thank you Rolls Royce for inviting me to the press breakfast at elisaebethen kirche to meet ISAAC JULIEN and see the wonderful installation that I have already mentioned on the blog.
the installation is absolutely breath taking I could sit there forever and watch the different images on the screen. I have explained the piece in the previous post so please go back and read it there : ) being inside the exhibition made me feel like I was there in the cold with Vanessa. it was so nice to take a photo with Isaac Julien and of course I had to ask by whom the clothes were Vanessa Myrie was wearing. his answer was: MIYAKE. beautiful black and white outfits!
STONES AGAINST DIAMONDS
Stones Against Diamonds, 2015 has been co-commissioned by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars with support from Victoria Miro, London and Roslyn Oxley Gallery, Sydney.
about Isaac Julien
Isaac Julien is one of britain’s most important and influential installation artists and filmmakers. born in london in 1960, where he currently lives and works, Julien studied at st martins’ school of art. his work draws from and comments on a range of disciplines and practices (film, dance, photography, music, theatre, painting, and sculpture) and unites them in dramatic audiovisual film installations, photographic works, and documentary films.
Elie Metni is currently completing his Diploma of Higher Studies in Architecture at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts (ALBA) where he is also a part time instructor. In 2012, he joined the Herzog and de Meuron architecture firm in Switzerland for a year-long internship, where he participated in the design process of various projects. Following his internship, he worked for 1% Architecture in Beirut where he contributed to the development of “Beirut Terraces” interior apartments, a project designed by Herzog and de Meuron. This allowed him to put to practice the tools he acquired in Switzerland. Elie shares a particular interest for product design. He constantly explores the projects’ conceptualization by experimenting with materials and ergonomics. He believes that a project doesn’t end at the completion of its construction but continues as the user starts interacting with the product. He designed several projects in Lebanon and abroad. Orient Express, a café bar in Beirut that he co-designed, has been opened to the public since 2014. Lately he was selected by Starch Foundation to design the 2015-2016 boutique.
WHAT IS STARCH
Founded by Rabih Kayrouz, Tala Hajjar and in collaboration with Solidere, STARCH is a non-profit organization that helps launch Lebanese emerging designers. STARCH is an annual program and a rotation of debut collections where four to six young designers are selected each year. The designers will be guided through the process of developing their collections, as well as promoting them (communication, marketing, branding and press). These collections will then be presented for a period of one year at STARCH boutique. Throughout their one-year at STARCH, the designers also get the chance to participate in design related workshops, seminars and collaborations.
THE PROJECT CONCEPT
As a person interacts with the project and its components, he becomes a part of the intervention, offering the products new spaces to inhabit. He also continues the process by assigning them new functions and expanding the project’s boundaries out of the store.
THE PROJECT APPROACH
The approach features a free central installation of 70 identical wooden stools fitted together to form a new object used as a display for designers’ work. The product can be used individually or as a set depending on users’ needs and spaces. The installation occupies the center of the space and lays under a floating neon light. The first encounter is a copper wall that initiates the radial flow around the center piece.
here you can watch the VIDEO about the project. Elie I am very proud of you, you did an amazing job, I absolutely love the design. when I took a close look at the things on the shelf I discovered the bags by ON SEN FOUT.. I met the girls that make these bags in PARIS at the CAPSULE show – I fell in love with the one with the eagle.. more here >>
thomas visited the exhibition and the lecture of the architect DANIEL LIBESKIND. as he is an architect it was really nice to have his view on that topic. the lecture was called “my visions”. DANIEL LIBESKIND informed about the visions and ideas behind different projects and how he approaches the different fields involved. he also had a rather unconventional start into architecture as he first studied music and therefore has a different access to form and design. thomas really liked the way he talked about his ideas and visions and the fact that he also involved music in the jewish museum, one of DANIEL LIBESKIND most famous project. the exhibition showed nice objects in unconventional and complex ways meaning not always in the classy way: poster and model but were made with attention to detail and work.
«architecture is not based on concrete and steel and the elements of the soil. It’s based on wonder. and that wonder is really what has created the greatest cities, the greatest spaces that we have had.» DANIEL LIBESKIND
