Cut Chair Optical Illusion

The art installation you’re about to see was designed by Peter Bristol, a lead product designer at Seattle-based product development consultancy Carbon Design Group. As author described it in his own words, “The Cut Chair” provides a stable place to sit, but creates an optical illusion that tells you otherwise. It usually takes few moments before people conclude how this trick works, yet the solution is pretty straight-forward. A plate concealed by a thick carpet allows a robust cantilevered seat. Three well placed leg “stumps” and the chair looks as though it has just been magically sliced apart. Peter is currently looking for a partner that would like to have the Cut Chair made for installation or production.




41 Replies to “Cut Chair Optical Illusion”

  1. I don’t know if you noticed but you spelled, “Cut Chari” as the title. Other than that, this is an awesome chair.

  2. This isn’t much of an illusion. The chair is exactly how it looks and the way it works is fairly obvious.

  3. At first glance, I assumed the legs of the chair were painted to create the illusion, which of course be visible from limited angles

    1. I figured that too. Not sure it would be terribly stable even bolted down as it is. You’d be counting on that one leg for everything and if you didn’t get the bolt in Just.Right. it would break the leg and still tip over.

  4. It’s cool, but not that original.

    This is exactly the same premise as the holy man levitating in mid-air, holding nothing but a staff. In fact, the holy man is arguably way cooler.

    Very old magician’s trick. (Hundreds of years old, I think.)

  5. Without saying to much, a person with the knowledge and skills could make one in less than an hour. Great idea.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *