Minneapolis-based designer Jonathan Muecke’s diminutive copper Step Stool displays the artist’s interest in exploring the peripheries of the designed object. Muecke often explores the boundaries of an object’s legibility and functionality through a very contemporary sense of form-giving and a concise use of materials. In this instance, the object retains its signature archetypal form as a classic three-legged stool, but rendered smaller than usual, thereby placing into question the object’s traditional function. Its hexagonal top is scaled for the stepping action using the ball of a foot, eliminating the typical seating option of a stool.