“Ideally my work has a visual presence that makes it seem like a part of a usual, everyday situation. I like the feeling that nothing’s been designed, that you can’t tell where the art starts and stops.”

About the Sculpture

Originally, David Ireland’s sculpture Bigger Big Chair was chosen through a selective process by three separate committees of WWU faculty and members of the community. It was chosen specifically to celebrate and represent the construction of a new Academic Instructional Center (AIC). The chair, constructed from large slabs of metal, seems to symbolize the academic context around it, as one usually engages in educational activities while seated in a chair within a classroom or library. Bigger Big Chair was one of Ireland’s later works; it was completed in 2007. He himself once remarked, “Ideally my work has a visual presence that makes it seem like a part of a usual, everyday situation. I like the feeling that nothing’s been designed, that you can’t tell where the art starts and stops.” I personally feel like Bigger Big Chair is an excellent representation of Ireland’s intentions in how it simultaneously appears both ordinary and bold, and seems to blend in with the pacific northwest scenery of WWU campus.

About the Artist

Born in Bellingham, but based out of San Francisco, California, David Kenneth Ireland became a recognized artist during the 1960’s Conceptual Art movement in the Bay Area. Of all his works, Ireland was most famous for his unique home at 500 Capp Street in San Francisco,  which he spent years transforming into a work of art. After Ireland’s death in 2009, a local art patron kept the house from being sold, and planned a restoration and preservation of the house as a monument to Ireland’s work. The house now hosts regular exhibitions.

Group Members:

Kenzie Wells

Abigail Bailey