Design Debate

Eva Jospin working on Promenade(s) for Maison Ruinart. Image from Ignant . Well, this one really is cardboard! (Unlike my last blog post .) I am mesmerised by the work of French sculptor Eva Jospin. She takes something so ordinary and transforms it, layer by layer, into dense forests, crumbling architecture, caves and imaginary landscapes that feel ancient, mysterious and slightly unreal. Up close, the corrugated edges become bark, stone and tangled undergrowth. Step back and the material almost disappears completely. I love that contradiction: cardboard is everyday and disposable, but Jospin somehow makes it feel monumental. Forests, ruins and imaginary landscapes Forests and architecture appear again and again in Jospin's work, sometimes so entwined that it becomes difficult to tell where one finishes and the other begins. ...

I still don’t believe it – do you? These cardboard-looking vases, pots and pitchers, apparently held together with strips of tape, are actually ceramic. They’re part of the Carton series by French potter Jacques Monneraud . The detail is so spot on. Something that looks relatively simple took many hours of experimentation, mixing three different stonewares and testing glazes until he found just the right effect for the tape. He totally nailed it. Monneraud often explores those little ‘what if…?’ ideas. You know the sort – when your mind wanders and you suddenly think, could I make that? With Carton , he was playing with the idea of not trusting appearances. Cardboard is something we associate with being temporary, fragile and disposable, so he liked the thought of creating ‘unalterable cardboard’ – objects that look makeshift but are actually substantial and permanent. The illusion gets even better when you realise these ...

Morning, what a strange time we find ourselves in. I am now back at work part time, creating away. My lockdown experience was one of beautiful walks in the Cornish countryside, lots of cooking and movies with siblings. Thankfully I have managed to avoid catching the virus so my time has been much more pleasant than some.  I do love reading about how people have kept themselves occupied, especially the creatives. One of my brothers is recording an album from his room in Coventry and my sister has been painting canvases and knitting to pass the time.  This French artist, Nathalie Lete hasn't been idle either, spending lockdown in her country home an hour from Paris, she has been taking her art off-canvas and on to the walls. Nathalie is inspired by the folk tradition of art, with German and Chinese parents she has a wealth of cultural art to refer to. What started as a little flourish here and there has become a home alive with floral patterns spreading...

French photographer Eric Tabuchi has an ongoing photo series, 'Atlas des Régions Naturelles', a detailed documentary of France's landscape, built and natural. Over the course of 10 years Tabuchi will take 25,000 images, 50 images taken in 500 different regions of France. When we think of France we often picture blue shuttered farm houses or elegant Parisian glamour. Tabuchi wanted to capture the whole of France, the anonymous buildings and the left behind infrastructure from a world that was, or might have been. There's a slightly sad quality to the shots he frames, quiet, still. The buildings are diverse but you really focus on them as the subject, you consider its purpose, its place. Originally found at Ignant .  

You may have seen the playful French artist and his clever repurposings across the net. From cement mixers turned giant disco balls to pop up tennis courts in the most surreal of locations. Recently I came across the caravan that is now a transportable pool! Marvellous whimsey to brighten your day. I love how he is happy to play with perspective, and perception. The giant picnic table can make you feel like The Incredible Shrinking Man. We Brits love a pun, but a truly mobile phone? Brilliant! You can see more of Benedetto Bufalino 's work here. Keep your eyes peeled for what he comes up with next! Originally seen at Design Boom .

Today is such a peaceful and beautiful May morning I wanted to bring something equally serene to inspire us. I came across on my internet adventures contemporary artist Benoît Trimborn . The French architect brings to his huge oil paintings a detailed perspective, very calm and considered. He sees himself as not having a message to convey but instead presenting nature accurately so we might pause, appreciate, think.  Trimborn categorises his work as 'contemporary impressionism', perhaps that is because of the relatively ordinary scenes he picks and the quality of light he manages to convey.  Living within the landscape as you can't fail to do in Cornwall, makes you effected by the seasons. The light at different times of day comes with the realisation that you can never really see the same view twice. Nature is always moving, growing, highlighted at different times in different ways. Trimborn's work provides a moment of calm for a busy week...