Artist Statement:

This Queen Anne Winged armchair was shot multiple times on the evening of 17 October 2025 in
Dingarpur, a village at the Himalayan foothills of northern India during Diwali. Villagers
thought the gunfire was fireworks.

Police Statement Report:
Unarmed Chair (Queen Anne Winged Armchair), Incident Date 17 October 2025
On the evening of 17 October 2025, a Queen Anne winged armchair was struck by multiple
gunshots in the village of Dingarpur, located at the Himalayan foothills in northern India. The
incident occurred during the Diwali period. According to witness accounts, villagers mistook
the sound of gunfire for fireworks.
This object forms part of Justin Loke’s Unarmed Chair series. The affected armchair is now
placed inside a glass display cabinet constructed from recycled teakwood sourced from old
windows and door frames. The cabinet presents a classical appearance. The internal plinth has
been deliberately set at a tilt corresponding to the earth’s 23.5° axial lean.
The chair displays visible damage, including bullet perforations, acid-related corrosion, and
other forms of physical abuse. The object is no longer structurally stable and is partially lodged
through one panel of the glass enclosure. This condition suggests a form no longer able to
remain within its original frame or intended role.
The initiating context for this work involved an observed visual similarity between televised
fireworks and the trajectory of missiles launched in military conflicts. This resemblance
produced a moment of perceptual confusion between celebration and destruction. It also echoed
the common scenario of an individual seated in an armchair, removed from danger yet
consuming reports of violence through screens.
In this case, destruction is used as a means rather than the subject of investigation. The artist
employs breakage to expose elements of the chair that typically remain unnoticed during
normal operation. According to the artist’s stated position, a chair becomes fully visible only
when it ceases to perform its function.
Reference is made to the economic theory Broken Window Fallacy, which notes that damage
presented as improvement conceals underlying loss. In this work, apparent harm serves to
expose the underlying structures and assumptions that previously remained concealed by the
object’s usefulness. Once the chair’s function fails, it presents itself not as an instrument of
comfort but as an autonomous object with its internal systems revealed.
Within the context of an art fair, which prioritizes production and creation, this work
introduces unmaking as a counterpart. Intact objects conceal their conditions; ruptured objects
disclose them. The chair’s fractured state reflects the moment when a familiar object demands
attention through failure. The event demonstrates not the aestheticization of violence, but
violence of aesthetics.
It is the point at which the world discloses its structure by refusing to hold together.