Video of the Week: Chairs directed by Mattias Pettersson

Beyond its ergonomic design and domestic use, the chair has historically been seen as an extension of posture, both physical and social. The new short film ‘Chair’, directed by Mattias Pettersson with creative direction by Repeat, transforms the design object into a character analysis tool.

The aesthetic approach taken by the creative team moves along the axis of ‘Fashioning Furniture’, where design becomes an equal partner to fashion. Veronica Blagoeva’s styling creates a dialogue between textures, such as the structured rigour of a woollen coat or a red turtleneck, which reflect the design elements present in the video. The grain of the tweed seems to be generated by the same industrial logic that produced the metal mesh of a chair, eliminating the distance between the observer and the observed object.

The film analyses three design archetypes, assigning each one a specific intellectual stance. In one of the most aesthetically charged sequences, the Bertoia Side Chair is treated as a filter. The model interacts with its metal grid as an observer, emphasising the aesthetics of naked design. The Kartell chair by Carlo Bartoli introduces a pop break. Saturated red dominates the frame, evoking the rebellion of 1970s plastic culture. In this segment, the act of sitting is explicitly defied by the model’s poses and actions. The use of the chair as a pedestal or the model jumping on its surface overturns the concept of comfort in favour of a dynamic and provocative ‘will to form’. The closing scene is entrusted to the rigour of Thonet. The video emphasises the stackable and repetitive nature of the object, a symbol of corporate and institutional order. The female figure recalls the minimal-chic aesthetic of the 1990s thanks to her flowing clothing that accompanies the curves of the wood, embodying a mature elegance that finds its maximum expression in control and seriality.

Thanks to the photography and immersive sound design, the film documents the metamorphosis of the object as no longer a simple support, but a frame for the staging of identity.