Chair Events

"Chair Events" is a performative and participatory installation that actualises the concepts of occurrence and randomness in the same way as Brecht’s many other object-based events. There are several extant versions of "Chair Events" approved by Brecht, each with varying numbers of chairs and assortments of objects. Each event is, in principle, an open work that can exist in two forms: as a performative installation that consists in enacting the many possible arrangements of chairs and objects, and as a sculptural (static) form that documents the arrangements made and the actions enacted with the chairs and the chosen objects in a given time and space. According to Brecht’s initial concept, each event is enacted during the timespan of a single occasion and ends afterwards. The first “Chair Event” came out of George Brecht’s critical thoughts on the institutional forms of distributing, exhibiting and consuming art. This version of "Chair Events" features four different chairs, a loaf of bread, a potted flower, a can of paint and a brush, as well as a pair of woman shoes, and was conceived by curator René Block on the occasion of the Sydney Biennale in 1990 with the approval of the artist.

"Words Are Very Unnecessary", exhibition view, Arter, 2019.