a chair, and it is even simpler or more pure design-wise, but we don’t call it a chair.
- alanbernstein 6y ago
  A yoga ball is actually a better chair than this thing.
- joehartshorn 6y ago
  Don's rebuttal; "I am often told that the furniture is not comfortable, and in that not functional. The source of the question is in the overstuffed bourgeois Victorian furniture, which, as I said, never ceased. The furniture is comfortable to me. Rather than making a chair to sleep in or a machine to live in, it is better to make a bed. A straight chair is best for eating or writing. The third position is standing." - 'It's Hard To Find A Good Lamp' 1993 http://s3.amazonaws.com/juddfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/21164501/Its_Hard_To_Find_A_Good_Lamp_1993.pdf http://s3.amazonaws.com/juddfoundation.org/wp-content/upload... I'd also suggest reading "Being Dumb" by Kenneth Goldsmith, as a reminder that not everything requires a strict practicality to be great. https://www.theawl.com/2013/07/being-dumb/ https://www.theawl.com/2013/07/being-dumb/
JoeAltmaier 6y ago
Pushing art into home furnishings, to the point the home is not liveable, is missing the point of art to a massive degree.
- joehartshorn 6y ago
  >'to the point the home is not liveable' Putting Judd furniture in a home hardly makes it unliveable, it's narrow minded of you to suggest it. >'Pushing art into home furnishings, ..., is missing the point of art to a massive degree.' Here are a few galleries (and a couple of articles) that would beg to differ: https://www.maniera.be/ https://www.maniera.be/ http://www.etageprojects.com/ http://www.etageprojects.com/ http://a1043.com/?lang=en http://a1043.com/?lang=en https://carpentersworkshopgallery.com/ https://carpentersworkshopgallery.com/ https://salon94.com/design https://salon94.com/design https://www.galeriekreo.com/en/ https://www.galeriekreo.com/en/ https://nilufar.com/en/ https://nilufar.com/en/ https://seedslondon.com/ https://seedslondon.com/ https://flash---art.com/2020/03/is-collectible-design-a-new-form-of-contemporary-art-nomad-st-moritz-3rd-edition/ https://flash---art.com/2020/03/is-collectible-design-a-new-... https://www.archpaper.com/2020/03/an-interior-evolution-of-the-us-collectible-design-market/ https://www.archpaper.com/2020/03/an-interior-evolution-of-t...
  - JoeAltmaier 6y ago
    No, narrow-hipped perhaps. Just look at those awful, awful chairs. Nothing whatsoever that admits a human being will sit in them. No, its hunky-dory goofy thinking that leads to 'it looks like a chair, so it must be a chair'. Only an artist could think that. Sure furniture could be pretty. But it has to, at root, function for humans.
    - joehartshorn 6y ago
      I'm happy for you, that you are so secure in your world view. Personally I try to challenge mine as often as possible, and avoid dismissing things before I understand them. I hoped that you might find a quick introduction to a booming movement in design and art interesting, I'm sorry I wasted your time!

blunte 6y ago

But is it reasonable to call that its most essential form when that form is so anatomically wrong? In other words, if a chair so badly fits most humans, should it be called a chair? A sphere can be used as a chair, and it is even simpler or more pure design-wise, but we don’t call it a chair.

alanbernstein 6y ago
A yoga ball is actually a better chair than this thing.
joehartshorn 6y ago
Don's rebuttal; "I am often told that the furniture is not comfortable, and in that not functional. The source of the question is in the overstuffed bourgeois Victorian furniture, which, as I said, never ceased. The furniture is comfortable to me. Rather than making a chair to sleep in or a machine to live in, it is better to make a bed. A straight chair is best for eating or writing. The third position is standing." - 'It's Hard To Find A Good Lamp' 1993 http://s3.amazonaws.com/juddfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/21164501/Its_Hard_To_Find_A_Good_Lamp_1993.pdf http://s3.amazonaws.com/juddfoundation.org/wp-content/upload... I'd also suggest reading "Being Dumb" by Kenneth Goldsmith, as a reminder that not everything requires a strict practicality to be great. https://www.theawl.com/2013/07/being-dumb/ https://www.theawl.com/2013/07/being-dumb/

JoeAltmaier 6y ago

Pushing art into home furnishings, to the point the home is not liveable, is missing the point of art to a massive degree.

joehartshorn 6y ago
>'to the point the home is not liveable' Putting Judd furniture in a home hardly makes it unliveable, it's narrow minded of you to suggest it. >'Pushing art into home furnishings, ..., is missing the point of art to a massive degree.' Here are a few galleries (and a couple of articles) that would beg to differ: https://www.maniera.be/ https://www.maniera.be/ http://www.etageprojects.com/ http://www.etageprojects.com/ http://a1043.com/?lang=en http://a1043.com/?lang=en https://carpentersworkshopgallery.com/ https://carpentersworkshopgallery.com/ https://salon94.com/design https://salon94.com/design https://www.galeriekreo.com/en/ https://www.galeriekreo.com/en/ https://nilufar.com/en/ https://nilufar.com/en/ https://seedslondon.com/ https://seedslondon.com/ https://flash---art.com/2020/03/is-collectible-design-a-new-form-of-contemporary-art-nomad-st-moritz-3rd-edition/ https://flash---art.com/2020/03/is-collectible-design-a-new-... https://www.archpaper.com/2020/03/an-interior-evolution-of-the-us-collectible-design-market/ https://www.archpaper.com/2020/03/an-interior-evolution-of-t...
- JoeAltmaier 6y ago
  No, narrow-hipped perhaps. Just look at those awful, awful chairs. Nothing whatsoever that admits a human being will sit in them. No, its hunky-dory goofy thinking that leads to 'it looks like a chair, so it must be a chair'. Only an artist could think that. Sure furniture could be pretty. But it has to, at root, function for humans.
  - joehartshorn 6y ago
    I'm happy for you, that you are so secure in your world view. Personally I try to challenge mine as often as possible, and avoid dismissing things before I understand them. I hoped that you might find a quick introduction to a booming movement in design and art interesting, I'm sorry I wasted your time!