Wednesday 9 May 2018

Comme Des Garcons Furniture / Rei Kawakubo



Edition : First / Tokyo / Comme des Garcons / 1990 / Softcover. / Near Fine / VG+
4to, 2 volumes. Unpaginated (72pp & 8pp). Printed wraps. Black & White plates. Text in English and Japanese. OCLC traces no copies, though a few are known to exist, with one confirmed institutional holding.

Maybe the hardest to find, and most obscure comme reference- Comme des Garcons furniture was produced in 1990 as a simple book with no text, minimal art direction, and little in the way of explanation. 28 pieces, from No.1 - No.28, produced between 1983 and 1990, presented opposite their sources. Kawakubo's furniture could be seen to be post modern if it were not so minimal, she said herself the chairs had- 'an essence of simplicity and weren't made for your derriere, but for your admiration.' and that "Comme des Garcons furniture can come to its true essence when placed in an environment that is not too pretentious... ...One can enjoy them better when they are placed in, for instance, an entrance hall or hallway where there exists no constraint." Reputedly at the 1988 presentation in Chicago the furniture was to be placed in a large pile in the middle of the room, with more being supplied if the pile was too small. One can only imagine.