Mirrors and Metaphors

Beirut designer Karen Chekerdijan remembers walking into her agent’s gallery one day, searching for a mirrored stainless-steel table she had designed. Thanks to those reflecting surfaces, the table had disappeared in the little landscape of the gallery. The faceted brass stools and mirrored stainless-steel containers of “The Disappearance of Objects” were inspired by this experience. Chekerdijan admits that the work verges on sculpture: “For me, the function is something that comes as a plus.” She imagines the metallic mini-totems to inspire different metaphors. They are remnants of a civilization; they are versions of rocks; they are more jewelry than furniture. The brass stools are sold as a trio, for $2,500, and the vessels are $750 each. Everything is produced by a metalworker in Beirut.