Janette Laverriere's new editions

.....
"Michel and Nairy Baghramain had been in a New York bookstore on a rainy day and found the only monograph on Janette Laverrière's work. Nairy thought it seemed to be strange that the works started in the 1930s and continued to the then present day. "

-Dominic Eichler & Michel Ziegler of SILBERKUPPE





"But now I don’t want to make something useful – what I want is to tell a story. "
- Janette Laverriere


Some stories slowly unfold themselves over time. Rodney Hill sent me an email with an photograph of these captivating, fluttering red lamps, casting transient shadows upon the walls. Along with the image was an address to a Berlin gallery, to which I immediately wrote. Dominic Eichler & Michel Ziegler of SILBERKUPPE in Berlin recently showed Janette Laverrière's first time productions, that were first drawn out in 1952. Janette recently passed away at the age of 102. 50 years later, these works appear back into our world, yet there is a story that comes along with these works that is much deeper than aesthetic adoration.

In order to understand her work and Janette's story, please read this interview published in Frieze Magazine in 2009. Janette was criticized for not being commercial enough, and eventually dedicated her life to making what she has called "useless objects."

- David John

Installation 'Entre deux actes, Loge de comédienne' by Janette Laverrière, 1947

‘Entre deux actes: Loge de comédienne’ (Between Two Acts: An Actress’ Dressing Room) 2009

"Michel and I were introduced to her through the fantastic artist Nairy Baghramain. Michel and Nairy had been in a New York bookstore on a rainy day and found the only monograph on Janette Laverrière's work. Nairy thought it seemed to be strange that the works started in the 1930s and continued to the then present day. So she researched, and she eventually requested an appointment to meet Janette and they became friends. After that they made some shows together and Janette called them spirit sisters.

In that time there was talk of making it possible to produce some of her unrealized designs - it was Janette's wish that this happened and before she passed away we were entrusted with three licenses to produce editions - the lamp - chapeau chinois, and the bookshelf are both from the early 50s. At a later date we have a fab 'whisky chair' to do too. At that time Janette was in the inner circle of postwar designers active in Paris. One of the things that interested Nairy and us was her proto-feminist viewpoint and the way that influenced her work - often meaning she didn't tow the strict modernist diet. See for example this reworked interior for an actress initiated and realized by Nairy for a show at Stattliche Kunsthalle Baden Baden (see above).

Maybe this is a good start?"












Silberkuppe began in May 2008, where they had one room for a year, did four institutional shows and took a second smaller room in Berlin. I spoke with Dominic Eichler & Michel Ziegler about their space, and the works of Janette Laverrière that were shown earlier this year in 2012.


What does your gallery focus on?

Silberkuppe has an intentionally diverse program of international contemporary artists - some of whom since just recently we started to represent - as well as many distinguished guests listed on our website. There are representatives of different generations and cultural backgrounds. We like to speak of the future and right now the future means a solo painting show by Leidy Churchman in March and a drawing and installation show with the eminent UK feminist and artist Margaret Harrison at the end of April.


How many of these lamps with be produced?

The agreement with Janette and her estate is for a numbered unlimited edition of the lamp. The first batch are numbers 1 -12.


Where are these lamps made, and how did you go about sourcing who would make these lamps?

While Janette was alive we produced a limited edition of a different variation of the lamp. and she also worked with a Berlin specialist art production firm. Janette Laverrière saw the lamps back then and was very happy. The new editions are from a design drawing from 1952, the production is now - so 1952 / 2011. Actually Janette never produced the lamp herself, so like many of her designs it remained unrealized - this was the main reason she wanted us to finally produce for her. So they are not reproductions but rather new/ first time productions that just took a while to happen!


What can you tell me about the Whisky Chair?

We are fond of it because it's quite in traditional in a sense, and a masculine chair. But one knowing Janette, a woman can easily take over and occupy, and looks to us to have been in part inspired by the designer Ruhlman - for whom Janette worked as a young designer and learned the trade.


Why is Janette's work important to you and to the continued conversation of postwar modernism?

Janette was part of the circle of most important designers working in postwar Paris and imagine there is only one other woman who is well known from this scene. In design history she was among the first to use metal tubing for indoor furniture and also the edge of multi-ply as a decorative feature.

