Interview with Kostas Lambridis

In his first personal exhibition in the Carpenters Workshop gallery in Paris, he presented a collection of nine works titled “Elemental Folds”, which are creatively processed references to historic artistic forms, unified into contemporary objects. The most famous work of Kostas Lampridis is the Elemental Cabinet, the centrepiece of the Paris exhibition, which is a “remake” of the 18th century Badminton Cabinet but also more than that. We met with him at his studio and talked about his furniture pieces, the ones he’s created and the ones he envisions, the concepts that currently engage him as well as the meaning of furniture and time, while at the same time discussing materials, history, creative destruction and design in general.

-How do you define your relationship with matter and texture? What are the criteria upon which your choices are based? Do you think the choice of these parameters stylistically predetermines the result? What is your process?

If I can state something with certainty, it’s that I create objects. If I had to give it a definition, I would refrain from defining it based on who I am but would prefer to define it based on what I do. So I think the correct word is “objects”. An object, by definition, is comprised of matter and substance. It’s not about texture -in my opinion- but rather about the primary materials. I start, for example, by observing a rock in the sea. Texture concerns a second phase of the processing procedure and how you manipulate the material into becoming something else. But even before that, I want to view the world around me as potential raw material, without restrictions. Whether it’s something natural, a rock beside the sea or a dilapidated dresser tossed next to a trash can in Kypseli.

-So, we could say that in order to gather the materials that are necessary to create a collectible object, you first create a collection yourself?

Yes, but there is not a standard procedure I follow. I don’t compile objects and afterwards compose something out of them. That is, the “collection” is not characterised by a strict form, with a beginning and an end. During the course of the procedure, things are sometimes created to fill a void. There, another procedure occurs, one that is closer to the design process and further from the compositional. I am equally interested in both, that is to say, to fill a void that occurs by composing is important. I don’t believe that one of the two stages is more (or less) meaningful or valuable. The void is especially important whether you complete it -to make something functional for example- or you choose to leave it as such, to allow it to exist as a void. Generally speaking, the core of my work is searching, and while searching, I am as interested in intervening and guiding things in a certain direction as in accepting something and leaving it as is.

LAMBRIDIS, Its-Not-Enough, https://kostaslambridis.com

- Therefore, the process you follow is not based on canon or a method, it is not a specific

one. Is that right?

Yes, it’s not specific. I’d like to say that the process develops organically, but the truth is that it’s not always like that. At a certain point, there emerges a need for structure that is rather foreign to the process. Also, during the process, the work has to be “broken” into tasks that can be done by others, and at some point, you start doubting what you’re doing and then come new choices, right and wrong ones. And like that, quite often, it stops being something organic, and even by embracing mistakes, one is led to something different, to a direction that is more of a personal need, or to a reference to something that is a given or functional, or even worse, to something that you don’t even relate to. And all of this is part of the process. The point is to stay open and to be able to see everything. To lose your way but to find it again.

LAMBRIDIS_Elemental_Cabinet_ https://kostaslambridis.com

-Do you reproduce classical forms or do you process them and then render them with a critical view? For example, are the Baroque references more related to a maximalism of the historicity of forms or do these materials help simplify your process?

I feel that I’m at a very early stage to talk about my work in a - let’s say - overall manner. I think that what I’m doing now started when I was working on my master’s thesis in the Netherlands. I’d say that I entered something there, a space if you like, which I am still exploring. So I am interested in furniture not only as functional objects in the house but as historical objects as well. Maximalist forms and the valuable materials of the Baroque era simultaneously charm and repel me. I feel, however, that there is something very remarkable there that has been left behind, and it has nothing to do with economic value, aristocracy, religion etc. It has to do with the relationship between humans and matter. I’m very interested, that is, in the process of creation and construction of these objects, equally historically as well as in the present.

- Is there a hierarchy of sorts in your choices or references regarding each work’s structure as a whole? For example, a leg referencing Jean Dubuffet (1901–1985) or a baroque mini sculpture - Do they serve a specific reason in your work?

At first, I did this a lot, almost obsessively. Every detail was specifically formed, placed and related to everything else happening within the work. Now, I am trying to moderate such practises and to give space to the random and the absurd. It’s not easy for me to do this as it is contrary to my nature, but I believe that the more disparate the works are and the bigger the leaps between historical periods, the greater the distance from what they symbolise, the better their coexistence becomes. I always try to introduce chaos within a structure. I like to push things towards entropy. However, when entropy becomes intense and the structure tends to the uncanny, I try to restore structure and familiarity. I want something chaotic yet strictly structured, consistent. Totality is a very important concept for me.

- Since you mentioned totality, do you believe that your work is culturally inclusive or are your references restricted to a mainly western tradition? To what degree are you interested in exploring and incorporating such elements in your structure or procedure? The references presumably within your work are mediated through references to western works that in turn were inspired by other cultures or do you endeavour for an amalgamation?

I like to believe that I did not choose such a restriction. Or at least on a theoretical level, I’m very interested in merging things that come from different cultures or historical periods, because civilisations have always been in conversation with each other - in one way or another- whether they were developing at the same or at a different pace. Obviously, each civilisation cultivated different viewpoints, philosophical or religious. Despite the differences and their connotations, because we live in our time and have access to all the information on this planet, even though I don’t have the experience of the “other”, of living and growing up within a different culture, I am very interested in what is happening everywhere and what has been happening always.

