Art and industrial design junkie Arik Levy has been rather obsessed with the feelings and behaviors of people — a theme that runs rampant throughout the work he’s been doing since he graduated from Art Center Europe in Switzerland with a degree in industrial design in 1991. The fact that he’s designed sets for contemporary dance and opera on European stages makes perfect sense when you consider the multi-functional — not to mention dramatic — nature of what he calls his “contemporary domestic confessional.” This ultra private seating is angular yet podlike in form, giving it the semblance of a confessional booth, and Levy even goes so far as to incorporate conversation slats on alternating sides so a conversation can take place between the inhabitants of two booths standing side by side. With geo-location check-ins, ever present cameras and social media’s incessantly open eyes upon us everywhere we go, we can’t imagine there are too many secrets left, but for those who have them, perhaps this is the perfect — albeit funky — seating option for a rec room or communal space. The booths are part of Levy’s museum collection for the Art Institute of Chicago and are presented in blonde, charcoal and tomato red tones. Forgive us, readers, for we have sinned… we’re actually kind of coveting our neighbor’s chairs!
Photo credit: Arik Levy