The artist Nairy Baghramian is to thank for the art world introduction to Janette late in her life. Nairy and Janette collaborated on a number of exhibitions - in this context Janette's work is appreciated for its design aesthetics but also because of her political convictions as a cultural producer working nearly throughout the 20th Century. We consider Feminism(s) unfinished business and a key source of inspiring relevant discourse. Part of this means addressing the historical record.

A little story: when Nairy Baghramian was talking to Janette about reconstructing Janette's 1947 interior for an actress, Janette admitted she thought it odd because it was this interior which had got her criticized when shown at a design fair by the male modernists for being too subjective, narrative and things like that - i.e. the room had images of women and was in a sense gendered and was a design by a woman for a woman.

- end.



"Born in 1909 in Switzerland, Janette Laverrière studied in Basel at the Allgemeine Gewerbeschule, where she learned the fundamentals of drawing and decoration. After training in her father’s architecture practice, she designed her first pieces of furniture in the late 1920s and until 1945 collaborated on designs with her first husband, Maurice Pré. Involved in politics all of her life, Laverrière joined the Communist Party in 1945. Since then she has designed rooms, affordable furniture and “useless” objects. She began making mirrors in 1936—an interest that has continued throughout her career. From Laverrière’s earliest work on, her close study of the objects of domestic life has frequently led her to create works of art at a far remove from mere functionality and unencumbered by the wishes of her clients."

- bio taken from here.

SILBERKUPPE
Skalitzer Strasse 68
10997 Berlin






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I wanted to design something
to suit the room.

Michael Anastassiades
Kinetic Lights

"On view at the London Design Festival 2010 at the V&A is Michael Anastassiades's Kinetic Light, swinging in the Norfolk House Music Room at the V&A, like a silent metronome. "I wanted to design something to suit the room," said the desiger.

Michael Anastassiades trained as a Civil Engineer and is an Industrial Design graduate from zhe Royal College of Art. After working as a freelancer for various design consultancies, he set up his own studio in 1994. Since then he has been developing his work as a combination of product, furniture and enviroment design - creating works which established a psychological dimension between objects and users.

For years Michael has produced his work in very limited quantities as editions of quality crafted pieces and small runs. In 2007 he set up a company to increase the availability of his objects. He travelled around the world and located small family run workshops to fabricate his pieces. The workshops were selected for their unique manufacturing skills and tradition in the use of materials."

I wanted to design something
to suit the room.

Michael Anastassiades
Kinetic Lights

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Simon Hasan:
Cuir Bouilli

"Boiled leather,
mirror polished brass,
linen thread.."











Cuir Bouilli

"Boiled leather, sometimes called cuir bouilli, was a historical construction material for armour. It consists of thick leather, boiled in water (some sources hold that oil and wax were used as well, others posit the use of ammonia from fermented animal urine.

The boiling causes the leather to be harder and more brittle. The boiled leather can be fashioned into lames/scales to make lamellar or scale armor. Or, because the leather remains flexible for a short time after boiling, it can be molded into larger 'plates'. Cuir bouilli has also been employed to bind books."






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Atelier:
garden side tables.















I'm totally digging these new garden tables, made by local L.A. designer, ATELIER.
Good strong forms for outdoor use. These are stunning Gabriel....


"new summer item, the Atelier garden side table, 24 inches wide by 18 tall, made of bent iron and reclaimed barn wood. Available at Atelier. "

read the daily Atelier here too.










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YHBHS Interview

Daniel Emma
Design Studio
"when shapes
save the day."

the pencil box

History of Daniel Emma Design Studio?
We met whilst studying Industrial Design at the University of South Australia. After both graduating in 2007, we spent almost 2 years gaining experience with various design studios in London, such as Marc Newson, Thorsten Van Elten and Committee. From here we established Daniel Emma and exhibited our first collection ‘shapes’ in London and Tokyo. After moving back home (Adelaide), we then returned to London to exhibit our second collection ‘solids’ last year. We have just launched our new collection for 2010 'basics'.

