What does it mean to truly live with art? Beyond the wall, beyond contemplation, there are works that quietly slip into daily life - objects that remain, unequivocally, artworks; yet invite touch, use, and presence in a more direct way. This selection explores artists who have extended their practice into the realm between sculpture and function, without ever leaving the territory of art.
Jeff Koons: The Familiar, Reimagined
Few artists have examined the language of objects as incisively as Jeff Koons (b. 1955). Drawing from mass culture, his work elevates the everyday into something simultaneously celebratory and uncanny.
His Coupe Plates (2013-2014), featuring motifs such as Tulips, Lips, and Play-Doh, translate some of his most iconic sculptural forms into porcelain. While they may sit comfortably within a domestic setting, they remain rooted in Koons’ enduring exploration of surface, desire, and the aesthetics of consumption. These are not simply plates; they are extensions of a practice that questions what we value, and why.
Damien Hirst: Colour, Repetition, and Experience
Damien Hirst’s (b. 1965) work has long revolved around systems, repetition, and the tension between beauty and mortality. His Deckchairs (2008), presented in vivid colours, might initially evoke leisure and the seaside, yet they carry the unmistakable visual language of his spot paintings. Functional yet conceptual, these works blur the line between relaxation and reflection. To sit on one is to quite literally inhabit the artwork, a gesture that feels both playful and subversive within the context of contemporary art.
Laure Prouvost: Playful Subversion
Laure Prouvost’s (b. 1978) practice, defined by her surreal humour, resists easy definition. Her Bum Glasses (2018) are emblematic of this approach: disarming, tactile, and slightly absurd.
At first glance they invite a smile, yet beneath their playful form lies a deeper questioning of how we assign meaning and value to objects. By transforming something as ordinary as a drinking glass into a sculptural provocation, Prouvost gently disrupts our expectations of both art and function.
Chiharu Shiota: Memory, Thread, and Light
Known for her immersive installations of interwoven thread, Chiharu Shiota (b. 1972) often explores themes of memory, absence, and human connection. With I HOPE… (2021), she condenses this expansive language in a domestic form.
The lamp, encased in her signature web-like structure, becomes both a source of light and a vessel of emotion. It is a functional object, yet it carries the poetic weight of her installations: a quiet reminder that even the most ordinary acts, like switching on a light, can hold deeper resonance.
These works exist in a space where art does not simply hang or stand apart, but integrates into the rhythms of life. They are meant to be lived with; not in spite of their status as artworks, but because of it.
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