Access a slow-looking exercise of this work.

Transcript
Narrator: This work by Danh Vo from 2013 is titled "Lot 20. Two Kennedy Administration Cabinet Room Chairs." The sculptural work hangs vertically on the gallery wall and initially appears like a single enormous piece of leather, extending around 6 feet long and about 3 feet at its widest point. It is draped in folds like a curtain. The surface that would have covered the chair seats and backs is dark black with a glossy sheen, reflecting the light at various angles while remaining shadowed within the deep folds. On the reverse side, the leather is a light tan color with a softer texture, like unfinished suede. The majority of the visible surface is black, with just a few sections at the top revealing the tan underbelly when the leather is folded over.

From a distance the black leather surface looks smooth and unblemished. Upon closer inspection, small circular indentations are visible along the edges where metal rivets would have secured it to a chair frame. Some of the corners are aged and cracked while others are torn and ragged. Remnants of white stuffing where the leather was ripped from the chair are still visible in a small oval shape on the suede underside.

This allusion to the violence of skinning a slaughtered animal and hanging it like a trophy is also reflected in the political history of the period and Vo’s family history of fleeing violence during the Vietnam War.

How do objects bear witness to history? How does the way these former chairs are presented affect our perception of the past?

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