This hanging chair by internationally renowned designer Porky Hefer is a tribute to the American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. The piece draws its title directly from Basquiat: “boom for real” was what he said when he really liked something. Porky wants those seated in the woven cane piece to experience the world through the eyes of Basquiat; to do so literally, by staring out of the wide apertures that represent the tragic figure’s viewpoint. The piece’s rectangular mouth is a reference to the cardboard box in which the artist slept in New York City’s Tompkins Square Park during his youth. To enter the pod, the sitter must carefully crawl through this narrow opening, recreating some of the claustrophobia and discomfort that the artist experienced in the early years of his life. Porky regards all of his pieces as masks — capsules inside which the sitter is free to choose how hidden they become from the world.

DATE

2019

MATERIALS

Kooboo cane, leather, synthetic hair, steel

DIMENSIONS

212 x 104 x 140 cm

STYLE

Contemporary

HERITAGE

South Africa