During this time we have been listed by Wallpaper* magazine in 2009 as one of the recent design graduates to watch as well as coming runners up in last years Bombay Sapphire Australian Design Discovery award, the most prestigious design award in Australia.

the light....

In your solids collection, I am particularly enamored of the light! Can you talk about how and why this light came to be? The materials you used? Do they come in different colors?
With the solids collection each object is based around two basic forms, for the light it is a cylindrical extrusion with a cone on top. We aren't exactly sure how it came into being we just played around with shapes and forms until we reached something we were happy with.

PAST LIVES:
Daniel, a KFC chef, and Emma, a unicorn.

a rubber band ball

Rubberband ball? Wow! How did this come about? I almost see this as a sculpture first. Do you ever view any of your objects as more sculpture, and less utilitarian?

Rubberband ball came about in much the same way as the light. We wanted to design something a bit different, but still simple and appealing. Sometimes (actually most of the time) our ideas just hit us in the face! They don't come from anywhere in particular they are just hiding somewhere in our brains! It would be nice to have a more sophisticated approach then this but that's the reality .

the torch.....

Your new "basic" line is well, just perfect. the paperweight reminds me of arik levy's forms, but i love the scale of your works. Any particular artists that you are currently obssesed with? iI the future, do you see your work ever getting larger in scale?
We are a bit overwhelmed by anything big! So for the time being we will stick to what we know best. There aren't any artists we are inspired by as such. We are obsessed with Wes Anderson films and anything from Studio Ghibli.

I'm not sure if "Silly Putty" was universal, but as a kid I was a obsessed with Silly Putty. The texture, the cold feel, the ability to pull ink off of a newspaper, and how it bounced. Anything as a kid you were obssesed with that you still remember?

We were obsessed by:,Daniel - Chicago Bulls, and Emma- tuna and lettuce sandwiches and collecting fossils and Jurassic Park.

YHBHS Inteview:
Daniel Emma
Design Studio

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Laurel Broughton, of WELCOME

YHBHS Interview
with
Laurel Broughton,
of WELCOME

"Often overlooked as architects, the Eames were really good and serious at making their whole lives seem like a giant picnic. There is a joy in their design process as much as in the products themselves. That is much closer to what I want."

-Laurel Broughton

brief bio?
I grew up in Santa Monica at the beach. I moved to NYC to go to college and somewhere along the line I started working at Zing Magazine and then became the managing editor. Zing was an amazing experience both for the places that it took me and the people I got to work with. I studied comparative literature and critical theory with a focus on semiotics in college and the more I was involved in the art world and in the production of an object—the magazine— the more it was a natural evolution to the thinking about the design of objects and environments and buildings in a narrative way.

Eventually I moved back to Los Angeles to study architecture ending up at SCI_arc. After that I worked with a few of different architecture and design offices but most consistently for Johnston Marklee. Right now I'm focused on WELCOME as a multi-disciplinary design practice- and I am teaching in the School of Architecture at USC.










I was so inspired by the whole wall unit series. It is so interesting on so many levels. Can you talk about where the idea came from?
The first Whole Wall actually came out of my thesis project at SCI_arc called folk- it was a body of work produced around ideas about the relationship that the avant-gardes typically have to "newness" and thinking about folk culture as a movement that can create "newness" without demanding a break from the past. I produced prototypes for a number of furniture objects using traditional crafts and commonplace building techniques and materials as a jumping off point but often using new methods or technologies along the way.














The original Whole Wall was one these prototypes. In someways the basic idea is there in the title— Whole Wall- I've taken the notion of a type-V or balloon frame wall construction-studs, insulation, sheathing etc and have given it well—a girth, a thickness and a collage of textures, making something very standard into something decorative but still functional. I'm interested in ideas of appropriation, craft, layering, and also about how we use space and how (in this case) a piece of furniture can actually act as a "wall" or a divider of space. The Whole Wall Shelf is designed to be "in the round"- a screen on one side and a shelf on the other or it can be part screen part shelf on each side. The user can organize it to suit their space or to change their space. Right now I'm translating it from the prototype into a series of pieces that can be produced and sold on a wider scale- adding a desk, a bench and ideally a cabinet to the family. I've also been wanting to make a really big one...a wall literally.




how long is has taken to complete?
Since I finished my thesis in the fall of 2006, I guess you could say I've been working on the Whole Wall Family for 4 years but really in its latest incarnation, just for the last few months. I'm hoping the Shelf, Desk and Bench will be ready by the Fall.

