[SCMP Archive] Are you sitting comfortable?

[First published on Oct 30, 1993] The assignment sounded easy: “design a chair for a special person.” But it wasn’t. The 20 students in Karen Fish’s design class at the Hong Kong International School at Tai Tam grumbled. At first.

Not enough time. Too difficult. Not specific enough. Such complaints are not unusual to experienced teachers.

“Once they got started, they really got into it,” beamed Ms Fish, the Australian-born art teacher who wouldn’t take any excuses. “They got turned on. Some students even came to school on Saturday to work on their chair.”

The 20 chairs produced made the month deadline. The famous people awarded their own seat, included Picasso, Dr Seuss, Steven Spielberg and David “Twin Peaks” Lynch.

The chair for Venus, the Goddess of Love, was adorned with a pink seat and pearls with cupids on each end. Picasso’s was made with spare parts from an old school desk.

The students judged one idea for Michael Jackson (a figure cupping a fold in his trousers) not quite proper for Hong Kong Cultural Centre’s foyer, the venue where the designs were displayed for the recently held HK Youth arts Festival.

The design brief stated that the materials could be recycled from home or school and the chair must be comfortable.