George Brecht and Tacita Dean

In the fall of 1961, George Brecht presented his “Three Chair Events” piece at the Martha Jackson Gallery in New York. A few years later, visual artist Tacita Dean met with Brecht to discuss with him about his work.


Dean: Thank you, again, for meeting with me.

Brecht: I am glad to have this opportunity as well.

Dean: Please, tell me about your “Three Chair Events” piece and the events that took
place at the gallery.

Brecht: Well, I produced this piece to point toward something like Minimalism. I was interested in using chairs, because they are objects that can be unnoticed. As you might know already, no one could tell if the chairs were works of art or not.

Dean: That is true. That is what I thought was so interesting. It took a spotlight for people to notice that the chair was part of the exhibition.

Brecht: Yes. There were three chairs there, and I felt like everyone was focused on the white chair. The black chair in the bathroom was also part of the exhibition. However, it seemed like no one noticed it.

Dean: I see.

Brecht: But that was not as interesting as what happened to the yellow chair.

Dean: What do you mean?

Brecht: The most beautiful event happened to the yellow chair. You should have seen it. The yellow chair that was outside on the sidewalk and in front of the gallery was also part of the piece. But when I arrived, I saw a woman comfortably sitting in the chair while talking to her friends. Have you heard of Claes Oldenburg?

Dean: Claes Oldenburg… the sculptor?

Brecht: Yes! His mother was the woman sitting on the yellow chair outside of the gallery.

Dean: Really? Wow, how unexpected the events turned out. Now, tell me about the details of the chairs. I would like to know about that.

Brecht: Let’s see. The chairs were obviously the main focus. I thought a lot about the details of the chairs and how I wanted them to work in the gallery. I chose to have all three chairs identical. I didn't want the different types to be of any influence. For example, if I had chosen a bathroom stool to be put in the bathroom and a bench chair to be put outside of the exhibition, then I think that would have taken away the purpose of my piece.

Dean: What about the colors of the chairs?

Brecht: The colors of the chairs, however, had a specific meaning. The chairs were originally brown, but I wanted the chairs to blend in with their environment, so I painted them according to how I saw fit. For example, the white chair was placed in the exhibition with a spotlight to portray a theatrical work of art, the black chair was placed in the bathroom to blend in with the commonplace area, and the yellow chair was placed outside to reflect the outdoor sun. If I had switch up the colors of the chairs and their places, such as putting the yellow chair in the bathroom and the black chair outside, I think the same event and result would have taken place. Yet, I chose to put the white chair in the exhibit, the black chair in the bathroom, and the yellow chair outside, because I wanted to have the chairs blend in more with their surroundings.

Dean: That makes sense.


After George Brecht and Tacita Dean finished their conversation about the “Three Chair Events” piece that was presented at the Martha Jackson Gallery, Dean gave Brecht a gift. This gift was a book titled “FLOH.”


Brecht: What is this?

Dean: This is my gift for you. I wanted to thank you for meeting with me to discuss about your works. This is a book of photographs of the images I discovered in flea markets across Europe and America.

Brecht: This is wonderful. What are these photographs specifically of?

Dean: These are snapshots. They are portraits. They consist of ordinary places and amazing views that I came across. I wanted to take them and give them all a new existence. I wanted to present them as art.

Brecht: The book is beautiful.

Dean: Yes. However, after I had them printed in books, I stopped going to flea markets.

Brecht: Why is that?

Dean: Because I was afraid of finding an image that should have been in the book. I was afraid that I had missed something or that I will discover something that should been with the other photographs as a part of the book. But, I later realized that there will never be a final version to this collection.

Brecht: I see this photograph of a butterfly in this snow. Can you tell me more about this?

Dean: This photograph is a little different than the other images I have in the book. A lot of the images in the book are black and white. A lot of the images in the book are also portraits of people. I’m glad that you pointed this one out. As you can see, there is a butterfly resting on the snow. What is special is the fact that butterflies do not usually survive during the winter. I wanted to capture this image also because of the color. The colors of the butterfly contrasts well with the white background color of the snow. The black border color of the wings brings out the red-orange inner part of the wings…


George Brecht and Tacita Dean’s conversation carried on as they enjoyed each other’s different views of art.