Whole Wall Family

I find it so interesting that your background is in architecture, and this piece of furniture is almost a play on that.
I think of architecture as a way of thinking about things and a way of having a conversation with what's around us— a narrative as a communicative device. I'm interested in ideas about scale and space making that architecture deals with. So can a piece of furniture create space in the way that architecture does, or what happens when a piece of furniture relies on similar systems either- in the case of the Whole Wall, a building system or a material organization or a pattern or geometric system.









Did you ever have difficulties with the seriousness of the architect community?
Yes, I often find most of the architecture community is too serious— architecture doesn't need to be a tragedy. Often overlooked as architects, the Eames were really good and serious at making their whole lives seem like a giant picnic. There is a joy in their design process as much as in the products themselves. That is much closer to what I want.

Atelier Bow Wow

I know so little about contemporary architecture, anyone you could turn me on to?
Hmm...I really appreciate the Japanese firm, Atelier Bow Wow. They have a way of being both serious and playful at the same time... finding and documenting amazing occurrences in the built environment of Tokyo and then using those observations in their own work. Their houses are lessons on making the most of small spaces.














Your pieces seem to celebrate "PLAY", almost a melting pot of Ettore Sottsass, Pee Wee's Playhouse, Roy McMakin, and others. Anyone you are specifically inspired by in your life?
You've hit the nail on the head! Definitely Ettore Sottsass and Roy McMakin play a huge roles and they make for strange bedfellows...Sottsass's use of color and shape and McMakin's subtle play with the domestic everyday. Pee Wee's Playhouse use to really creep me out as a child but now I think about Gary Panter's work all the time. I've been thinking a lot lately about the way we create relationships to objects sometimes by giving them personalities— anthropomorphizing our belongings- Gary Panter on the Pee Wee's Playhouse set took that super far.









Did you have a favorite board game as a kid?
I loved Clue...the board with the plans of all the rooms, the different floor materials and the little game pieces...- the language that was involved—"Cornel Mustard in the drawing room with the candle stick."












Plans for WELCOME for the upcoming year?
Yes I have tons of plans! Next month, Wagon, my first product is launching which I'm really excited about. I'm also working on a commission for a small group of jewelry for a friend who is launching an online store. And there is the aforementioned Whole Wall Furniture Family in the Fall.







What were two things you wanted to be when you were a kid?
I think I wanted to be a writer and an architect...kinda boring that I actually am both. I'm realizing in my old age that I'm pretty single-minded, as much I as think I'm off track I'm not...a good and a bad thing I suppose.

Knotted in the style of loose macrame or net,
Knot Security Curtain echoes the diamond pattern of a chainlink fence
or security grate and provides a softer side of security.
To be hung inside or outside!!!

A native Angeleno, Laurel explores her interests in the roles of material culture, craft, and style within architecture and design through collaborations and publications with and without WELCOME. She received her B.A. from New York University (NYU) and her M.Arch from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI_arc), she is a certified LEED AP. Prior to her architectural training, Laurel was managing editor at zingmagazine in New York City. Laurel has experience working with a diverse group of architects, designers and artists including Johnston Marklee, Greg Lynn, Sussman/Prejza, Bestor Architecture, Taalman/Koch and Jeffrey Inaba as well as the artists Ester Partegas and Devon Dikeou. She teaches design studio in the USC School of Architecture. Her writing and designs have appeared in a variety of forums including, Volume, North Drive Press and the Storefront for Art and Architecture. She is also a partner in Euneveuver.

Thank you Laurel!
Go to Welcome site here...

YHBHS Interview
with
Laurel Broughton,
of WELCOME

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George Sowden

more color
in
design:
1981
2001

1981.



George J. Sowden was born in Leeds, UK in 1942. He studied architecture at Gloucestershire College of Art in the 1960’s. He moved to Milano in 1970 where he started working with Ettore Sottsass and Olivetti. In 1981, he was one of the co-founders of the Memphis Group, the design movement that had a significant impact on design aesthetics in the eighties.

