All Photos By Gail
While some furniture is designed to blend into a room, this table seems determined to transport you to another planet. Ennui Gently Receives Single Date in Earth’s Tiniest Maw (2023) by designer Misha Kahn is part functional object, part sculptural daydream. Constructed from steel and plastic and finished with layers of luminous automotive paint, the table appears to have drifted in from a colorful alternate universe. Its rounded tabletop resembles a floating celestial body, while the supporting forms below twist, curl, and bloom in a way that feels simultaneously organic and alien.
Kahn is known for creating imaginative, highly expressive furniture that blurs the line between design and art. His work often embraces unexpected shapes, vibrant colors, and a sense of playful experimentation. In this piece, gradients of deep cobalt blue melt into soft pinks, yellows, and turquoise tones, creating a surface that seems almost liquid despite its solid construction.
What makes the table especially fascinating is the way it was created. Kahn first sketched the concept in virtual reality, allowing him to draw freely in three-dimensional space. The design was then refined through 3-D modeling, printed in plastic, and ultimately finished with a glossy coating of brightly colored automotive paint. The result is a work that combines cutting-edge technology with a distinctly handmade sense of imagination.
The title itself — Ennui Gently Receives Single Date in Earth’s Tiniest Maw — offers no straightforward explanation, which somehow feels perfectly appropriate. Like much of Kahn’s work, the piece invites viewers to abandon logic and simply enjoy the experience. Every angle reveals another unexpected curve, protrusion, or color transition, making it feel less like a table and more like a living organism that has paused momentarily to serve as furniture.
It’s a reminder that contemporary design doesn’t always have to be practical, restrained, or predictable. Sometimes it can be whimsical, strange, and delightfully impossible — and all the more memorable because of it.
Photographed at the Brooklyn Museum.