-So you are interested in merging these elements?

It’s not something I strive to do for its own sake but I introduce other cultures’ elements during my process. I actually think that these elements have already merged throughout history. I mean to say that, for example, Sumerians discovered bronze 5.000 years ago and formed the essential parts of human civilization from then on. However, in today’s use of bronze we don’t recognise an element that is estranged from our own civilisation nor a merging of elements. I’m Greek because I work with marble, I’m also Roman because I work with bricks, I’m Chinese, American etc., but I am also none of these in the end.

- What or who would you say is your most important source of inspiration? Is it a love-hate relationship? Critical appraisal, admiration or both? Do you think that through your work you revolt against something/someone?

Whatever inspires me, I think surpasses the limits of art itself or even of corporeality. I definitely admire nature, the remains of human civilization and I am definitely critical during the process and adjustment of the aforementioned into my work. But I don’t think that what I do is a revolt or necessarily discloses such aspects. I am sceptical and that is mirrored in my work but not consciously, serving an ideology or a text, and I’m not necessarily interested in communicating something like that. If someone sees it in my work, that is fine. If not, also fine. For me, my work is everything one sees or doesn’t see, separately and at the same time.

- So are you interested in the unknowing viewer? In the novice gaze?

The unknowledgeable viewer is much more intriguing to me than any connoisseur or omniscient viewer. Knowledge is terribly restrictive. That’s why, when I learn something, when something becomes part of me, I try to overcome it as fast as I can, to expel it, not to delve too deeply into one technique, not to become the best or have the latter as an end goal in my process. I’m scared of becoming a very good craftsman, I try to resist it. I see what works for each object and that is how far I will get. Because it’s easy to get lost in what is right or wrong and detach yourself from the experience of the process. It’s not what matters when it comes to what I do. I’m not a professional. I am interested in materials and action, with respect towards the material and disrespect towards the technique. I want the objects I make to be both well-made and sloppy, like humans. I am critical against strictly well-made or sloppy design furniture that is made just for the sake of making it.

LAMBRIDIS_Elemental_Cabinet_https://kostaslambridis.com

-What is the relationship of Greece with Design? How do you think it will develop in the near future, i.e. the post-covid era? Is a new, more fruitful era for this form of art may be commencing? Do you

think there are opportunities/persons/institutes that can guide someone interested in becoming acquainted with design on a practical level as well as a theoretical one by visiting exhibitions?

Firstly, I don’t know what is happening in Greece, nor in other countries. I think these limitations are somewhat antiquated. I believe that regardless of location, since one has access to global information- with some limitations, naturally- one can become acquainted with design.

- Inspiration is one thing, while technical knowledge and infrastructure are another. You sought out the chance to study after you realised your passion and inspiration. How can someone in Greece do something similar?

Keep away from technical knowledge. That comes with market restrictions.

-You don’t consider design as interdependent to the market?

I’d like to believe that it shouldn’t be. I feel that what I do is influenced by Greece and my studies here as well as my studies in the Netherlands, and, at the same time, references greater influences that have little to do with design itself and my studies. One way - the easiest, what I did myself- is to study at an institution, but I also believe that you can end up somewhere even better if you maintain a certain distance from these structures and maintain an openness to the world. If you design for design’s sake, that is a trap. A child’s drawing is always perfect, there are no references, right or wrong choices. So, to answer the question, if you are a 17-18-year-old student in Greece and feel that you are interested in design and mainly in a career, yes, there is definitely a lack of education and institutions. However, if there exists a profound passion for design and you don’t know how to make a living out of it, but for now you don’t care as long as you get to explore it, then I think that you can somehow find a way. I’ve realised as a professor at Design Academy in the Netherlands, that the biggest part of my work with the students is to make them expel strict rules taught to them by an institution, even though I am a part of it myself. Of course, if there are exhibitions in the city you live in and an opportunity to keep yourself updated, it is easier to acquaint yourself and experience new worlds. In Greece, fifteen years ago, this was done by a handful of people, rarely and at their own pace and restrictions, but they did it and that is something great. Today things are easier. There is still the feeling that something new is being born, and that is not bad. In Athens, there exists an audience for design and that shows with every opportunity.

LAMBRIDIS_Faux-Baroque_https://kostaslambridis.com

- What do you want to establish through your objects?

I don’t mean to come off as a romantic, but in truth, the only thing that I care to establish is a beautiful life for myself. This is what interests me first and foremost and it’s the reason I do something I love and in which I like to invest my time. A day at the studio for me is, whatever the outcome, a beautiful day gained. In a broader sense, I am also interested in creating an environment for some people around me that concerns what we commonly love. In my studio, there are 4-5 of us who work daily and spend our time together. I’m interested in being part of a whole, of a community in this city, country, world. However work-related, socialisation is not an end-goal and I prefer it to be natural. If I have to set forth a direction, it’s inwards and not outwards.

- So it is a space where someone can really get in touch with the materials and design.

Of course. Anyone can do an internship here and I don’t care where they come from, what their background is or what knowledge they have on the subject, whether it be craftsmanship or design. What I’m interested in is to create a work environment in which we live in relation to these quests and to this thing that constitutes a passion.

- Kindly thank you for this conversation!

Thank you too.