DESIREE MEJER / VON PELT - Dreams in HyperNature
"I remember an exciting time when selling to boutiques made sense. Buyers acted as curators, we had more personal relationships, more... human, finally. There was also a real sense of...
Leclaireur: You have chosen to abandon fashion for design.
Von Pelt: I remember an exciting time when selling to boutiques made sense. Buyers acted as curators, we had more personal, more... human, relationships. There was also a real sense of freedom. Now, everything is dictated by designers, who have little to say, and who practice excessive mixing. Fashion finally requires too much work for a too ephemeral result. The creation of furniture, the design allow something very different. We live with design, the relationship is more permanent, the pieces are transmitted to the following generations.
L: How do you define Von Pelt? And why do you change cities with each new project?
VP: Von Pelt is a collective. The "Meteorite" series, for example, was born in Berlin, where I live most of the time, and where I have my studio. I have gathered many artists there. Together we create a pleasant working atmosphere, a good synergy. In Spain, where I am the other part of the time, my collections are more metal and ceramic. Each project is a new adventure.
L: How do you meet the people you work with?
VP: Spontaneously. They are interested in what I produce and they want to participate. People kind of come to me. It's like an emotional relationship, something very passionate.
L: What were your inspirations for the "Meteorite" series?
VP: When you look at nature, it's so intense, so incredible... When you see the crystals, for example, you are amazed, you would like to contemplate them in a bigger size, and it's impossible... So my work consists in trying to sublimate nature, to pay it tribute.
L: Your tables are made with recycled glass. Is the use of recycled materials essential to your creative process?
VP: It's not so much the recycling itself as the fact of working with what you have in your possession that is important. With this material, accidents are wonderful. What is normal becomes uncontrollable, that's what interests me.
L: What are your next projects?
VP: There are many. I will continue to use resin and glass but in a more casual way. I will also make light sculptures, using more chaotic, freeform shapes. And explore marble, ceramic...
L: How do you view the design scene, whether it is in Berlin, Madrid, London, Paris or Los Angeles?
VP: What Martine and Armand Hadida are doing in Los Angeles is exciting. I think their perception is very different from what we usually see. The same pieces give off something radically different depending on where they are. And over there everything is going to be fed by the sun and the light. Objects full of light...
L: Was it important for you to be at PAD this year?
VP: Von Pelt has only been around for three years. This is our first participation in a trade show with an international scope. The meetings are of a high quality. This is very positive.