The Giant’s Chair

An oversized chair is also a specific kind of object: a photo prop whose entire purpose is to make the person sitting in it look small. Nothing about it is regional. It does not commemorate an industry, an animal or a local product, and it would work identically anywhere. It belongs to the same family as the giant deckchairs and oversized seats scattered through gardens and lookouts, and this catalogue holds a second one at Dalby, outside a real estate office.

SkyHigh is the summit complex on Mount Dandenong, at around 630 metres, with a restaurant, gardens, a maze and the well-known view across Melbourne to the bay. On a clear night the whole city is laid out below, which is what people come for.

Who Igor is, or was, is not explained by any available source. It is the kind of detail that usually has a good story behind it – a founder, a staff member, a joke – and none of it is recorded.

Access is restricted because the site is a commercial venue with entry conditions.The dimensions, its age and the maker were never written down.