Accessory

Bocca, Studio 65,1970

The use of cold-expanded polyurethane makes traditional methods of constructing furniture redundant. One series of sculptural furniture objects stands out amongst the furniture designs of the »Studio 65« group, since it makes radical use of the freedom of design allowed by this new material. And the style of this furniture demonstrates characteristics originating in the pictorial arts of the 1960s: the softening of a Claes Oldenburg, the naive stylization to be found in comics and commercial art, or the giant, intoxicated dimensions assumed by 1960s objects. Alongside an armchair in the shape of a pillared Greek temple and a Babylonian shrine as a playsystem for children, Studio 65's contribution to the »radical design« included a sofa in the shape of a woman's mouth. The subtitle Studio 65 gave to its Sofa Bocca: »alias lips, alias Marylin«, is a reference to the inspiration for this design and its symbolism. Salvador Dalí, to whom the idea for a design of this kind has been attributed, was quoted by Studio 65 in this context as follows: »Objects with a symbolic function leave no room for formal considerations. They are characterized only by each individual's idea of love and are above any notions of shape.«