Kinetic Art and Time-based Sculpture by Theo Kaccoufa, London, UK

Kinetic Furniture Series

Installation view - Domestic Appliance, 2008, Flowers East. Monument to the Isms, Dream River and Fountain

The chair that models itself in the image of Kafka's modern anti-hero is, by means of its appellation, also a Monument to the Isms. The author of this work, British artist Theo Kaccoufa, explains that the title acknowledges the 20th century art movements that were 'once vigorous creatures roaming the earth' and which now 'occasionally kick and struggle to regain their footing'. In manifesting this art historical critique in the ultimate image of alienation, mixed metaphors of metamorphosis abound: where Kafka begins his novella with the ridiculous but resonant proclamation that a man is now a large insect, Kaccoufa conjures the equally contentious proposal that artistic movements are an endangered species victim to the dialectical dangers of historical negation. These bold statements about modernity are brought to bear, remarkably, by a piece of furniture; that which is understood to be neither animate, nor driven by momentum, in accordance with the ascensional logic of (art-) history.

Extract from Domestic Appliance exhibition catalogue, Flowers East, 2008. Text by Ellie Harrison-Read, Curator. For full extract, see Text.