Modern Commercial Seating

It is a fact that advertising companies use subliminal techniques in the campaigns they create for companies. The idea is to attract customers’ attention – and maybe their wallets – primarily by appealing to the natural human desire for sex. This they do by inserting subtle text or images that remind one of sex or sexual behavior. You’ll see a few examples of subliminal advertising here.

But this set of chairs by Italian designer Edoardo de Falchi is a bit more obvious, a bit more blatant. Or is it? These three chairs resemble certain letters of the alphabet, which are not readable at first glance. But arranged a certain way, one will eventually realize that they spell either “sex” or “yes.” A bit ingenious, isn’t it? I wonder what it means psychologically if you see “sex” or “yes” first. In any case, according to the designer, his Sex Chairs set is something of a subliminal joke regarding the relation between design and desire.

I guess there are many pieces of furniture that have subtle sexual themes. I’m just not sure how appropriate they would be in certain commercial settings. Imagine using the Sex Chairs as reception furniture in a restaurant. While many will probably laugh it off, others might not find it amusing. Personally I think they’re fun, and I think I’d get a big kick out of them if I saw them in a café or bar.

Edoardo de Falchi entered his Sex Chairs in a design competition called “The Skin of Corian” over at designboom in 2006. The competition’s theme was not about sex; rather, it involved the innovative use of DuPont’s Corian building material, a thermosetting plastic composed of acrylic polymer and alumina trihydrate. Too bad he didn’t win, but I’m sure he racked up points for humor and creativity.