A Basic Instinct

For her graduation, Anna Aagaard Jensen investigated how postures of men and women reveal their unequal positions in society. The title of her project A Basic Instinct refers to the famous movie, in which we see actress Sharon Stone taking an unconventional posture with slightly spreaded legs, confusing her interrogators. Jensen: “I created my chairs in response to societal restrictions that dictate the notions of appropriate female behaviour in terms of sitting. Men have the tendency to take as much space in public as they feel or need, whereas women tend to sculpt their bodies and behavior to as much society allows and deems appropriate.” Jensen’s statement chairs challenge the boundaries of conventions and propose alternatives. Her chairs allow women to lean back in a relaxed way, spread their legs seductively, and boldly take over space as the most natural thing to do. After her graduation Anna continued to work in the style she had started in 2018, leading to a range of provocative and imaginative items in which references to conventional notions of feminity are confronted with feminist confidence.