Seating for Eight / Café Table I

Information
Art Type
Media / Materials
Collection
Year Completed
Designed 1985/1984, fabricated 1989-90/1992
Credit
Des Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; Gift of John and Mary Pappajohn, 2015.6.a-.h (Seating for Eight) and 2015.5 (Café Table 1)
Location
Latitude & Longitude
41.585217, -93.635435
Location Description

Seating for Eight and Café Table 1

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As a locus for explorations of both form and function, chairs occupy a position of singular importance. The works presented here attest to his passion for combining fine art and practical design and, in the process, opening up the scope of inquiry in both disciplines. The natural shapes of these chairs, and their beautiful surface—variously rough and smooth—inject aesthetic pleasure into their obvious usefulness. These objects may be appreciated as beautiful works of sculpture, but they may also be used—to relax, rest, and contemplate.

These two distinct artworks that have been combined together, where they function as a central resting place in the park.

  • The “Café Table 1” was designed 1984 and fabricated 1992. It is made of polished Absolute black granite. The overall dimensions are 28 × 22 × 22 in. (71.1 × 55.9 × 55.9 cm.)
  • “Seating for Eight” was designed 1985 and fabricated 1989-1990. Each “seat” is made of polished Deer Island granite. The overall of  the “seats” are 32 x 34 x 18 in. (81.3 x 86.4 x 45.7 cm.)
    Stone (Each Piece): 1632 lb. (740.3 kg.)

 


In 1987 the artist stated, “Visual art is moving away from the hermetic, the hieratic, the self-directed toward more civic, more outer-directed, less self-important relations with social history. I want to get some social meaning back into art.”

Scott Burton