Poster Design by Edik Boghosian
Photo by Nelli Shishmanyan
7',11", 2022
The “Liberated Chair” performance / installation was in memory of Marcos Grigorian and on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of his death. It is inspired by his “Condemned Chair” installation in the 70s.
Coincidentally, 15 chairs that have been found in different parts of the city, thrown away or being used for other means, are relieved of the burden of importance-non importance contradiction.
Vahan Hakobyan was a participant in the performance, taking photos.
Coincidentally, 15 chairs that have been found in different parts of the city, thrown away or being used for other means, are relieved of the burden of importance-non importance contradiction.
Vahan Hakobyan was a participant in the performance, taking photos.
Photo source: “Earth Works” book, NY, 1989
Photo source: “Earth Works” book, NY, 1989
Identification with a brown, wooden, four-legged object with a straight back removes the human mind from knowing the pure essence of a chair.
"The object we sit on" is wrong, or, at least, not right.
For example, we can stand on a chair to change the lamp.
And we can sit on many things - on a table, stairs, stone, bench, car or even on our parents' laps.
Photos are courtesy of ARé Fest by Narek Aleksanyan
But in order not to stray from the essence of the chair, we must realize that the chair is a non-living, inanimate object.
It is obviously designed and produced for people to sit on it
But today it is a tool for some to secure a parking space, almost like “this mountain is mine, this tree is mine”*.
Hrachia Acharian’s dictionary says: Gah** (origin from Pahlavi) means chair, place, position…
… and some also sit on the heads of the people, rule them.
The chair is also politicized, again lifeless, but in this case, without the opportunity to sit on it.
The ordinary chairs wear out, become obsolete, and are often discarded.
And the poritical ones never gets old, and must be preserved, no matter what the cost is.
Edik Boghosian
* From “The end of Eveil” by Hovannes Tumanyan.
** In Armenian GAH uses as kings’ thron, or power.
“On August 6, at 7:15 a.m., an unknown citizen called the Arabgir Police Department, reporting that Marcos Grigorian, born in 1924, had been beaten at Zarubyan Street No. 57.
The Arabgir Police Department opened a criminal case in connection with the incident, under the provisions of Part 3, Part 1, Article 175 (Robbery) of the RA Criminal Code: Robbery committed with the purpose of stealing property on a particularly large scale is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 8-15 years, with or without confiscation of property.
In response to “Hetq”’s letter, the RA Police stated the following: “The preliminary investigation into the criminal case initiated on the fact of the robbery attack against Marcos Grigorian is ongoing. After the incident, M. Grigorian was unable to describe the people who attacked him, as he felt unwell at the time. He was only able to report that the masks of the attackers were made of cloth, covering their mouths, with a round opening in the eye area. He also noted that they spoke in Yerevan dialect and did not address each other by name. There are no suspects or arrests in the criminal case that has been opened. Operative-investigative measures are continuing to uncover the crime and identify the perpetrators."
The Arabgir Police Department opened a criminal case in connection with the incident, under the provisions of Part 3, Part 1, Article 175 (Robbery) of the RA Criminal Code: Robbery committed with the purpose of stealing property on a particularly large scale is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 8-15 years, with or without confiscation of property.
In response to “Hetq”’s letter, the RA Police stated the following: “The preliminary investigation into the criminal case initiated on the fact of the robbery attack against Marcos Grigorian is ongoing. After the incident, M. Grigorian was unable to describe the people who attacked him, as he felt unwell at the time. He was only able to report that the masks of the attackers were made of cloth, covering their mouths, with a round opening in the eye area. He also noted that they spoke in Yerevan dialect and did not address each other by name. There are no suspects or arrests in the criminal case that has been opened. Operative-investigative measures are continuing to uncover the crime and identify the perpetrators."
Hetq, 15:10, 15 Oct 2007
Marցos Grigorian died on August 27, three weeks after being beaten.
The case remains unsolved to this day.