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other-directed about those numbers. He has no feeling about them, no personal interest in what they really stand for. I cannot be other-directed about every drawer I put together. I do not think of the person putting socks or shirts into those drawers or removing them. I have no connection with anything except the drawer, and that's all. 

Furniture in its largest sense is an object which celebrates something that people do-or sanctifies it. Celebrate is a better word. Take that radiator, for instance. Well, that gives heat; when it gets ornamental, it celebrates heat the same way as a fireplace does us. But things that give heat or give cold don't look very important or religious as yet. Some day we may have air conditioners that really look like they do something for us. We've had great looking fireplaces for centuries, but air conditioners- no.
QUESTION: You use the word celebrate frequently...
ARTSCHWAGER: Yes, for everything - getting up in the morning, washing one's face, everything. There's nothing that's so new about that, but in the area where I work I think it's novel. 
QUESTION: What I am very curious to know is what the craftsmen who work for you think. 
ARTSCHWAGER: Well, they are great people. They are very

[[4 images]]
Left: Mahogany formica "Dresser", 69" high, mother-of-pearl formica mirror. 
Top: Oiled walnut dresser, functional piece from Artschwager's workshop. Right: "Table with Tablecloth," 26" high, of "Gray linen" formica, "oiled walnut" formica and black formica. Below: Artschwager's one-man show at Castelli Gallery exhibiting (left to right) "Picture Column," "Expression" and "Impression," "Point-Picture," and "Desk-Tender."