Peclers Paris has come up with the theme for the September 2023 edition of Maison&Objet: “ENJOY: a quest for pleasures“. The theme explores three areas of value that place hedonism at the heart of better living, and the tribes of consumers who adopt them. The agency is also staging the theme at the heart of the tradeshow over an area of 150 m², combining design, lifestyle and artistic performance in a lively, embodied curation.
Third and last part of a 3-part discovery of the INSPIRE ME! forum: the festive decadents’ ongoing quest for exhilaration.
The festive decadents: life is a stage
For festive decadents, identity is a field of experimentation through which, according to their desires and beliefs, they express their way of being in the world and their bases of belonging. In a society that is moving towards greater inclusivity and tolerance, and in which new modes of existence are emerging, self-determination continues to extend its boundaries and singularity becomes the key to a successful identity.
Celebrating the play of surfaces, they adopt a theatrical relationship with the self and make the false, the excessive and the decadent essential components of the image they project to others. Between refusing to be spectators and seeking individual happiness, they overturn traditional codes of propriety and adopt a sensual and free lifestyle. Made public, the intimate becomes extimate and takes on an almost artificial character. In this great celebration of life, costume became a privileged means of expression.
To present each facet of their identities in a unique way, this tribe transforms everyday artifacts into status vectors of singularity. Uninhibitedly adopting assertive and precious aesthetics, they draw on the codes of glamour and theatre.
Aesthetic and functional translation: a bedroom as a festive place
The totemic room of festive decadents is a hushed bedroom in warm shades of plum and heady red, almost like a private club lounge. In the middle is a generous, theatrical bed (Room 603 by Nap) covered in Magniberg metallic sheets. Above, a mirrored Sun&Moon sculpture by an&angel echoes the metallic sparkle of the Cometa lamp (Radar Interior) and the pressure stool by Tim Teven.
Nothing in this room is quite what it seems. In one corner, a USM-Haller sideboard serves as a bar, topped with a Lily Juliet pink ice bucket and coloured glasses from Reflections Copenhagen. There’s jewellery by Lola Mossino and Indra Eudaric, designed as extensions of the body, and sculptures by Pleun Von Dijk, whose anatomical curves evoke pleasure. Even the flowers are treated as an installation (by Blumen), an organic and deconstructed object in the image of the vase-sculpture by Audrey Large that faces it. Finally, a toile de Jouy by Pascale Risbourg, with its explicitly erotic sketches, takes the country innocence usually associated with the emblematic fabric and turns it on its head.
To be seen in the Festive Decadents section of the INSPIRE ME! forum. :
Thanks to our partners Delius for the wall cladding in the Decadent Festives and Sensitive Hedonists areas, and to Tarkett for the flooring.
Interview with Audrey Large, turning digital into matter.
Tell us more about you?
I began studying in object design at the ESAD in Reims, then went on to do a master’s at the Design Academy in Eindhoven in the Netherlands. It was at this point that my practice took a more experimental turn. In 2019, I joined a year-long residency at the Jan Van Eyck Academy, which welcomes practitioners from a wide range of fields; writers, visual artists, architects, designers and curators rub shoulders. This definitely encouraged me to pursue a creative approach that was free of the classic categories of art and design. I then moved to Rotterdam to devote myself to my personal research and the development of my studio.
How would you describe your work?
Sensitive, expressive, navigating the in-between. Whether through images or sculptural objects, my work above all explores the question of materiality through the digital medium. When you look at my objects, you might wonder: do they come from the past or the future, are they the product of human hands or a machine, are they artificial or organic, are they design or art, are they functional or abstract, digital or material, real or unreal? For me, these questions are no longer relevant; my objects are everything at once. They are always in the middle. With my work, I try to go beyond these traditional dichotomies to think about our ways of inhabiting matter differently, in a more fluid way.
What’s your obsession when you’re creating?
I like the idea of creating each object as an open world without contours. By combining image processing technologies with those of digital fabrication, I’m always on the lookout for the ambiguous surface and the impossible object. An object that would stand up to words and descriptions, that would go beyond the known and the commonplace. I would say that I try to imbue each object with a strong presence so that a narrative dimension emerges from the sensory and perceptual experience of the user/viewer. So I’m always looking for the limit of how open a piece can be: without a predefined discourse, anyone can make it their own.
Your favourite material colours?
I like surfaces that challenge the way we perceive reality. Materials that never quite reveal themselves, that cannot be fully described. Reflections that play with light. A dimension of liquidity, which translates the idea of the constant transitory state of matter. All this is also a reference to the history of photography. I love tactile illusions.
What inspires you in everyday life?
Everything! When I sculpt and draw in three dimensions, the process is often very personal and intimate. I try to avoid direct and easy explanations such as “this piece was inspired by…”. Here again, I prefer to leave the answers open-ended. On another level, in terms of creative methods, I particularly enjoy understanding and dissecting the nuts and bolts of image-making and combining this with digital fabrication.
How does one create an object that brings joy?
For me, objects are more than inert things mass-produced for utilitarian purposes. When I create an object, I fill it with my fantasies, my doubts and my emotions, and in doing so, I believe it is imbued with a force that gives it the power to act on the senses. I don’t necessarily seek to arouse the joy of the user; I sometimes imagine that my works can also create disorder, disgust and confusion. They are always open doors to the imagination.
Tell us about the piece you are presenting in the INSPIRE ME! forum?
A vase sculpted digitally by hand and then materialized via 3D printing in iridescent bio-plastic. I’ll leave it to visitors to experience it for themselves. Here’s a hint: it’s pink!
Dive into the other two universes of the INSPIRE ME! forum and discover the sensitive hedonists & collective optimists tribes.
- INSPIRE ME! forum; Maison&Objet, Paris Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre, Hall 5A, from 7 to 11 September 2023.
- ENJOY: In Quest of Pleasures conference, Thursday, September 7th, 11am, The Talks Area
- Get a badge