from march 29th to april 1st
Slott Gallery will be at Grand Palais during the Art Paris Art Fair in the “Limited Series” section, Art Paris Art Fair’s platform to showcase contemporary european design.
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rive gauche, paris
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december 11th, 2010 – july 20th, 2011
confession by arik levy
This object in two parts, a kind of modern home confessional, is one of the masterpieces shown at slott in january 2010 during the exhibition « préliminaires ». By borrowing one of the Catholic Church’s best communications tools, Arik Levy in no way aims to commit blasphemy. All religions were created to cement social relationships (…)
*a piece bought by the art institute of chicago in 2010*
october 2010, slott
the “klein glow sitting ball” is a collection of six customized sitting balls. the products are created in a live performance as a hommage to yves kleins anthropometry performances. almost 50 years ago this is what happened “on a clear night in march at ten pm sharp, a crowd of one hundred people, all dressed in black tie attire, came to the galerie internationale d’art contemporain” in paris.” now with the invitation of slott, claassen and partner decided that this would be a perfect opportunity to have a revival of the “living paintbrushes”. with a performance of a model covered in bright pink paint who will be interacting with the “sitting balls”, by dissolving art into action and thus styling it into an artistic piece (…)
by andrea knecht
this project is a search for materials. a practical method that seeks to use materials outside of their regular context to transform and mix them, in order to invent new possibilities of usage through the union of several distinctive components. by manipulating them andrea knecht experiments, which means touching, letting herself be guided by them, exploring their movements, their tactile and physical aspect. such open attitude permits a multitude of possibilities in the process of creating formal products. straw additionned to latex is a perfect mariage, the union of a fiber with an elastic material that has a high linkage and resistance power. “straw pouf” is soft, doctile. straw and latex complete each other. the shape is organic. when observing the mixing process of straw and latex, you will first recognise the straw because this material lives in our memory (…)
june 2010, slott
the photographer explains : “i was just coming out of a difficult period that was going to change my life forever and my shrink was adamant: i was doing just fine. just fine? what about this nagging sense of dread that wouldn’t leave me alone? and my sleepless nights? she told me that these problems were certainly due to a breakdown in communication with my body. so I began trying everything I could think of –yoga, acupuncture, massage, auricular therapy, sophrology– the list goes on, without any measurable result. It was only when I was at my wit’s end that a woman I know asked me if I ever jerked off. this was a route I had never considered before. i was 33 years old.” drawing on her personal experience, the photographer frédérique barraja came to wonder why female masturbation is always shrouded in mystery (…)
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as an extension of a project on the theme of love, slott and exquise design have invited four designers to play out their fantasies, giving shape and meaning, breathing life into their conceptions of preliminaries. they have approached this subject from different and complementary viewpoints that together offer a panorama of creation like no other seen before. arik levy unveils his work on the spoken and the unspoken of intimate relations with his series of installations entitled confessions, that includes, among other elements, an examination of the iconography of sexuality alongside a kind of modern home confessional. as the theme of the exhibition required that contributions be solicited from both male and female designers in equal measure, it is fascinating to observe the ways in which, by sharing their visions, they complete and engage each other. matali crasset and florence jaffrain carry us away to underwater paradises with their respective works aequorea and belly love, creating soft and sensual shapes that run up against mathieu lehanneur’s torrid yet petrified flames in his the power of love. |
visitors will also be struck by the singular visions of the four designers, each of which offers a completely different approach to objects. with his confession, Arik Levy makes the object a tool for communication, standing in for the fears and concerns we often find it so difficult to voice. straddling the boundaries of design and architecture, matali crasset approaches the object as a space. mathieu lehanneur, working from a more sculptural perspective, raises the object to the heights of allegory (of the couple), at the same time endowing it with a mediating role. last but not least, florence jaffrain tends to make the object an end in itself, by creating a sofa that might almost be perceived as playing the role of the lover, becoming an object of desire. (…) |
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andrea knecht’s lovetoy pays tribute to the floral eroticism of georgia o’keeffe’s paintings. a chalice of delights, “georgia” fits on the end of a finger, becomes its extension and slips into voluptuous depths. a ridge traces the petal’s fold and allows for precise stimulation while the curve of the object seeks out the G spot. |
born in são paulo in 1971, andrea knecht –also known as “tété” knecht– lives and works in lausanne. she graduated from são paulo’s school of fine arts in 1998, earning a bachelor of arts in industrial design. andrea then began to explore the universe of product design in all its dimensions, from manufacturing through distribution. (…) |
