Throne
For art event Symposion Gorinchem I designed a sculpture around the central theme of “Utopia”, consisting of four thrones facing each other. The design reflects my view of an ideal society, and symbolises wisdom and truth. Throne is made out of 288 wooden planks connected with 32 wooden pins.
With the ideal society as a theme, you can ask yourself: when is a society ideal and when not? That leads you to consider your own truth and other people’s truths. In my view there are multiple truths and multiple beliefs. Freedom is the best thing there is. And that is what this object is about. You are even allowed to sit on it.
At the inauguration at the time, I ended up talking to then Queen Beatrix. Of course she is the one with experience when it comes to thrones. That my design contains four of them really appealed to her as it offers the possibility for multiple points of view. Even Queen Beatrix felt that the one sitting on a throne does not necessarily hold the truth.
Throne is part of the exhibition ‘Power of the Throne’ in the renovated museum Paleis Het Loo in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands. Using various themes, the exhibition shows the deeper meaning of this typical piece of furniture and makes it clear what makes a chair a throne. The question also arises whether the throne still has a future.
Client
Symposion Gorinchem
Curator: Leo Krol
Design
Alfred van Elk
Production
Jéwé
Photography
Alfred van Elk industrial design
Location
Museum Paleis het Loo, Apeldoorn
The Netherlands