dominic wilcox: do not touch chair

‘do not touch chair’ all images courtesy of dominic wilcox

UK-based designer dominic wilcox has created ‘do not touch chair’ for ‘about a minute’, the inaugural exhibition of the newly opened the gopher hole gallery in london. the premise of the show is to ‘consider the fact that thanks to decades of exponential hyperactive consumption, the time that someone visiting our gallery will spend contemplating your piece is likely to be less than 59 seconds.’

testing out the ‘do not touch chair’

wilcox’s piece is a line wire sculpture of a chair constructed from a single piece of 3mm wire that has been hand bent. an accompanying hoop wand invites gallery visitors to try and ‘outline’ the chair without touching the wire. if the hoop touches the sculpture, it automatically triggers the traditional gallery warning of ‘do not touch’ with the audio speaker and electronic components hidden within the chair’s display plinth, giving a typically mundane sculpture, the added value of an entertaining game.

‘I made a sculpture of a chair by bending a single length of wire and placing it on a simple white plinth. however as a further reference to the gallery context and to play with the idea of holding people’s attention, I added an interactive element. based on the old ‘buzz wire’ game, the user must navigate around the wire using a metal hoop without touching the wire. if the wire is touched, then they will here my voice warning ‘do not touch’.’ – dominic wilcox

touching the wire triggers the traditional gallery warning of ‘do not touch’

‘do not touch chair’ will be on show alongside the work of 15 other artists, designers, poets and architects until february 2011.

up close

the speaker and electronic components are hidden within the plinth

warning… ‘do not touch’

Do Not Touch Chair from Dominic Wilcox on Vimeo.

the making of the chair