The fountain Modernism Has Sprung a Leak uses the frame of the MR chair, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in 1927, while Cesca Fountain is based on the Cesca chair, originally designed by Marcel Breuer in 1928. Tubular steel furniture designed in the golden age of modernism is here misappropriated to serve as plumbing for a fountain. Since their conception and original production, they have become the top choice for lobby furniture and show homes. Perhaps spurred on by off-shore reproductions and lapsed design copyrights, they are ubiquitous in the interior landscape and seem to simultaneously represent personal luxury and good corporate values.
Modernism has sprung a leak, 2023. Steel, plywood, plastic, water pump and fittings. While modernism holds an efficient, industrial and hygienic spirit, fountains are decorative, dynamic and communal but sometimes are equally effete and exclusive. After returning the pipes to their original function they have sprung a leak.
