Aranhas, vaga-lumes e cupins: assentos de vivências de uma designerartista

Abstract

his doctoral research, Spiders, Fireflies, and Termites: Seats of Experience of a Designer-Artist, explores new pathways for creation and critical reflection within the field of design, interrogating the fetishism and cultural symbolism attributed to objects. The study centers on the chair as an entity that transcends its utilitarian function to inhabit an artistic and symbolic dimension. Spiders, fireflies, and termites—creatures that once populated my daily life in a rural home, gradually vanished as my presence on the land became more constant. The narratives and lived experiences I shared with them took shape as chairs: objects that embody memory and symbolic meaning. From this encounter emerged the concept of “seats of experience”, developed through a hybrid lens that merges the perspectives of designer and artist, a fusion expressed through the neologism designerartist. The central hypothesis proposes that the intentional de-functionalization of design objects, such as chairs, expands their expressive potential, transforming them into vehicles for cultural critique and reflection. The primary aim of this research is to investigate the de-functionalization of chairs, reimagining them as objects of artistic and reflective expression that interrogate the relationships between humans and nature, while fostering awareness of issues such as deforestation and biodiversity loss. Methodologically, the study adopts a qualitative approach, combining artistic experimentation with an analysis of conceptual chairs, supported by a literature review on design and art. The creative process began with the collection of wooden fragments and evolved through five design perspectives: Desfunctionalization, Conceptual, Sustainable, Cultural, and Interdisciplinary. This process culminated in the creation of works such as the Spider Chair, Firefly Chair, and Termite Chair. The principal findings underscore the theoretical contribution of desfunctionalization as a method for eliciting artistic and cultural expression within the practice of the designer artist. The installed chairs demonstrate how the loss of functional purpose can generate reflection on environmental and cultural questions, revealing that design can transcend conventional utility to cultivate dialogue between art, personal experience, and sustainability.