Jester’s Cabinet
Fir plywood, birch plywood, ebonized pine, hemlock, hardware
Approx. 58” x 38” x 14”
2025
Jester’s privilege refers to the historical right of the jester to mock and criticize without punishment. For the very reason that nothing the he says can be taken seriously, the jester can embody the voice of common sense and honesty, or may deliver bad news which no one else is willing to deliver.
Embracing Enzo Mari’s conception of the “karaoke project”, the Jester’s Cabinet openly borrows reference points from Gerrit Rietveld and André Sornay - embracing the promise and freedom of early modernism prior to the emergence of the industrial design system - while drawing inspiration from Mari’s own experiments to extricate the design object from the commodity function.
“The designer cannot fail to have his own ideology of the world. If they have none, they are a fool who only gives shape to other people’s ideas” – Enzo Mari
Ⓒ Liam McClure, 2025