Settee 1936

This diagram of a settee was made in April '36 by John Dieterich. It is a sketch, but it’s also a plan; the diagram comes into being with trial, error, and intuition, the same as art! I feel for John here; it's easy to see how decisions about a piece of furniture must emerge, since the object needs to be functional, but still have some kind of personality. What was John thinking when he drew the elegant legs with ball and claw feet? How did he decide on the curve of the backrest? A gesture like a line can communicate feeling, and I see so much decision-making anxiety in this piece. The drawing is technical but the little flourishes speak to an embodied expression of furniture making. Like painting, it embraces ambiguity, and the many interpretations of ‘good design’ over time.