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exquise design is a team of professionals tied together as a network of individuals. through shared professional experiences, they have all acquired a common culture and forged a cooperative spirit, highly useful for decoding the most complex briefs and imagining the most innovative solutions, by bringing together the skills and expertise of each and every participant to achieve an optimal mix. all of exquise design’s professionals have taken part in projects across multiple domains of creation and production: |
applied art and design (furniture and objects), graphic design (creative direction and execution), architecture, production of objects and furniture in limited editions, event production, set and space design (exhibitions, performances), photography, video (production, direction, post-production), music composition (sound design, DJ), choreography (danse, vj) , product design, food design , web (design and strategy). |
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love design is a project that explores the multifaceted relationship between design and positive feelings such as affection, desire, pleasure and romance, but also jealousy, distance, separation and pain. published by daab, love design the book presents a selection of unusual products, objects, graphics and textiles specifically designed to enhance (or distort) our pleasurable sense of togetherness in every possible (and impossible) way. during the Milan furniture fair 2009, love design the exhibition presents the works of 20 outstanding designers taken from the book. |
the selection includes new products and special editions, in categories like fine textile, sound wave jewelry, blushing lighting, erotic tableware, lover’s furniture and more surprising delights. this exhibition questioned the very meaning of the word ‘love’, the beginning and the ending of what binds us together and tears us apart. |
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exquise design is preparing the opening of slott rive gauche, tucked away in a cul-de-sac just off the quai de conti in paris, a space just as fascinating as slott château-landon, but in an entirely different architectural style, in line with a completely novel approach to the presentation of artists, designers and |
their works, by focusing for example on the sociological role of contemporary designers. embracing the need to stay ahead of one’s time and re-examine the social codes will be slott’s aesthetic imperatives for 2012. |
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“design is an uncontrolled muscle” according to arik levy (born 1963). designer, technician, artist, photographer, filmmaker, levy’s skills are multi-disciplinary and his work can be seen in prestigious galleries and museums worldwide. best known publicly for his furniture design for global companies, installations and limited editions, levy nevertheless feels “the world is about people, not tables and chairs.” hailing originally from israël and moving to europe in 1988, levy currently works in laris with his 20-strong team of designers and graphic artists forming L design. under the vision of levy and his associate, pippo lionni, the firm also produces brand identities, packaging, signage, exhibition and interior design… his formation was unconventional where surfing and his graphic design studio took up much of his time back home. |
however, following studies at the art center europe in switzerland where he gained a distinction in industrial design in 1991, levy’s first international success was winning the seiko epson inc. competition, which jettisoned him into the public consciousness as a “thinking” designer. after a stint in japan where levy consolidated his ideas producing products and pieces for exhibitions, the designer returned to europe where he contributed his artistry to another field –contemporary dance and opera by way of set design. the creation of his firm then meant a foray back to his first love, art and industrial design, as well as other branches of his talents. respected for his furniture and light designs on all continents, levy also creates hi-tech clothing lines and accessories for firms in the far east (…) |
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lthe voluptuous contours of the object call to mind the female body in its purest expression: we glean the fullness of the buttocks and the breasts or the concave effect of a wasp waist amidst the geometric elegance of feminine curves. 8eme ciel conforms easily to the shape of the hand in its natural position: while the palm presses against the mount of venus, the fingers bend to caress the surrounding area. the lovetoy discreetly slips into the familiar repertoire of gestures and excites the senses. |
a raised surface in the form of a flower stimulates the epicentre of pleasure while eight spheres containing metal balls transmit vibrations and bring to the delectation of the moment that subtle sensation that transports you to eighth heaven! |
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the klein glow sitting ball is a collection of six customized sitting balls. the products are created in a live performance as a hommage to yves kleins anthropometry performances. almost 50 years ago this is what happened “on a clear night in march at ten pm sharp, a crowd of one hundred people, all dressed in black tie attire, came to the galerie internationale d’art contemporain” in paris. now with the invitation of slott, claassen and partner decided that this would be a perfect opportunity to have a revival of the living paintbrushes. with a performance of a model covered in bright pink paint who will be interacting with the sitting balls, by dissolving art into action and thus styling it into an artistic piece. |
