The Fiberglass Chairs: Something of How They Get the Way They Are
Charles Eames
American, 1907–1978
Ray Eames
American, 1912–1988
1970
A 16mm film transferred to video in which Charles Eames documents the hands-on process of forming molded fiberglass chairs to reveal the material, tooling, and design decisions behind mass-produced seating.
A tight, almost clinical close-up of a hand pressing wispy white fiberglass into a mold—skin, fiber, and a mottled work surface fill the frame so you can almost feel the scratchy texture and focused labor.
By making the production process visible, the film links midcentury design to material experimentation with plastics and helped legitimize the craft practices that underpinned modern furniture mass production.
Medium
16mm film transferred to video
Classification
Department
Credit
Committee on Architecture and Design Funds
Accession
819225
Palette
Exhibitions
