guide buttonback button
Beam, 1999
Oak, brass
Lent by William Anderson

People say, “what’s that?” So I say “that’s furniture, not sculpture,” and see what they do next. –GP

Beam is a simple wooden bar, triangular in cross section, with two sliding attachments in the form of a prop and a round. When assembled, the whole thing is like a seesaw for one. Peteran has radically simplified and then reshuffled the components of a table—vertical support, horizontal cantilever, and a perch. These parts can be moved around with respect to one another, creating different angles and seat heights. Beam could also be taken apart entirely, in which case one is left with three strange items: a brass and wood sculpture, a perforated plank, and a long lever. What might one do with these things? Peteran leaves that to the imagination.