2001.

It's amazing to see how George Sowden's
designs have changed through the decades..
while still remaining committed to color.
His catalogue is pure eye candy.

"SowdenDesign has designed and engineered mechanical and electronic products since the 1970's and our designs have consistently been at the forefront of emerging technology.

With dozens of international awards and a unique background as pioneers of the postmodern design movement, we're recognized as one of the world's leaders in product design.
SowdenDesign was founded in 1981, in Milan, by George J. Sowden and has grown over the years with important partnership relationships: Simon Morgan, Hiroshi Ono, Davy Kho and Franco Mele, and great collaborations with associates: Christian Hartmann, Stephen England, Cynthia Viale, Giovanni Amenduni, Christopher Coombes, Guillaume Delvigne and Tomas Ortiz Ferrer."






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E A M E S

Eames
fantatics,
get
in
line.

"Art resides in the quality of doing, process is not magic."
-Charles Eames

(via upcoming)
Wright auction
Estimate: $150,000–200,000

"The details are details.
They make the product.
The connections, the connections, the connections.
It will in the end be these details that give the product its life."

-Charles Eames

Charles and Ray Eames
Archive Collection

"For more than thirty years, John and Marilyn Neuhart have chronicled the work of Charles and Ray Eames and archived Eames Office output. Amassing over 100 binders containing photographs, copies, negatives and clippings, the archive collection includes: Eames House records, Eames Design records, Eames Photo collection, Eames Office graphics, Connections Exhibition records, Eames Films, Mathematica Exhibition records, and an IBM Inventory. Complete index available upon request."

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Paul McCobbb,
images
via straylight wandering
flicker here.
thanks!

1955 Planner Group Designs by Paul McCobb - Line Card

Paul McCobb (1917- March 10, 1969)

1955 Planner Group Designs by Paul McCobb - Cover

1955 Planner Group Designs by Paul McCobb - Foldout

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Matteo Thun
1980's.


"We need less weight and more light. We need products that tell ideas without words. Products that are mobile because contemporary lives are nomadic. Products that tell stories of sustainability because environmental necessities ask for it. We need less needs and more essential, economical, transparent answers. Our product design is an architecture of simple but necessary gestures to serve a daily life that goes well beyond our present life."

In 1981, he was one of the co-founders of the Memphis Group, the design movement that so shaped events in the eighties. The following year, he was appointed the chair in product design and ceramics by the Vienna Academy for Applied Arts.

In 1984 he founded his Studio, in Milan, Italy. Between 1990 and 1993, he worked as the Creative Director at Swatch.

"Total sustainability starts from inside. Most human relations and expressions of human creativity happen inside buildings. Just like most of our daily life. That means that cultures and social structures are what interior design is called to serve, inside buildings that we design, to save resources and energy. Thus, an interior design emerges that is simple, essential and light because of the transparency of its form and function."

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ettore
sottsass

"From the outset of his creative journey,
Sottsass felt uncomfortable with what he saw as Rationalism's mechanistic approach to architectural form, and he devoted his energies, instead, to experimenting with color in the context of the interior and to seeking links between painting and architecture."

currently working on a project on Ettore Sottsass

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(in a home)

Paavo Tynell
1890-1973
see more here....
Finnish.

(in a restaurant)

form
precision
pulleys
brass
and joy.

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charlotte perriand
1960

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Johanna Grawunder
her site here..



"She began working for Ettore Sottsass in 1985, subsequently becoming a partner. In addition to her work in architectural design she has produced limited editions of lighting and furniture for various galleries in Europe and the United States, such as the Gallery Mourmans in Belgium and the Design Gallery in Milan."

Her intention is not to be aggressive or provocative, but "to produce work that is ironic and positive"

Design Gallery Milano
Italy, 1995
lacquered wood, enameled steel, glass, Abet laminate
24 w x 21.5 d x 77.5 h inches
From the Air Conditioning series, this cabinet features five adjustable shelves and a glow in the dark interior. Signed, dated and numbered on applied bronze gallery label to reverse: Cabinet features five adjustable shelves and a glow in the dark interior.

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