Smashing Smashed Re-Design

A unique piece created for the 28th charity auction of the association LA SOURCE GAROUSTE, which works on behalf of children. For this edition, the idea was to revisit Jean Prouvé’s Metal Stool, reissued by VITRA, and turn it into a one-of-a-kind piece.

Entitled “Smashing Smashed Re-Design”, the work offers a multi-layered interpretation.

The first meaning suggests that one should not remain “seated” on past achievements, nor be bound by nostalgia, but instead move forward by imagining tomorrow—rethinking it and creating it, or recreating it. Thus, since it is no longer possible to sit on it, there is no choice but to consider new options and to be creative.

The second, more explicit meaning is a reaction, as a designer, to the fact that after a major trend around vintage furniture on the market, many publishing houses have entered the field of re-edition in recent years. Pieces that had not been produced for a long time, or that were previously found only through antique dealers, are now being reproduced. This partly devalues original, period pieces or those made using the original processes. It also creates a market focused on the past, lacking initiative and investing too little in contemporary creation.

Yet creation is the work of designers, artists, visual artists, and architects for whom this is a profession and a means of making a living. These are demanding—and sometimes precarious—professions, with often unpredictable incomes. When publishers invest more in reissuing pieces whose creators are often deceased, or whose heirs still receive royalties, there are correspondingly fewer opportunities for today’s creators. This does not encourage creation as a whole, nor does it send a positive message to younger generations.

We must foster contexts that generate meaningful opportunities and encourage those who wish to imagine tomorrow through disruptive, inclusive, and visionary initiatives.

This piece is part of that approach and seeks to be consistent with the initiative of the association LA SOURCE GAROUSTE, which works with kindness on behalf of children in difficulty, offering them—through the medium of creation—a space for expression, freedom, and serenity.

Dimensions : 70 x 48 x 6 cm