We could watch these shape-shifting cabinets for hours

Sebastian ErraZuriz has never been one for making staid, modern furniture. Over the years, the Chilean designer has crafted cabinets of curiosity that upend the idea of what a piece of furniture can do.

In “Breaking the Box,” a new exhibition at New York City gallery R & Company, ErraZuriz shows off a handful of kinetic cabinets that can rotate, spin, and shape-shift.

ErraZuriz’s “Breaking the Box” series includes the Fan Cabinet, a light wood box that appears to unzip from the center, producing a rows of wooden slats that fan out into semi-circles.

The obviously named Kaleidoscope Cabinet is a seemingly straightforward midcentury credenza that opens to reveal walls built from faceted panes of glass. A peep hole at the end of the cabinet lets you look inside, where your bottles have multiplied into a kaleidoscopic frenzy.

One of our favorites is the Magistral Cabinet, a small cabinet covered with porcupine-like wooden quills that can be pushed aside to reveal a perfectly simple set of drawers.

ErraZuriz’s pieces are effective in their surprise if only because their flourishes are hidden by relative normalcy. A cabinet is not just a cabinet in this case—they’re optical illusions rooted in an entryway staple.