Gender Constructions 
Sesselgarderobe Chair Coatrack „Herrendiener“ 
Entwurf und Ausführung Design and execution: 
Uta Belina Waeger, Dornbirn, 2016-19; Holz, 
Metall, Textil, Leim, Lack Wood, metal, glue, paint; 
Besitz der Künstlerin Property of the artist 
In her 1974 sculpture “Schuhsessef 1 the artist 
Birgit Jürgenssen transformed a simple bent- 
wood chair into an oversized high heeled 
shoe. 1 A functioning, familiär everyday object 
thus becomes a hermaphrodite, almost surre- 
al-looking object with no tangible practical val- 
ue, which, however, displays its libidinal econ- 
omy all the more clearly: The cliche of the shoe 
as a fetish object as well as the decoration of 
the-of course absent-body with certain 
accessories. In this way, the feminine-styled 
stiletto shoe provokes not only erotic fantasies, 
but also questions of gender identity and the 
construction of femininity. 2 With her “Herren 
dienerthe artist Uta Belina Waeger juxta- 
posed Jürgenssens's object with a “male” pen- 
dant, referring to the so-called “mute servant"- 
a traditional type of furniture, made especially 
for storing men's clothing. 
1 Since the art object is completely covered with leather, the 
underlying chair cannot be determined with certainty; but probably 
it is one of the two Thonet models, No. 681/2 or No. A 500/1 from 
German-Ianguage catalogs of the early 1930s: Both have 
rectangular profiles, the angles between the front and rear legs may 
have been removed by Birgit Jürgenssen. 
2 See also Exhib. Cat. Leipzig/Bielefeld 2013: Starker Auftritt! 
Sessel Nr. A 500/1 und A 681/2 aus den Thonet- 
Katalogen von 1931 bzw. 1932 Chair Nos. A 500/1 
and A 681II from the Thonet catalogs 1931 and 
1932