Chairs the environment and Dostoyevsky

It hardly took a whole lecture on chairs to convince me,

I want one of these:

barcelonachair.JPG

A Barcelona Chair.

I really like them.

It’s a chair with a long history in design, iconic – very modernist but also with the magic of agelessness.

Not perhaps your ultimate comfort item but if I ever say owned a design company or had a nice little office somewhere, I’d be tempted. A black one. The authentic ones are worth $2k so I guess $400 on Ebay is a steal… maybe some day.

Meanwhile, on Amateur Theology, Geoff’s been talking about consumerism and the lecturer today did point out that post modernism eats consumerism like pie – that might not be word for word.

Oh, and I’m supposedly meant to be posting about the environment for Blog Action Day.

So here it is:

I like the environment.
I think God cares about us helping take care of the environment.
I think God is right.

And there was that interesting quote from The Brothers Karamazov (Which yes I am attempting to read at the moment and yes is by Dostoevsky and no I am not reading it in Russian, someone has kindly translated it – I’m not that clever – infact I’m having enough trouble understanding it in English and the fact that the characters have about eight variations on their names each):

“Yes. But could I endure such a life for long?” the lady went on fervently, almost frantically. “That’s the chief question – that’s my most agonizing question. I shut my eyes and ask myself, ‘Would you persevere long on that path? And if the patient whose wounds you are washing did not meet you with gratitude, but worried you with his whims, without valuing or remarking your charitable services, began abusing you and rudely commanding you, and complaining to the superior authorities of you (which often happens when people are in great suffering) – what then? Would you persevere in your love, or not?’ And do you know, I came with horror to the conclusion that, if anything could dissipate my love to humanity, it would be ingratitude. In short, I am a hired servant, I expect my payment at once – that is, praise, and the repayment of love with love. Otherwise I am incapable of loving any one.”

Love well. Love real.

3 Comments

  1. said:

    cool looking chair – but i guess i crave my own leather arm chair to sink into – i have an ikea one which is cool but not quite the same 🙂

    All i know about Dostoevsky is that grace is a major theme in his works – altho i’ve never read them.

    Oh and i think you’re righ about the environment 🙂

    October 16, 2007
    Reply
  2. […] Aside from having a fun name, Ezio Manzini is my new design hero… I don’t know if I’ve had one of these before, but we’ll give it a shot. I don’t mind Ray and Charles Eames either for their funky chair. […]

    February 27, 2008
    Reply

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