A physical and critical game that exercises the domestication of the body developed by Fernanda Duarte, Brent Simoneaux and Samara Mouvery in 2012.

The Sentient Chair consists of a chair installed with a piezzo element in the seat, a sequence of LEDs in the armchair, a sonar and a speaker in the back. The sonar installed in the back of the seat measures the distance between the chair and any objects behind it as the speaker emits a beat sound. The greater the distance, the greater is the interval between each beat. As objects and/or people approach the chair, the beat’s rhythm grows faster. While the participant sits in the chair, a piezzo element acknowledges shifts in weight. If the participant manages to sit still, the first LED of the sequence lights up. The participant is therefore in a ‘game’ in which the longer she remains seated and still, the longer the piezzo element installed in the seat will not sense any weight shift. The compensation from sitting still is presented in the form of the advancing of the LED sequence. In a sense, what the Sentient Chair proposes is an exercise of domestication of the body, in which the participant is ‘taught’ to be immobile to receive a reward.