since the sitting ball is not only a seating device, but they can also be used in different ways to interact with the body this action makes perfect sense because it also leaves a trace of the interaction with the body. the concept of the the klein glow sitting ball is influenced by yves klein and the conception of anthropometries, the use of living paintbrushes. (…) |
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consisting of a platform topped by a corolla, an umbrella-shaped structure, aequorea was inspired by the majesty of the jellyfish, with the title of the work taken from its species name. jellyfish and spineless are often mentioned in the same breath and it is true that the creature’s structure is very fluid. if we take away the water, we are left with just a gelatinous skin. emulating the grace of this marine animal, matali crasset uses her materials parsimoniously and concentrates her work on the empty space, the site of the lovers’ encounter. aequorea is more space than object. contemporary architecture has decompartmentalized the home to allow more malleable pathways better adapted to the need for speed, but also respite, in modern life. and yet, for the same reason, we have lost many of our private places. matali embraces the challenge of recreating an environment conducive to intimacy while conceiving a structure that is modular enough to reap the benefits of openness in architectural spaces. aequorea is therefore situated midway between design and architecture, on an intermediate plane. her work necessarily brings to mind the improvised cubbyholes we built in our bedrooms, using sheets, chairs and any number of other objects, when we were children. we recall the excitement we felt when we snuggled into this space, away from the world of adults and their rules. |
we could exchange secrets, invent our own little games and —since, after all, the subject here is preliminaries, or foreplay— sometimes play doctor as well. by enclosing the couple within a curtain of ropes, aequorea has the same effect on adults, with elegance as an added bonus. it’s all about intimacy, the need to be cut off from the rest of the world and rediscover the other face-to-face and alone. to reinforce this severed link with everyday life, matali has placed an ultraviolet wood’s lamp inside the corolla. colour perception is thus transformed and the lovers drift into a dreamlike state, a new dimension. and to make matters even more interesting, matali draws inspiration from the parallel worlds of barbarella, the comic book heroine imagined by jean-claude forest, paying tribute to this lyrical and sensual universe. it is a space serving as a reference: a quasi-aquatic, entirely fluid, space that softens contours, an invitation to let go completely and get in touch with inner feelings. this nod to the first liberated female comic book character also carries a feminist message, not a protest but instead a paean to the liberation of the body. if matali’s design could be seen as taking another stand it would certainly be a desire to break with routine and standardized behaviour. we need to upend our daily rituals. (…) |
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tableware design and the art of entertaining have always been dominated by codes of social etiquette and good manners. these codes require us to exercise discretion, which of course makes us civilised members of society but at the same time prevents us from fully enjoying the pleasures of the table. romain gnidzaz’s aim is to spur the re-emergence of more instinctive but nevertheless elegant gestures. |
as a logical successor to this designer’s la bouchée project, developed in collaboration with the makers of corian® and the chef thierry marx, belly button is romain’s newest creation. a suggestive navel moulded in the centre of the plate entices our tongues eager for sweet sensations. belly button imparts a sensual thrill with every mouthful. |
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graduated from e.n.s.c.i-les ateliers (french national school for industrial design) in 2001, mathieu lehanneur opened that same year his own studio dedicated to industrial design and interior architecture. very soon has he been developing a real passion for interactions between the body and its environment, living systems and the scientific world. combining advanced technologies and natural elements (such as plants, seaweeds…) in his creations, he came up with exploratory design projects within the pharmaceutical, biological or astrophysical fields. in 2006, he got the carte blanche from the via and he was awarded the ”grand prix de la création” from the city of paris. |
in 2008, he received the best invention award by the popular science magazine (usa) for “andrea”, its air-cleaning system using plants. the third french person, after philippe starck and yann arthus-bertrand, to be invited to the prestigious ted conference, with the same pleasure he passes from an object for exquise design (paris) or for schneider electric, to packaging for issey miyake, and in particular to interior architecture by designing for example, a personal office in 2009 for david edwards, a scientist and businessman for whom he conceived a room suitable for exercising his intellect in order to bounce off his multitude of ideas (…) |
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the company’s entrée into the world of parisian design was one of the most talked-about events of 2010. through a series of singular exhibitions presented by slott on the rue du château-landon in paris, exquise design’s director paola bjaringer delighted her visitors, not only with the quality of her commissions from leading designers, but also due to the eclectic yet highly cohesive set of themes addressed. understandably, all of these events were made possible thanks to boundless energy, enthusiasm and tenacity, which needed to be counterbalanced by a period of thinking, for the germination of new projects |
