How to Take Inspiration from Art You Dislike for SIA Maarten Baas

Marsha at Marsha in the Middle is the curator for this round of Style Imitating Art (SIA), and she selected the "Hey Chair Be a Bookshelf" bookcase by contemporary German-Dutch artist/designer Maarten Baas. She chose this piece because she recently did a presentation about it as part of her docent training at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and she thinks that "it is just weird enough that we can all have a lot of fun coming up with outfits for it, right?" I do not disagree that this is a weird piece! Pieces of furniture, musical instruments, and other pieces of junk from thrift stores, etc., stacked and stuck together and covered in black polyurethane. (Oh, and don't miss that there's an actual crucifix attaching the base chair to the next level up...kind of beyond weird, in a way.)

Source: https://marshainthemiddle.com

My husband's reaction was that it was a "museum think-piece"; he said: "I understand what he's doing here but..." I honestly finish that sentence: "but...it's pretty ugly, isn't it? I wouldn't want it in my house!" I think this is the first Style Imitating Art challenge where my reaction to the artwork is that I really don't like it. So that added an extra layer of challenge to the task of creating an outfit based on the art!

So how did I go about channeling this not-very-inspiring artwork into an outfit? I decided to abstract completely away from the subject matter and focus entirely on picking out a color palette from the image: black (from the "bookshelf"), white (from the area around it), and green (from the fake plant). Next I focused on the lines and shapes, and my black and white skirt with the wavy lines had a bit of the "random organic stripes" feel I got from image of the bookshelf against the background. With a color palette and one specific item selected for my outfit, I was off and running.

I have several green tops I could have worn in this outfit, but I decided that it would be interesting to re-style the same emerald green long-sleeved T and cardigan that I wore for the last SIA challenge. In that outfit, I had combined multiple aesthetics into a whimsical menswear look; in this outfit, I was leaning in a distinctly more feminine direction. But that's the nice thing about having items with simple/basic silhouettes: they can be used as building blocks in creating many different kinds of outfits. I didn't mention this in the previous post, but I'd had the cardigan (thrifted, CJ Banks) since early 2019 but didn't purchase the t-shirt (retail, Kohls) until late 2022, and it was a complete surprise to me that they worked together as a tonal "modern twin set." I love it when that happens because I went from having a random accent color cardigan I can add to outfits to a "pleasing pairing" that I can turn to again and again as a starting point for building outfits...and of course, both the t-shirt and the cardigan can still stand alone in developing outfits, too.

OOTD 4/21/25

Since the bookshelf as a strong "jumble of things" vibe, I decided to add a scarf with a complicated print to create a print mix with the skirt. When I hit upon this scarf with a print that I call "cartoon paisley" that had the green, white, and black colors of my palette, I knew I had a winner. I draped it around my neck this way to show off as much of the colors and print of the scarf as possible (see method #4 here). I find the white color shared by the scarf and skirt to be particularly effective in creating a busy but harmonious print mix.

I had fun adding my black polka dot studded flats to this outfit! Not only do the polka dots play into the print mix in a low-key way, the studs reflect the "things stuck to things" aspect of the artwork.

Because the shoes had gold studs, I chose gold as the metal color for my jewelry. This stack of stretch bracelets in snowflake obsidian, grey and black crystal, and gold spacers (made from an Annie's kits box) brings yet more "dots" energy to the look while being neutral in color and relatively understated.

I made a pair of DIY bead soup earrings to finish off the outfit, pulling simple round beads in white (glass pearl), black (matte glass), and green (marbled glass) plus gold wavy spacers for a simple stack earring design. My design here was the exact opposite of Baas's approach in the bookshelf. I used three beads in the same shape but very different colors and finishes/textures; he used a bunch of items with very different shapes, coated in black polyurethane to give them the same color and finish/texture. This wasn't intentional on my part! But it's the kind of thing that happens when you consider unifying versus diversifying elements when putting things together - be it outfits, jewelry, or artwork (see Tip #1 here).

These earrings will work nicely whenever I wear this scarf so they are definitely not a wear-once-and-never-again project. I did customize my bead stack with this specific outfit in mind in one way, though: from the variety of black beads available to me, I immediately gravitated toward these matte glass beads with the low contrast polka dot pattern to repeat the dotted look of my flats. The dotted beads tie in with the dots in the scarf's print as well. This is the kind of tiny little detail that no one else will notice but that pleases me a lot!

