“They are not elegant, nor are they always comfortable. But neither are they mass-produced: they are individuals.”

– Michael Woolf, Bastard Chairs

The hybrid, vernacular seats seen in Hong Kong’s backstreets and in mainland China are known as ‘Bastard Chairs’ . These improvised seats have been assembled and repaired by local residents using whatever materials were available. There are plastic backs grafted onto wooden stools, and metal legs bolted into mismatched frames..

German photojournalist Michael Wolf (1954-2019) spotted them.

 

“They are not elegant, nor are they always comfortable. But neither are they mass-produced: they are individuals. In China, the objects used for sitting are as manifold as the occasions for sitting. Each chair and stool has its own character, is a companion, a bastard, or a venerable elder. Their occupants sit close to the floor, introspective, watching the world go by, without the pressure of time.”

– Michael Wolf, Sitting in China

“I actually collect these chairs – I’d buy them from the owner or trade them for a new chair – and at first it was just a gut thing, I found them beautiful. But later I realised they showed a transition point of China at the time: that the people are resourceful, thrifty and had time to sit, because the state-owned enterprises were going bankrupt and there was a lot of unemployment. So the chairs became a metaphor for China in the 1990s.”

– Michael Wolf

Wolf was a photojournalist in the days when budgets were generous. But things changed. “From having unlimited resources and spending three months on a story, after 11 September 2001 and the dotcom bubble it all changed. My editor would say we’ll give you maximum 10 days, then it shrank to seven days, and the work became less interesting for me. So in 2003 I started to pursue my own projects, and I haven’t done any commissions since then.”

Hong Kong became a rich place to explore. ‘”I think I know 95 per cent of Hong Kong’s back alleys now,” he said. “I’ll jump onto a bus and walk six hours in a day to find an interesting area.”

His artistic work includes 32 books and many photographic projects.