and new aesthetic explorations, in relation with a thorough sociological reflection on the role of contemporary designers in today’s society. in 2011, slottlab has been devoting its efforts to the unique creations to be shown for the first time in a new space, on the banks of the seine, due to open in 2012 and certain to draw an elite audience of avid collectors as well as other art and design lovers. |
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since 2005 claassen and partner offer design solutions in the areas of product design, interior design corporate communication as well as graphic and web design. in their work they interlace elements from different contexts and combine them in a new way. central here is the role of the design process: experimenting with new materials, the practical research into new constellations, the play with the language of shapes. in this way new combinations are manifested that on the one hand refer back to the design process while on the other hand they undercut, question or lead the alleged congruency of form and function ad absurdum. |
form and thematic references are picked up, deconstructed and fed back into the cultural cylce in a new constellation. materials that have already served their purpose are recycled and assigned towards a new mission. the requirement here remains at all times: consistent, straight design that is reduced to the essentials. (…) |
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in its shape, belly love is directly inspired by sarcophyton elegans, a soft coral found in the indian ocean. transiting from the tropical reef to the parisian living room, it retains its elegance and increases its comfort quotient, becoming both paradise of the senses and vessel for the body. thanks to a new textile material especially created by e.n.s.a.i.t in roubaix using photoluminescent components and microcapsules incorporated in the fibre, belly love recreates the magical luminosity of the ocean bottom, while diffusing the pleasant fragrance of essential oils. the sarcophyton’s tentacles become soft bristles inviting caresses and when we rest our head on the piece, the beating of its heart gives an idyllic cadence to this waking dream. “belly love” breathes as well, and we do well to wonder if it is a mechanism hidden under the memory foam or a genuine life force that animates this membrane. |
coral or sofa, synthetic or organic, this question does not come to mind when we behold the object: through the perfection of its technical aspects, florence is able to make us entirely chase away such concerns. magic takes over, transporting us into the realm of poetry. incidentally, florence tells us that when she created the mould in collaboration with géraldine blin, the shape of the heart appeared of its own accord on the underside of the piece…belly love was born! it is a belly because it takes us back to the sensorial ideal of our life in the womb and also because it breathes with the ease and tranquillity of a protective masculine figure (…) |
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the skew glass project is unique and has a strong connection to the craft of blowing glass. sara learnt how to blow the glass and then developed her own prototypes into the actual finished objects in co-operation with the swedish glassworks skruf in småland. exquise design / slott supported the project in an early state by inviting sara to create a special collection. she explains : ”i like the special tension between the oblique character of the glass and the fact that the liquid always remains straight, due to the laws of gravity. |
i’ve always been fond of optical glass, it looks like ice and it also describes the interrupted motion of the glass-mass. when you place several skew glasses together on a table, they look as if they have their own conversation. (the name skew will of course be understood from the tilted direction of the glass).” |
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graduate of the école supérieure d’art et de design de reims (e.s.a.d reims) in the champagne region of france, this young designer has already laid the foundations for an original creative universe, captivating in its subtlety and effectiveness. romain gnidzaz’s approach is similar to that of a photographer: through his designs he strives to capture the beauty of the real world. whether he is focusing on the human body, a movement or a plant, romain domesticates natural forms, bringing their functional value to the fore, conveyed with elegance through objects as original as they are poetic. |
obeying this principle, his lampe végétale uses a trailing house plant as a lamp shade. the use of a full-spectrum bulb allows photosynthesis to continue throughout the night, creating a lamp that is a source of oxygen as well as light. its telescoping pedestal can be adjusted, depending on the length of the stems. la bouchée, developed in collaboration with the makers of corian® and the chef thierry marx, is a series of plates paying tribute to the gestures of those who truly revel in the pleasures of the table (…) |
in collaboration with françois brument
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the power of love consists of two separate sets of headphones connected to a fire, thus three elements symbolizing two lovers joined by their love. the object conveys formidable sculptural power… but it remains an object. its representative value serves its purpose. the power of love is a type of lovemaking accessory, a foreplay toy. each of the lovers puts on a set of headphones. in itself this is a token of eroticism for mathieu lehanneur’s generation, all of whom fondly remember the cult scene in the film la boum, where a young man seduces sophie marceau by having her listen to a sentimental ballad on his walkman while everyone else is dancing to a powerful up-tempo rock song. the same principle is used in the power of love: each of the listeners hears the tracks recorded as representing his or her intimate universe. hence the lovers are not in sync and this is very important, as desire is born of difference. it is the glistening fire that continually asserts its presence, imposes its heat and creates the union. |
