Stummer Servant by Markus Friedrich Staab, 2024

Teak stool/ table, gold plated, painted, lacquered in hogh gloss, carved and backrest added. Original title “stummer Diener”, perfect to use as a sculpture or a silent servant for the bedroom, a stool or a side table. Signed by german artist Markus Friedrich Staab.

The chair has been with us almost since the beginning of time. A piece of furniture not just for practical purposes, but as an expression of royalty, of religion, of hierarchy, of art. We examine the history of this unique object which has served each one of us since childhood.
Through my work I transform each chair into a unique and individual object. Chairs that once were mass-produced and homogenous, become singular and unique: re-cycled, re-furbished, re-mixed and re-decorated.
I am particularly interested to give value and meaning to something that has been overlooked. To free the object from its traditional use and turn it into something special. Through this process the chair that was once used on a daily basis, becomes a self-sufficient piece of art. Hereby we explore traditional historical objects that gain value by a mere change of perspective. It is these themes of chairs as sculptural objects and art as object of utility that I am particularly fascinated by.
It is the love for the daily things that we surround ourselves with, their unique shape and expression, that give me hope that not all is lost to pure consumerism and IKEAlisation

Staab 2024