Ottomans not included

April 14, 2014 5:27 PM

For those of you who prefer your science isolated with a side of moody furniture, I give you Lonely Chairs at CERN.
posted by Diagonalize (18 comments total)

You know, not every chair wants to be around other chairs all of the time. Introverted chairs are perfectly happy sitting in a corner of a basement where it's nice and quiet.
posted by orme at 5:51 PM on April 14, 2014 [4 favorites]

I think these chairs are guessers.
posted by michaelh at 5:52 PM on April 14, 2014 [2 favorites]

I have absolutely no idea why I loved this, but I did, so thanks for posting.
posted by gerstle at 6:42 PM on April 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

We need mefi's own physicsmatt to come in and explain this.
posted by sebastienbailard at 6:44 PM on April 14, 2014

All chairs' miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone. - chaise pascal
posted by tula at 6:49 PM on April 14, 2014 [5 favorites]

I assume the site's author just snapped these photos while searching for the Higgs Futon.
posted by uosuaq at 6:51 PM on April 14, 2014 [5 favorites]

"What would chairs look like if our knees bent the other way?" - Steven Wright

which is what I always think when I see those chairs like the one between the data center rows...
posted by randomkeystrike at 7:49 PM on April 14, 2014

Yes it is always 1974 there.

I realized that the random chairs are next to the "Radiation: Limited Stay" signs.
This makes sense.
You've overstayed your welcome. When the Radiation Vapors hit you, and you start to feel faint, you need that random chair, aka: fainting couch. "Oh my the vapors got me!"
posted by QueerAngel28 at 7:50 PM on April 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

This is exactly what I wanted it to be after the description.
posted by dios at 7:59 PM on April 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

Is there a more welcoming sight next to a "Radiation: Limited Stay" sign than a 30-year-old chair?
posted by uosuaq at 8:58 PM on April 14, 2014

This reminded me of the Portal / Half-Life games. In Portal, you can glimpse chairs behind the observation windows in the test chambers. The glass is frosted, but you can see that the chairs are empty, some apparently having been tossed aside in a hurry.


I Half-Life 2, at one point you pass a pier with an empty wheelchair on the end. Adds a little extra bleakness to an already bleak setting.
posted by Harald74 at 11:32 PM on April 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

And so the World Wide Web comes full circle.
posted by rory at 2:43 AM on April 15, 2014 [2 favorites]

This is what I imagine the first 35 minutes of a Blake's 7 film will look like.
posted by hawthorne at 5:29 AM on April 15, 2014 [1 favorite]

Why so many s-type chairs? They really are the worst type of chair.
posted by zinon at 6:23 AM on April 15, 2014

Am I the only one to have Portal 2 flashbacks?

(On review: Nope.)
posted by seyirci at 9:52 AM on April 15, 2014

Some of those portal/half-life looking scenes should be used for a postapocalyptic sequel to the movie filmed on-site at the LHC a while back, Decay
posted by rmd1023 at 10:09 AM on April 15, 2014

Strikingly reminiscent of The Garden Chair of Solitude. Warning, FB link.
posted by jrochest at 10:48 PM on April 15, 2014 [1 favorite]

Speaking of Portal: This Portal 2 Time Travel Mod Lets Chell Solve Puzzles With Her Past Self
posted by homunculus at 10:00 AM on April 27, 2014