What Is The Meaning Of The 'Continental Breakfast Chair' By Anna Uddenberg? The Viral Art Installation And Meme Explained

Sometimes art can be a little bit confusing and to many, Continental Breakfast by Anna Uddenberg is a prime example of this. The bizarrely intriguing art installation, in which a woman straps herself into a padded chair that forces her to face the floor, has been perplexing social media since 2023 and now it's going viral again on sites like Reddit. But what does the art piece even mean? Here's what you need to know.

What Is Continental Breakfast By Anna Uddenberg?

Between March and April 2023, New York's Meredith Rosen Gallery hosted an art installation by Anna Uddenberg. The art installation, known as Continental Breakfast, consisted of a padded chair inspired by hospital equipment and plane seats and a woman dressed in formal business attire that would come and sit in the chair. However, unlike most chairs, the Continental Breakfast chair forces the woman to strap her elbows into holsters and face the floor with her posterior in the air.

So what does the piece mean? Hausa Novel describes how the piece "forces us to consider how functionality is used to exert control and whether we are willing to cede our independence to user-friendly technology in a world driven by data."

Uddenberg has said that the chair "stages an act of submission, where a woman becomes the symbol of passive submission." She goes on to say that the chair "speaks specifically to the body as an asset to modify, control in order to relinquish autonomy to user-friendly technologies," further explaining that the piece blurs "the distinction between an object and a person, making us reevaluate utility and bodily autonomy."

How Has Social Media Reacted To The Continental Breakfast Chair?

Many people online are understandably confused when they first see images of the chair online. This has lead to a lot of videos attempting to explain what the chair is, critiquing it and giving interpretations of what it might mean. Others have simply expressed their shock over the piece, while admiring the work that must have gone into the chair itself.

Recently, some TikTok videos have been going around calling it a "dystopian device" and claiming that people are wondering how it is allowed to exist. These videos liken the chair to a "torture device" and then at the end, discuss how it's a comment on societal norms.

For the full history of the Continental Breakfast Chair, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.