Felippe Moraes
Cadeira Elétrica (Electric Chair), 2026
Neon, acrylic, silicone, high-voltage wire and electric current
100 × 80 × 70 cm
The sculpture Cadeira Elétrica (Electric Chair, 2026) presents a beach chair rebuilt in white neon on an acrylic base. Traditionally associated with rest and the contemplation of landscape, the utilitarian form is transformed into a luminous image. By making its use impossible, the work displaces the object from its practical function and converts it into an element of aesthetic observation.
This gesture places the piece in an ambiguous territory between design and sculpture. The structure preserves the chair’s recognizable outline, but its materiality, reduced to lines of light, emphasizes the form as a three-dimensional contour. The device that normally supports the body comes to exist as a visual sign in space, inviting the viewer to contemplate what once served contemplation.
The title introduces a symbolic contrast by evoking the instrument associated with capital execution. The work puts this reference in tension by presenting a luminous structure that suggests vitality and energy. Between familiarity and estrangement, utility and contemplation, the chair emerges as a displaced object that turns an everyday element into a reflection on light, image and meaning.