3 Jan 2022 | People

Philippe Malouin, ready-mades and sustainability

DS.WRITER:

Christina Ioakeimidou

Philippe Malouin’s recent exhibition in The Breeder gallery gave the Athenian audience the chance to get acquainted with the work of one of the most well known contemporary industrial and architectural designers. His designs balance between functionality and a clear artistic approach of form, aiming to the transformation of the materials used in each composition. Malouin himself, on account of his collaboration with Finish litalla , characteristically says:

“I wanted to design a collection that helps people create centres of gravity in their homes and provides a place for precious objects and memories, regardless of the size of their living space''.

www.moma.org. | The First City, from the Twelve Ideal Cities, project, Aerial perspective (Superstudio, 1971).

His collaborations however are not limited to litalla. Nike, Hem, Ace hotel, MATTER, Roll & Hill, Established & Sons, 1882 ltd., Kvadrat, Umbra Shift, Caesarstone, IZÉ, Bloomberg and Swarovski are some of the, admittedly, many customers of the Canadian designer. Like his collaborations, his compositions are also incongruous. Furniture, lamps, even inspired installations like Seven Dials on the streets of Covent Garden, confirm the vast spectrum of his work.

Μalouin’s design

It’s not the first time that Malouin embraces a more dadaist approach in order to create pieces, the form of which, even if somewhat futuristic, ends up manifesting functional objects that seem like ready-mades. Add to all the above the playful yet minimalist disposition of the carpets, furniture, chairs and lamps that he himself curates, obviously influenced, as he has said, by Charles and Ray Eames. A characteristic and most known example is the impressive Gridlock Pendant (2012), a lamp crafted by a complex of dozens of interconnected bronze pipes. This lamp inspired by the ART-BRUT movement may be the best representation of Malouin’s philosophy regarding careful design and the selection of materials, which, stemming from different backgrounds, are settled harmoniously into his new, artistic compositions.

www.rollandhill.com.| Το Gridlock Pendant.

Other than the philosophy behind his products, Malouin has also talked about the importance of his collaborations with other designers and architects.

Scraps in The Breeder gallery?

The Steel Works exhibition hosted by The Breeder for one month (November 4th to December 4th) aimed to challenge the viewer’s perception of the second and third dimensions of the exhibited objects but also at the transformation of scraps, that Malouin picked up from junkyards in west Attica and Brighton, into functional objects and in perfect tune with the philosophy of sustainability. Besides, for Malouin sustainability is not a mere trend of our time but a necessity always accompanying his work.

In the artworks transferred to Athens from the Frieze Art Fair 2021 of London, the Canadian designer seems to break the mold. Inspired by the spontaneity of Athens he creates objects based on instincts, without exaggerating forms or their design, allowing each different material to self express its usage. As noted by him, it is impossible to design in advance, given that the final result can never be the same. From this we can infer that the process of creation must be perceived by the viewer, must be instinctive and it must not fit artistic molds.

This stance, along with the adoption of the découpe* technique, evokes the dadaist standards of renouncing Rationalism as well as a mechanical interpretation of the world and implies that the concept of creating is inevitably tied with action and the natural world. Thus, pipes, aluminum bars and anything else that could be found in the junkyards of Aspropyrgos and Brighton are converted to furniture, colourful in their majority, painted with red, green, blue and light blue colours. The choice of colours is not random, referencing the colours of the United Kingdom and Greece respectively.

*Découpe was a regular Dada practice. Simply put, it is the cut-up and rearrangement of pieces in order to create a whole new object. The same technique was used in literature, poetry, film and sculpture of the movement's artists. A known example is “Cut with the Kitchen Knife Dada through the Beer-Belly of the Weimar Republic” (1919) by Hannah Höch.

www.deezen.com | | Project “Superbenches” Max Lamb, Scholten & Baijings και Philippe Malouin

Like so, the arm of an Athenian bench, combined with a gymnastics bar weighing 20kg, was turned into a chair, while sheet iron transformed into an armchair, proving that with the right processing urban waste can be elevated to functional products, always in tune with the spirit of recycling and sustainability.

The Steel Works exhibition was held at The Breeder gallery in Athens between November 4th and December 4th.