The Unbearable 
Lightness of Being
March 2024
This collection is designed around Milan Kundera’s novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being, which questions whether it is better to be free (light) or burdened (weighed down). The pieces are named after the female protagonists, Teresa (weight) and Sabina (lightness).

The Teresa Chair is a material study in steel; solid, heavy, strong, adaptable. She is married to unfaithful husband but unable to leave, in her mind “not strong enough”. Teresa is chained to her life in Prague, not only by her relationship but by the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in the 1960’s. 

The Sabina Lamp is simple, transportable, and unbound. She abandons her home, her material attachments, and her relationships. Sabina is wandering artist who begins to realize at the end of her life that she is, and always has been, alone.


Watch process video




MATERIAL EXPLORATION

FORM EXPLORATION






SKETCHES/MATERIAL STUDY

Project planning, prototyping, and material study.




Claire Casper Design Portfolio2024