12 Divans

The installation by Franz West consists of overall 25 divans and explores furniture as an instrument of the collective and items which represent attitudes towards life in an exemplary way. It demands adaptation—a circumstance that accommodates Franz West’s way of working and his intention to evoke an action or an attitude. In the MAK Columned Main Hall, the center of the museum building, parts of the work 12 Diwane [12 Divans] are exhibited. According to West, the label “applied arts” refers to “objects applicable to everyday life.” The use value of his Adaptives—which are adapted from bodies and gestures—is replaced by utility in the conceptual design of the furniture.