Charles Lutz’s Modern Made Leisure installation at Fallingwater deepens the conversation around the transience of value, a theme central to his Volatility series, where the artist also explores the instability of worth through abstracted forms. In both bodies of work, Lutz draws from the same rich well of historical and cultural reference points—especially the sleek lines and decorative elements of Art Deco design. In Volatility, these references are pushed to the extreme as Lutz transforms familiar symbols of luxury into fractured, distorted versions of themselves. The sculptures, with their emphasis on geometric forms and opulent materials, embody the impermanence of value through an abstraction of market forces. The smooth, polished surfaces of these objects, inspired by Art Deco's refined aesthetics, mask the underlying instability of what they represent—the ever-shifting tides of the market and the fleeting nature of perceived worth. In Modern Made Leisure, Lutz continues this exploration by reimagining glassware once sold in Kaufmann’s Department Store—an object of everyday use that once contributed to the funding of Fallingwater itself—into stainless steel and bronze sculptures. This transformation reflects the volatility inherent in both cultural and monetary value. Just as his Volatility series abstracts the measurement of markets—using visual language to convey the abstract concept of market fluctuations—Modern Made Leisure examines how objects, and the meanings attached to them, can rapidly shift. Lutz's works in both series engage in a dialogue about how value is assigned, manipulated, and redefined through art, commerce, and history, inviting reflection on how luxury, market systems, and cultural symbols are not static but are continuously shaped by time and context.
