{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O58651"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O58651/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2008BT7451/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2008BT7451/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2008BT7451","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2008BT7450","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AU7342","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O58651","accessionNumber":"W.6-1990","objectType":"Armchair","titles":[{"title":"How High the Moon","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"Shiro Kuramata's <i>How High the Moon</i> chair is a self-consciously artistic and improbable furniture design by one of Japan's most interesting, but enigmatic architects. \r\n\r\nThe designer has taken the traditionally bulky and upholstered idea of the chair and  used a thin metal mesh to reinterpret the form. This indicates that the designer is more interested in polemical or ironic statements than in creating a comfortable chair. The chair is a limited edition piece manufactured by the Swiss manufacturer Vitra as part of their art furniture line, Vitra Edition.","physicalDescription":"Armchair, 'How High The Moon', perforated zinc and steel mesh shaped and soldered, nickel plated, 75.2 x 95.4 x 81.5 cm","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Kuramata, Shiro","id":"A5796"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"AAT25190"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Vitra","id":"A5797"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"zinc","id":"AAT11037"},{"text":"steel","id":"AAT133751"}],"techniques":[{"text":"soldering","id":"AAT53949"},{"text":"plating","id":"AAT53991"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Perforated zinc and steel mesh","categories":[{"text":"Furniture","id":"THES48948"},{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":["2008BT7451","2008BT7450","2006AU7342"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES342950"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Armchair","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Basel (Switzerland)","id":"x40973"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1986-1987","earliest":"1986-01-01","latest":"1987-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Vitra Ltd., London","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"75.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"95.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"81.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Armchair, 'How High The Moon', perforated zinc and steel mesh, Shiro Kuramata, made by Vitra, Basel, Switzerland, 1986-87","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Baker, Malcolm, and Brenda Richardson (eds.), <i>A Grand Design: The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum</i>, London: V&A Publications, 1999.","id":"AUTH348910"},"details":"","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"'Recent acquisitions of furniture and woodwork at the Victoria and Albert Museum'. <u>Burlington Magazine</u> June 1993, vol. CXXXV, no. 1083, pp. 443-448. This item and its pair (W.34-1990) illustrated as item XII."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Limited edition","id":"THES48862"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"SHIRO KURAMATA (Japanese, 1934-1991); \r\nMade by VITRA, Basel, Switzerland\r\n\r\nARMCHAIR: 'HOW HIGH THE MOON,' 1986-87\r\nPerforated zinc and steel mesh\r\nGiven by Vitra Ltd., London\r\n\r\nWhile the form and proportion of this armchair are based on the traditional club chair - an upholstered and overstuffed easy chair with deep arms and a low back - the bulkiness and solidity of the club chair are transformed into weightlessness and transparency through the use of an unexpected material.  The chair, metaphorically titled 'How High the Moon,' has no evident structural support - its structure and 'upholstery,' its inside and outside, are one and the same.  Shiro Kuramata was as much poet as designer: each of his interiors and design objects was both artwork and haiku. In this case, the Museum was acquiring an example of contemporary furniture production, albeit one that has already become a classic of modern design.","date":{"text":"1999","earliest":"1999-01-01","latest":"1999-12-31"}},{"text":"This self-consciously improbable piece of furniture challenges our expectations, translating the traditional bulky and upholstered nature of the enveloping club chair into a lightweight, transparent and rigid form.  Its function is to examine the concept of the chair rather than to provide comfortable seating.","date":{"text":"1990","earliest":"1990-01-01","latest":"1990-12-31"}},{"text":"This chair is a self-consciously artistic and improbable furniture design by one of Japan's most interesting but enigmatic architects.  Its impracticality as comfortable seating is intended to make us consider the possibility that a chair can also be an object of contemplation, if not an art form in its own right. \r\nKuramata begins with the traditionally bulky form of an armchair but transforms it into a lightweight and visually transparent form that hovers above the ground.  Although Kuramata, like many contemporary designers, names most of his furniture, the names are not necessarily intended to convey a message - the sitter is left to dwell on that question.\r\nThe chair is a limited edition piece manufactured by a large, Swiss office manufacturer as part of their art furniture line, Vitra Edition.  The firm's owner is pleasantly obsessed with modern furniture - he recently built a design museum - and such projects emphasize his committment to inventive design and bring added publicity of the firm's more commercial activities.\r\nGiven by Vitra Ltd, London","date":{"text":"1990","earliest":"1990-01-01","latest":"1990-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["W.6-1990"],"accessionNumberNum":"6","accessionNumberPrefix":"W","accessionYear":1990,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-23","recordCreationDate":"2001-05-01","availableToBook":false}}