Zaishu is an Australian-designed award-winning slot together seat/table.
The project “Is this seat taken?” sees the furniture being used as a canvas
by a diverse selection of international artists. Painting takes place on
18 October at Weasel’s Atelier in Amsterdam Oost and the exhibition will
launch on 7 December at Winkel Wilhelmina, Veemkade 570, Amsterdam.
ZAISHU AMSTERDAM
INTERCULTURAL ART PROJECT
This is a creative and cultural project that brings people together in an artistic venture. The pieces produced for this are unique and hand-made. Every Zaishu special art project is approached differently and there are no set rules or way of working. They are organised in different locations around the world and are produced in collaboration with international artists and designers. This is the very first Zaishu art project to take place in the Netherlands.
Creativity, participation, responsibility and evolution are our driving forces. A group of artists will work together and each paint a selection of panels (approached as if it were one canvas). After all the panels have been painted, they will be interconnected with other artists panels to make up one chair. Each chair will feature unique pieces from different artists. No artist will end up with a finite piece of work, but their art will sit as a combined piece within a creative collective.
The Zaishu design is a metaphor for the fragmented nature of this artistic collaboration. As individual pieces are connected and joined together to create a truley nouveau work. Each artist will be given their own canvas to work on, yet the finished pieces will derive from the artists working together and determining how each chair will be created. This element of randomness and chance aims to open new processes and directions for individual artists. Thus subscribing to the philosophy of Zaishu as an organic project with a progressive spirit of participation, creativity, sustainability and evolution of ideas.
ZAISHU HISTORY
The name Zaishu is derived from the Japanese word ‘zaisu’ which refers to a seat without legs used in traditional Japanese homes. Zaishu design takes inspiration from slot together wooden beams in Japanese Buddhist temples as well as Japanese respect for natural materials and simple rational forms.
Zaishu was launched in 2004 by Australian designers Matthew Butler and Helen Punton at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art in Melbourne. It was then launched internationally soon after at the Milan Furniture Fair and Milan Art Fair. Zaishu has been connected with many prestigious design houses, museums and events worldwide. In 2006 Home Beautiful Magazine named Zaishu ‘Product of the Year’. The Sydney Powerhouse Museum has two Zaishus on permanent display in their ‘Inspired Design Across Time’ exhibit.
Zaishu is a product of artistic, cultural and social exchange where innovative pieces function on dual levels physically and ideologically. It is a seat or table, art as furniture, individual and social, commercial yet ethical. Zaishu operates in an ethical manner by providing functional eco furniture with an emphasis on social responsibility. Our art projects with artists and non-profit community and school groups are acclaimed internationally by galleries, design magazines and customers for their interactive and creative focus. Zaishu uses furniture design to celebrate culture and encourage social unity by acting as a vehicle of interaction, bringing together otherwise separate segments of society.
