24 April 2009
Milano pre-Salone
The Salone del Mobile opened yesterday in Milan. The city's main design event of the year is much more than a "furniture fair" or what the idea of one would lead you to think - take in your perspective for instance that Wall Paper has a special section in its website covering the event live. The "Salone" as it's simply called is also one of the 2 party excuses that takes the city in a whirl of openings, shows, places to be (or depending of your perspective - places not to be). The other one is, of course, the fashion week.
As my calendar worked it out, I actually spent a few days as a spring break in Milan the week before the Salone - I was warned though that I would find the city "shut down". Well, that wasn't totally the case... A lot of galleries were "closed" indeed but still a lot of things were going on in and out of them - because of the preparation! That was a show in itself... so all over town you'd see skeletons of unidentified objects, covered with plastic sheets..
As my calendar worked it out, I actually spent a few days as a spring break in Milan the week before the Salone - I was warned though that I would find the city "shut down". Well, that wasn't totally the case... A lot of galleries were "closed" indeed but still a lot of things were going on in and out of them - because of the preparation! That was a show in itself... so all over town you'd see skeletons of unidentified objects, covered with plastic sheets..
Labels: Design, Furniture, Galeries, Milan, Process, Salone, Wall Paper
01 August 2008
2 weeks
Tomorrow, I'm leaving for London and then Sardinia. 2 weeks of vacations to empty my brain, and do nothing. The concept of vacations takes an all new meaning for the salarywoman. Up until now, except for brief periods in my life where I had been previously contract-tied to the business world, I was mixing vacations and work somehow. I wasn't really aware of that specific rhythm where you look forward to a break, as I was defining when and how I would manage my own time. Now it's imposed upon me, but I don't resent it really, at least for now. It's a different experience of pace, leisure and energy.
I have to come up with a concept for an interactive art piece in the next few weeks. I'm the artist-in-residency for the Siana festival next year, taking place in Evry, France. Of course, in the last months, my work as a designer and project director took up all my brain activity. But soon, I'll have to add to the mix artlife. For me, it's a way to get back into research mode. But after this time away from it, I'm completely out of the blue. I hear here and there sounds of what's going on, through my friends who are still in the loop but I feel like I have a lot to catch up.
The theme that I'm starting to approach for this new piece is unsurprisingly: work. And it might actually be a good lead. The festival conference has chosen to center around the subject of my DEA thesis: the imaginary of technologies. I developed in my study the subject within the context of 19th century industrial revolution, when the new technologies of that time were related to early mechanization and the transformation of the world through mass production as we know it. So it might make sense as my current life is deeply influenced at the moment by the rhythm imposed by the structure of a working day that I reflect upon this in my next project. As I empty my brain during this summer break, inspiration might come to take me further into that path or into something completely different.
--Joëlle.
I have to come up with a concept for an interactive art piece in the next few weeks. I'm the artist-in-residency for the Siana festival next year, taking place in Evry, France. Of course, in the last months, my work as a designer and project director took up all my brain activity. But soon, I'll have to add to the mix artlife. For me, it's a way to get back into research mode. But after this time away from it, I'm completely out of the blue. I hear here and there sounds of what's going on, through my friends who are still in the loop but I feel like I have a lot to catch up.
The theme that I'm starting to approach for this new piece is unsurprisingly: work. And it might actually be a good lead. The festival conference has chosen to center around the subject of my DEA thesis: the imaginary of technologies. I developed in my study the subject within the context of 19th century industrial revolution, when the new technologies of that time were related to early mechanization and the transformation of the world through mass production as we know it. So it might make sense as my current life is deeply influenced at the moment by the rhythm imposed by the structure of a working day that I reflect upon this in my next project. As I empty my brain during this summer break, inspiration might come to take me further into that path or into something completely different.
--Joëlle.
Labels: Art, inspiration, Process, Work
