On view


American, b. 1961
Nickel Couch, 2001
Welded nickel coins
30 ft. x 7 ft. 6 in. x 42 in. (914.4 x 228.6 x 106.7 cm)
Gift of the Ralph E. Ogden Foundation and Margaret T. Morris Foundation
Photo by Jerry L. Thompson
Johnny Swing’s Butterfly Chair and Nickel Couch straddle the ever-changing boundaries that separate art from everyday life. It took him more than two hundred hours to weld the Nickel Couch’s 6,400 nickels. As part of the design process, sections of welded nickels were draped on top of the mold and pulled off when the metal cooled.

Other works by this artist