10 December 2007

Forgotten chairs

Students from the Interactive Media Design course at the University of Dundee are hosting a new exhibition, Forgotten Chairs.

The exhibition follows the success of last year’s event, the Museum of Lost Interactions.

The exhibition consists of ten different chairs that have been discovered and restored by the group. The Communication Chair is believed to have been invented by John Chiltern during WWII as a means of letting soldiers communicate with their families.

The Phantasmagoria Chair, it seems, was used in the early 1900’s by internationally renowned spiritualist, Flora Cooke, to fool people into thinking they were communicating with the spirits. The chair had a paper board that would look like phantom words were appearing from the spirit world, but worked by a hidden candle and pedal power.

During the 1950’s, television became the dominant mass media as people sought to bring television into their homes. It is thought that in 1956, Buddy Gray, the owner of ‘Bud’s Television Service’ in Boston Massachusetts, created the ‘Home Viewing Chair’. The HVC consisted of a bespoke armchair, with attached remote control unit, and a footrest containing an ‘Admiral DZ-1314’ television set and miniature film reel system.

These Forgotten Chairs span over a century of design, each selected for its own unique and fascinating function and historical background.

This year the gallery has moved to The Queen Mother Building on the University campus and will span a total of three days. The opening night will take place on Wednesday the 12th December, from 5pm to 7:30. The exhibition will also be available for viewing from 9am to 5pm on the 13th and 14th December.

For a closer look at the content of the exhibition please visit our website http://imd.dundee.ac.uk/forgottenchairs/

To check the veracity of the claims, please call Sarah McMichael on 07752 399755

For media enquiries contact:
Anna Day
Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: a.c.day@dundee.ac.uk