'rattan is definitely alive' - aurelie hoegy on using movement as an artistic medium

fascinated by movement and sustainable materials

driven by an inner fascination with the essence of movement as well as curiosity about malleable yet strong natural materials, aurelie hoegy creates a wide range of powerful works breaking barriers between normality and abnormality. the french artist and designer uses movement as a medium and embodies it through her extensive work, which includes limited edition objects, installations, furniture, and lighting pieces. using sustainable organic materials, like rattan fibers, the designer shapes matter into what seems like a wild choreography in space or a graceful aerial ocean wave. ‘I’m letting myself be guided by the movement of the fiber itself, all at once shaping matter into an architecture of the body in movement,’ she mentions.

designboom spoke with aurelie hoegy to learn more about her creative approach, her deep interest in rattan as well as her internationally acclaimed works. read the interview in full below.

the wild fibers duchess

all images courtesy of aurelie hoegy

aurelie hoegy lives and works between paris and puerto escondido in mexico. she first received international recognition for her graduation work dubbed ‘macguffin lamp’. this debut was followed by her two acclaimed works. the first one is the ‘dancers’ collection, for which she has received the rado jury prize during the 2015 paris design week and the first prize of the jury at the pure talent contest at the imm cologne in 2016. also, in september 2021, CNAP, one of the biggest cultural institutions of france, made the acquisition of three pieces of the series.

the second widely acclaimed piece by hoegy is the ‘wild fibers duchess’, which was directly acquired by the centre pompidou in paris for its permanent collection. the duchess will also be part of their next show mimésis, un design vivant in centre pompidou metz in june 2022. you can see dancers, wild fibers duchess, and more of aurelie hoegy’s works here.

the wild fibers duchess

interview with aurelie hoegy

designboom (DB): can you tell us a little about your background? what are your main sources of influence and inspiration?

aurelie hoegy (AH): daily reality is one of the best inspiration always! I’ve always been inspired by forms of expression that allow me to push forward my understanding around body, objects, space, materials, and intangible movements. in my first project I created the macguffin lamp, which uses a 1,000-meter cable as a trigger object inviting the user to experiment with daily spontaneous moments of madness and personal freedom of expression.

then another significant moment in my path was a collaboration with the dancer and choreographer eric arnal burtschy, which happened when I was developing my dancers chair collection. by working with him with my own body I developed a more sensitive approach which allowed me to use dance choreography methods in my design practice. that gave me a deeper understanding of the relationship between the body and the object and how they could interact with each other in a more lively way. the result was the performance commissioned for the festival do disturb at the palais de tokyo and later on by silencio in paris.

the dancers collection

DB: you’ve been working with a wide range of media, including textile, rattan, steel, and cotton. what are some of the characteristics that draw you towards an artistic medium?

AH: I guess I am always drawn towards materials that are both flexible and yet can become rigid and robust. usually, they happen to be really long, such as tubes, cables, ropes, lianas… the flexibility, the tactility, and wildness of the materials facilitate a free gesture experience, creating an organic relationship between person and object. I work on hybridity, fusing objects with performance.

I’m currently very interested in rattan fibers, which is probably one of the most amazing materials I’ve worked with so far. it’s not only one of the longest fibers in the world but it also has incredible potential. it’s exceptionally flexible, soft, and extremely rigid when attached to each other. rattan is definitely alive! due to the COVID situation last year I spent a lot of time by myself in my atelier. that gave me the opportunity to get more intimate with it. a real dialogue opened up between the fiber and myself. I had to challenge how to tame it and set it free at the same time. I also like to work with rattan as I would with a flexible textile that allows for movement without restraining it. rattan is not easy to work with. I feel I have just started on this journey and I’m excited to see where it takes me.

the wild fibers coffee table

DB: much of your work deals with the concept of free form and movement — can you explain what these ideas mean to you?

AH: I believe movement reflects a certain idea of freedom, of wild expressionism, of dynamism. an invitation to think and rethink archetypes. I am fascinated by the movement’s essence and its intangibility. I use movement as a medium and embody it through my furniture collections. when working with movement as a medium, no definite rules apply, for each work we set new ones. this allows me to work instinctively in each case. in the first collection I invited the users themselves to perform (macguffin), then I let myself get inspired by the invisible trace left by the movement of dancers in space (dancers), and now I’m letting myself be guided by the movement of the fiber itself (wild fibers), all at once shaping matter into an architecture of the body in movement.

in 2016, in collaboration with louise schouwenberg, I wrote a manifesto about design and choreography called ‘unobject’ for the presentation of the offset dancers performance at silencio. in this manifest, I explain my vision of the role of the designer in understanding human desires: ‘pure movement is rarely exploited by designers, neither as a medium to inform the design process, nor as a means to define the expression of the outcome, which is strange given design’s true nature: close interaction with people, which by definition entails an activity.’

the fifth piece of the dancers collection

DB: on the occasion of centre pompidou making the acquisition of the ‘wild fibers duchess’, can you tell us a bit about the project? how has it been working with rattan?

AH: I rediscovered this magnificent material upon visiting indonesia. whilst first tracing inspiration from the human body in the dancers in 2016, with the wild fibers collection I now explored the innate liveliness of the material itself. used in crafts since the dawn of time, rattan has been connected to many styles, yet traditional and mass-market norms have played a role in limiting its natural form and full potential. my primary focus then consisted of drawing upon the material in its essence, along with the idea of forming a symbiosis between bodily movement and the dynamic quality of the fiber. the idea is that these functional objects could be appreciated both as a moving body and as a living material, blending the boundaries from inertia to life.

taking a residency in bali put me at a great place to explore the roots and origin of the craft, but also to assimilate the techniques in real-time, deepening my sensory knowledge and diving into experimentation with the fiber. there, I worked in close collaboration with skillful balinese craftsmen in a traditional workshop, completing a full-scale prototype. this first tentative piece started with the classical chair frame. from the legs up, the fiber would then mould itself to the skeletal structure, but as one progresses upwards, the movement unfolds and the stems begin to unbridle themselves, branching out more naturally. upon returning to my paris studio, I developed the technique further and after a lot of experimentation, the ‘wild fibers’ collection was born.

DB: CNAP has recently acquired three pieces of your ‘dancers’ collection. what can you tell us about this project? what was the design process like?

AH: the dancers collection is inspired by our daily choreographic movements. dancers can be seen as a single frame within a moving shot, representing both what we expend through everyday interaction with the objects in our lives, as well as what we can perceive as their own individual presence in space; a place where the static world and the world in movement reflect upon each other. the pieces are made of steel, latex and cotton layers. during the design process, the inert becomes dynamic and the dynamic becomes inert, questioning and disturbing the functionality of design archetypes, in this case the chair. form is placed before function, giving intangible gestures a physical presence. instead of focusing on a static end result, the immaterial organization of objects is considered. the audience sees the traces of movements, a choreography in space.

the dancers collection

DB: on your instagram account, your posts reveal that you’re currently working on a new project while in mexico. can you share some information about this future project?

AH: yes I am! what an incredibly beautiful country full of ancient culture and traditions that are still alive. I’ve been investigating and working on a new project with natural indigenous fibers in oaxaca, in collaboration with local traditional craftsmen and experts. some of the materials I’m exploring are pineapple silks, coconut textile, and bejuco liana. this is a long-term project — more will be unveiled next year!

the first piece of the dancers collection