Weird Furniture: Louis Vuitton Electric Chair

CasaSugar — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:00:08 -0700

Artist Peter Gronquist opened a solo show,"The Revolution Will Be Fabulous," at LA's Gallery 1988 this weekend featuring his designer knock-off weaponry. NotCot was there and got a peek of his Louis Vuitton electric chair ($4,500), a "traditional" wooden electric chair printed with company's monogram and made with LV buckles used for wrist and ankle straps. The general consensus seemed to be that the quality of the chair, as well as other pieces like PacMan hand grenades and a peacock-feathered Gucci gun, didn't meet the standards of the brands they tried to emulate. To hear what I think of this artwork, read more.

While I will admit that building an LV electric chair certainly qualifies as thinking out of the box, I don't think knocking off big-name designers (who tend to prostitute their own logos to begin with) is much of a "revolutionary" statement. One of NotCot's commenters wrote, "To think that mass consumer culture can co-opt revolutionary ideals as some sort of a buzzword or the latest fad, is insulting and vulgar. If this is what the revolution looks like, then it is a sad day for the youth of today." Do you agree? Or do you think Gronquist is challenging the consumer-obsessed mentality in a valuable way?