Description: When does a piece of furniture become a work of art?

Question: What is design?

Transcript: You see what is wonderful about the period we live in now is all these artificial borders between visual arts, photography, design; between fashion; between architecture; all those artificial borders are completely disappearing. And for me there’s only one thing – either somebody is a great artist or he’s not. So you have some incredible artists who express themselves by creating furniture, or objects that you can use on a daily basis. And some artists like the Australian mega star of the design world Mark __________; or the equally great mega start Ron __________ are producing unbelievably beautiful objects that are stunning sculptures, stunning works of art. And on top of that you can sit on them or you can live with them. So it’s . . . And nowadays somebody who collects great art doesn’t want to have ugly furniture in his home or mediocre daily objects. He wants to surround himself with the best. But it has to be challenging, stimulating, and exciting, whatever you surround yourself with.

Question: When does furniture become a work of art?

Transcript: It becomes a work of art when it is aesthetically pleasing; when it is so extraordinary that you look at it far beyond its function; that you no longer look at it just as a piece of furniture; but where you think that it’s so stunning that it is a great work of art.

Recorded on: 2/7/08