Louis Ghost Chair

The object that links these two seemingly incongruous periods, however, is Philippe Starck’s Louis Ghost Chair, as immortalised in a new film of the same name by Simon Martin.

Martin’s Louis Ghost Chair is a short film piece examining the transformation of the Louis XV armchair into Starck’s iconic transparent product, which was featured in the aforementioned Ugly Betty last year.

Martin’s project was commissioned by Film and Video Umbrella, an organisation that commissions, curates, produces and presents film, video and other moving-image works by artists that are staged in collaboration with galleries and other cultural partners.

The film is one in a series of moving image works by Martin that closely examine moments in art and design history, frequently honing in on particular objects as their focus. Louis Ghost Chair is comprised of a series of shots of antique and contemporary chairs and other objects, which act as the starting point from which to reflect on the ‘nature of class and taste’, according to the gallery, which is articulated through the film’s audio-commentary.

You can see Simon Martin’s Louis Ghost Chair from 21 January – 15 April 2012 at The Holburne Museum, Great Pulteney Street, Bath, BA2 before it travels to Collective in Edinburgh in June.