I am very pleased to report that I really liked this outfit, despite being distinctly not a fan of the inspiration artwork. But that's what's so nice about taking inspiration rather than merely copying what you see: it's a creative process that combines elements/vibes of the external source of inspiration (anything from artwork to another person's outfit) with your own individuality. I think that the more you look, see, and experience, the more you can - with a sense of playful experimentation - take inspiration from anything, anywhere to create outfits that feel like you.

Now for main event of every Style Imitating Art post: revealing our Rabbit Imitating Art selection! I figured out pretty quickly that I wanted a black-and-white mini rex rabbit for this artwork. The reason I sought black-and-white coloration is pretty obviously due to the color palette of the artwork image, but why a mini rex?

Well, when I saw the greenery at the top of the bookshelf, it made me think about my black-and-white mini rex Leo, who was a champion climber rabbit! Did you know that rabbits can climb? I didn't...until the second time Leo escaped the bunny room by climbing over the baby gate. The first time, we assumed he'd gotten up on the futon and managed to jump over it. The second time, we caught him in the act of climbing the baby gate. My husband figured out how to add a second baby gate next to the first in such a way that Leo couldn't climb it anymore (thank goodness, because the rest of our apartment was not rabbit-proofed!).

I asked Google "can rabbits climb" and the AI says:

While not typically known for climbing, rabbits can climb, especially under certain circumstances. They may climb walls, trees, and even fences to reach food, water, or escape from predators. 

In Leo's case, he had plenty of food (hay) and water available to him 24/7 in the bunny room (as well as regular meals), and there were no predators in our house, so I think that he was just interested in exploring the rest of our little corner of the universe!

The lady mini rex at the museum (you can tell from her magnificent dewlap that she's female) took an immediate interest in the strange new art installation for a couple reasons. First of all, there was a green plant at the top of it, which was not at all typical of exhibits in the galleries. (Usually she had to sneak into staff offices in order to procure verboten vegetation, and they had taken to keeping those doors locked.) Second, while weirdly shaped, the structure did seem balanced and sound - not likely to tip over easily - and there were many crevices a skilled bunny could use to climb it. In the climbing level system used by rabbits, free-standing structures are rated as more difficult than attached/supported structures, so she relished the opportunity to make a first ascent and establish a preliminary difficulty grade for it.

So that night when the museum was quiet, she hopped to it. And after a fast and rather chaotic free climb to the top of the artwork, she took a beat to enjoy the glow that came with every successful ascent, then turned her attention to the green plant...which upon close inspection was obviously a fake plant, not the real thing! UGH! Why, humans....WHYYYYYYYY???!!!!! Why must everything be artificial in the museum galleries? She waxed wroth for a while...quite a long while, actually...so she was quite surprised when she heard the sound of human footsteps approaching in the hall. Oh no, morning already!

What was a rabbit caught on top of a piece of art to do when there was no time to climb down and hide? Cunningly, the mini rex found a comfortable position and went stock still, correctly predicting that the human visitors would assume that she was a fake rabbit that was part of the artwork rather than a disgruntled living would-be greenery thief. Another breed of rabbit might have found this situation difficult, but not the mini rex! Every mini rex truly is a work of art, glorious to behold but even more astonishing to touch. Luckily for this bunny, the adult humans were well enough trained not to touch the artwork, and the juvenile humans were too short to reach! One brave miniature human did attempt to climb up while his mom's back was turned, but he made little progress before his mother whisked him away. "No, the bunny is real, Mommy! I saw its nose twitch!..."

Artwork "improved" with rabbit

Thanks for joining me today for this Style Imitating Art + Rabbit Imitating (and Improving) Art post!

To see other outfit interpretations of this artwork, check out the review on Marsha in the Middle.

What do you think of this artwork? Ingenious? Profound? Ugly? Interesting? "Interesting"? (Minnesota Nice speak for actually not interesting at all.) Do you ever take inspiration from something you don't like? How would you approach turning this artwork into an outfit? Did you know rabbits could climb? Have you ever mistaken a fake plant/animal for a real one...or the opposite?

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