Sitting Pretty

You can sit on a chair designed by David Fobes, or you can stand back and admire its Dali-esque implications. Just please, please don’t let the cat scratch it.

Fobes designs more than your average lounge chair, more than an end table to prop up your Diet Coke can. The adjunct professor of art at Mesa College is regarded as one of the country’s leading designers of furniture-as-art, and teaches a class in this increasingly popular medium. In classes taught by Fobes, students learn to craft functional furniture that also represents art.

“There has been high-end furniture designed as craft for centuries,” Fobes said. “But after the Industrial Revolution, people started giving up on the idea of furniture built by hand. During the last few decades, though, the idea for furniture to serve as an art form has really caught on. The movement itself, American Studio Furniture, is very big.”

Fobes had a head start, hanging out in his father’s basement workshop as a child. He developed an early interest in tools and creating objects for different art forms.

“I was always the nerdy kid who was the best at drawing,” Fobes said. “But I also loved working with wood. Even way back then, I was thinking of ideas for combining theories of art with practical furniture.”

Practical is a key word for Fobes. “Working with wood as art is a challenge, because if you make a mistake and cut it short, you can’t stretch it,” Fobes said. “So before you begin, you must know ergonomics. You must understand the human form. I like to stick to the challenge of making pieces work well as furniture, as much as work well as art.”

As one website description puts it regarding his work, “The finished tables and cabinets are juggling acts of utility, metaphor, illusion and form that question the viewer’s ability to distinguish the difference between the physical world and metaphysical experience.”

Fobes earned a degree in environmental design in 1978, then went back to school to get his master’s of fine arts degree in 1990 at San Diego State University. He has been teaching since, in addition to the work he does on commission and on spec.

“The pay doesn’t compel me to teach,” he said, laughing. “Inspiring students does. Many of them have never used their hands before. For some, that is a life-changing experience. We live in a society that is out of touch with the idea of using our hands. Sitting at a computer, you use your hands, but not on something tangible, not on something that you can take away with you. To see that change, to see students who learn how to use their hands for the first time, that makes my day. The students in my classes are really motivated to do good work. They often stay long after the class time has ended, and I stay with them as long as they want to work.”

Practice and experience, Fobes says, mean everything. “It takes a tremendous amount of time and skills to get to where you really want to go with this work,” Fobes said. “I’ve been doing it for 20 years, and I’m just now getting recognition.”

Furniture art varies widely in cost, ranging anywhere from $1,000 $25,000, depending on the piece. Fobes is increasingly sought for commissioned pieces, and expects to have a work in one of the Smithsonian galleries in the next year.

“That’s the thrill, when you can be part of a major public collection like that,” Fobes said. “Everybody wants more recognition, but furniture art still hasn’t and will probably never attain the kind of respect and money that a painting does. But you look at the increasing number of major galleries and showrooms that are presenting furniture art, and you know things are getting better. There are a growing number of students who are getting into the study because it’s not just vocational education, it’s also fine arts training.”

Starting July 9, 2000, work by Fobes and his students will be shown in a display at the Divan Studio in La Jolla, in conjunction with work from students at SDSU. Fobes also recommends those who want to learn more about furniture art visit the websites www.guild.com and www.johnelder.com.

“The students have done some marvelous work,” he said. “It makes me feel good about the future of the form.”

Furniture by David Fobes

Photos by Michael James