James Hyde: Proposals and Prototypes

January - February 2000

This exhibition at A/D represents James Hyde's first formal presentation of furniture. It includes glowing coffee tables, chairs, a chaise longue and a chandelier have been fabricated from galvanized sheet metal. Variously finished with plexiglass, lights, carpet and fabric these works are hard edged and geometric, but are also practical and comfortable. As such, they provide a platform and illumination to ponder the aesthetics of use and the use of aesthetics.
Also included in the show are paintings and other objects by Hyde. The artist is represented by Brent Sikkema; more information about his work can be found on the website www.JamesHyde.com.

The sensations of sitting, standing, or running are, first and foremost plastic sensations and they are responsible for the development of corresponding "objects of use" and largely determine their form. A chair, bed, and table are not matters of utility but rather, the forms taken by plastic sensations, so the generally held view that all objects of daily use result from practical considerations is based upon false premises.
- Kasimir Malevich, 1927