Empty Chair with Book – Erik Kessels & Karel de Mulder

A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF THE EMPTY CHAIR deals with the subject of absence. Looking at an empty chair makes us wonder who could sit or who might be sitting there. Not knowing or seeing this makes us more curious and a photograph more exciting. Will the empty chair be able to carry the weight and who will be its new companion? Will we ever know?

EMPTY CHAIR is a chair and a book, that go together, made by Erik Kessels in collaboration with Karel de Mulder and produced by Lensvelt (Amsterdam-based, design- and furniture label).

An empty chair is spoken for,
but what does an empty chair say?
It says I am reserved for someone else
who should be here today.

Or maybe it doesn’t say a word,
and the napkin says it all.
That someone else is sitting here,
they just had to make a call.

An empty chair is full of meaning
that travels time and space.
It’s held the lives of many others,
yet stayed in that one place.

A seat of comfort or sometimes pain,
but a chair will have your back.
Making sure you sit up straight,
for the confidence you lack.

An empty chair is always there,
an invitation if you will.
But I’d prefer to stand a while,
cause I’ve got some time to kill.

And if I sit, I’ll feel alone,
with no one else to stare.
So I’d rather stand my life away
and see my empty chair.