the lovers see in it the perfection of their original love that they seek to rediscover and stoke. when two individuals fall in love, they create a new universe together without at the same time losing touch of their own, a sleight of hand whereby 1+1=3. love’s power is rooted in a crossing of boundaries, the creation of a new entity. mathieu represents it as a flame shooting up at the meeting point of two sound tracks that continue to exist separately. this flame calls to mind the burning bush in the bible, God revealing himself to moses. if this burning bush is a theophany, an appearance of God to man, what mathieu offers us may perhaps be termed an “erotophany”: this fire represents the emergence of love between the lovers. we are all fascinated by the very moment of the big bang creating the lovers’ universe: it is a moment of extreme intensity in which the potency of love is compressed before it explodes. (…) |
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matali crasset is by training an industrial designer, a graduate of the ateliers-e.n.s.c.i. (workshops – national higher school of industrial design). at the beginning of 2000, after her initial experience with denis santachiara italy and with philippe starck in france, she set up her own studio in paris called matali crasset productions in a renovated former printing firm in the heart of belleville. it is there, with the coming and going of children and neighbours that she dreams up her projects. she considers design to be research, working from an off-centred position allowing to both serve daily routines and trace future scenarios. |
with both a knowledgeable and naive view of the world, she questions the obviousness of codes so as to facilitate her breaking these bonds. like her symbolic work, focused on hospitality, quand jim monte à paris (“when jim goes up to paris”), is based on a mere visual and conscious perception which she invents another relation to the everyday space and objects. her proposals are never towards a simple improvement of what already exists but, without rushing things, to develop typologies structured around principles such as modularity, the principle of an interlacing network, etc… (…) |
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operating through her own design company, sara szyber explores different expressions of form and design related to the interior, from furniture and industrial design to shaping a variety of exhibition and interior spaces. she has been involved in a diverse range of work. lately it’s been managing the 17 swedish designers exhibition-show through usa, austria and czech republic with works by swedish female designers. another example of her international endevour was designing play! – an exhibition for children, that toured across europe (moscow, berlin, belgrade). |
being the auteur for a long range of original, typically scandinavian-style furniture, sara has been commissioned by swedish, japanese and chinese furniture companies. she has also been commissioned as an architect to create the interiors of several and unique museum buildings, for example the swedish police museum and the gotland visitor’s centre. (…) |
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this object in two parts, a kind of modern home confessional, is one of the masterpieces shown at the slott gallery in january 2010 during the exhibition préliminaires. by borrowing one of the catholic church’s best communications tools, arik levy in no way aims to commit blasphemy. all religions were created to cement social relationships. confession is neither religious nor anti-religious. it must be considered simply as a social object. arik encourages us to play with social codes, delivering an entirely revisited confessional adapted to the modern home. |
he reworks the proportions to create an object with a seating area larger than the traditional version. derision, a feeling of being protected, humility –the effect of the piece changes depending on the circumstances. in addition, this confessional is perfectly modular, offering infinite possibilities for interaction by playing with the orientation and distance between the two parts. |
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in 2000, florence jaffrain decides that her career would exlusively be decicaded to the world of design. after working with the most prestigious brands such as hermès, baccarat ou paco rabanne as a window installation designer, florence jaffrain steps with succes on the international scene of design with her first project: the full moon lights! a few years later she founds her own publishing house,younow, to be able to give to her work the necessary impact and coherence. from the bonheur to the co.o, from the belly love to the face2face, it is the work of an accomplished designer that the world discovers. mixing elegance with the codes of contemporary art falling in an unbelievable geometric simplicity, from the renown french newspaper le monde to vogue or deezen, both the press and the professionnals admire this balance mix in between innovating ideas, comfort and elegance. |
to florence, it is before all the man, the woman and the kid who are the gravity point of her work. how to create object that would push anyone to live happier? how to live in a world of space and still be connected to its environment? how to go from seducing to spending time on your own, from parties to meditation, in the same place without having to transform the space. recently, her sensorial sofa belly love, produced by exquise design and previewed at slott’s exhibition préliminaires, was selected by vincent grégoire as one of the influences 2011 at salon maison & objet (…) |
