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Do you need a _____ ?
2025

It started with a chair. But what is true of a chair is true of all the things we design.

For a couple of weeks I experimented with not using a chair, a table, a bed, a bag, a clock, a thermometer, shoes, a spoon, a mirror. At times I felt trapped, foolish, uncomfortable, drawing attention, stressful, in need of replacement. At times I felt free, grounded, intimate, observant, social, strong, flexible. The important thing was, that I felt. So many things are mediated through design that in result erase body, senses, connections and choice.

During my experiment I joined my friend designer Tana Jeić who was exploring how removing an object can create a sense of togetherness with other bodies, spontaniously without predefined directions. Our researches merged in the text "Do you need a ____ ? Excercises for exploring necessity" by questioning the necessity of a chair, a family, and the words themselves. We made a performative choreographed reading session inviting audience to participate in a collective chair excercise in the end. Excercises were meant for us as a research method, but now it is for you.

After the experiment I feel more aware of my right to choose not to, to choose otherwise, to choose on my own, to choose in relation to. Now I feel the right to look at the moon in the evenings instead of the numbers in the calendar. Why couldn't I before?