matali crasset interview

matali crasset

we met matali crasset at mu.dac museum in lausanne on the opening of her exhibition in september 2002

what is the best moment of the day?

the morning, when I get up early and see my daughter’s face, she has a great smile and it is nice to wake up to that.

what kind of music do you listen to at the moment?

a cd of laurent haut, a friend of mine, who does techno-experimental music, we are collaborating on the cd cover and a short piece of animation that will be released with the cd.

‘sunic’, a perfume created by matali crasset in collaboration with dragoco, installation at gandy gallery, prague, february 2002 and galleria luisa delle piane, milan, october 2002

do you listen to the radio?

I listen to the radio a lot, I don’t have a tv, I prefer the radio because it makes you use your imagination, and you can also go into greater depth as opposed to tv which is much more superficial.

what books do you have on your bedside table?

right now a book by a philosopher-doctor called dagonnier, who wrote a strange book about waste, about things people don’t want anymore, about wastefulness.

do you read design magazines?

I look rather than read.

left: ‘tapis-pouf’ – metafloor a collection of furniture carpets by matali crasset for sam laik, 2002

right: ‘living soft’ – metafloor a collection of furniture carpets by matali crasset for sam laik, 2002

where do you get news from?

the radio, newspapers, for example in france ‘liberation’.

do you notice how people are dressing?

do you have any preferences?

clothes are very interesting for me when they differ from the current trend, when they have more personality and people make different choices rather than conforming to the current fashion.

what kind of clothes do you avoid wearing?

the image of a woman wearing tight clothes is an image used for women who work for big companies and it is sort of serious, sort of similar to the male image, and I’m not interested in it at all, because it does not represent the true female nature.

left: ‘phytolab’ installation by matali crasset for dornbracht, 2001

right: ‘energizer’ installation by matali crasset for dornbracht, 2001

do you have any pets?

I don’t have any pets, it is difficult to have a pet in paris, but my parents live in the country where there are a lot of cats and dogs and it seems to be a more appropriate place for them than in the big city.

where do you work on your designs and projects?

there is no fixed rule, everywhere, it is easy for me to get wrapped up in my own world.

who would you like to design something for?

I don’t know, I like it when a design is a give and take, a moving ahead together.

‘ierace’, lamp by matali crasset for artemide, 2001

when you were a child, what did you want to be?

I had no idea what I wanted to be when I was a child, it was something completely unknown. I wanted to do something which I liked, to experience my work every day, in order to get a ‘savoir faire’ and perhaps change, to help the work to evolve and I think design gives you this chance.

do you discuss your work with architects and designers?

my office is small, there are 4 people in total, we are always exchanging ideas on the development of projects.

‘ici-pari’ fm radio by matali crasset and philippe starck for thompson / lexon, 1995

describe your style, like a good friend of yours would describe it.

my job isn’t about shape. I am most interested in working on the typology of things, on the relationship between the various components of an object while paying attention to the whole, afterwards the form comes, following the tension which I put into all of my designs.

do you think that design is an autonomous cultural expression?

do you think it’s a form of art?

I think that it is not interesting to understand whether it is art or design, it is important to understand the approach, there are many different ways of doing things, it can be more industrial, more artistic, it depends on who you’re working for, whether it’s a museum, or a company or another specific context.

which of your work has given you the most satisfaction?

I’m finishing a hotel in nice which may be the most important project for me, because its global, a real hotel with music, images, art, a lively platform, for me it is interesting because it is like making a never-ending object, which you use and then see how it can be changed from day to day.

left: ‘be box’ for jewellery, etc by matali crasset for DIM, 2002

right: ‘capriccio di ugo’, chair by matali crasset for domodinamica, 2001

is there any designer and/or architect, you appreciate a lot?

I like the french architect etienne-louis boullee who designed utopias, who drew up many plans which were never built, then charlotte perriand, eileen gray.

and those still active, are there any particular ones you appreciate?

I like the approach of the two young designers from berlin vogt + weizenegger, I also like the work of the bouroullec brothers whose work is more formal than mine, but done very well and a pleasure to look at.

what are you afraid of regarding the future ?

I’m not afraid of it, I don’t see it as much different than the present.