Side Chair c. 1936

This simple design for a side chair was made by Lawrence Phillips, but we don't know when. It’s all about line and shape, with a subdued palette – just subtle variations of light and shadow. The drawing seems to shift and emerge through trial, error, and intuition. I sympathize with Phillips, imagining him thinking about utility, purpose, form and function. You know, what it might have been like to draw each line, each circle, each square? He seemed so interested in the material aspects, in the physicality of the chair; the legs, the seat, the back. All rendered in cool tones with a controlled hand. It reminds me of the work of other furniture designers, artists who share a similar interest in form. Artists are always in an ongoing conversation, sharing ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. And what is this drawing expressing? Perhaps the ambiguity and uncertainty in the design of something as simple as a chair.