Gessler Clothing Rack

The Gruppe Pentagon was a Cologne-based design collective founded by Gerd Arens, Wolfgang Laubersheimer, Reinhard Müller, Ralph Sommer and Meyer Voggenreiter. These founding artists eschewed the prevailing style of German design in the 1980s, which prized functionality, industrial-production and ideas surrounding “good taste”. Their revolutionary ethos represented a radical departure from the traditional bourgeois approach, instead exploring imaginative and playful forms of experimentation to bridge the gap between art and music.

German designer Hermann Becker was a part of the post-modern group. Reenvisioning the clothes valet, he designed and produced this Stummer Diener entitled “Gessler”, a wink to Wilhelm Tell by playwright Friedrich Schiller. The large, brutal clothing rack is made of solid metal, yet softened by felt hanger covers in navy blue and crimson. Though a common household item, Becker’s “Gessler” is also a substantial and formidable functional sculpture.

Year: 1989

Material: Metal, felt

Dimensions: Ø 31 1/2 x H 67 in