Hermaphrodite expresses corporality, a theme with which Didier Fiuza Faustino has long been concerned. It is an ambiguous shape that is both like a chair and an object that symbolizes the pelvis. As the title suggests, the work inspires the sitter to wonder about his or her own identity from a gender perspective. Starting from a traditional saddlery design, Didier Fiuza Faustino has conceived Hermaphrodite, a seat fashioned by hand from an aluminium sheet.

Didier Fiuza Faustino’s method involves observing the qualities of a simple object and to configure paradoxes from it. Saddles impose an unnatural sitting position. With Hermaphrodite, Didier Fiuza Faustino has played with the incongruity of a shape, a priori more contemplative than welcoming that in fact turns out to be very comfortable.

Neither a saddle, nor a chair, nor a sculpture, Hermaphrodite reveals imaginative aesthetics inspired by science fiction films. It is puzzling, including its use which takes on its full meaning through its title…

Hermaphrodite by Didier Fiuza Faustino, Paris, France (www.mesarchitecture.com), at the Galerie Michel Rein, Paris (www.michelrein.com). CREDITS: Photo: Nacása & Partners Inc. Courtesy of Fondation d’entreprise Hermès. SOURCE: Duende PR. No part of this web site may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of Morfae and the copyright owner.