Eidos XXI

Desk

Paysage Polaire

Eidos XXI Collection
YMER&MALTA / Benjamin Graindorge
2022

« In order to create this desk, YMER&MALTA and Benjamin Graindorge’s work was based on the principles of the theory of forms and Eidos which, according to Plato, includes two assertions, relating to both form and concept. What is a desk? What is it made of? How does it receive its user in a tangible, intelligible and sensitive way? From the study of appearances to the study of ideas, the duo set out to activate the different possibilities of the material. By bringing together Plato’s Eidos and the 21st century in a single piece, Valérie Maltaverne and Benjamin Graindorge reconnect with their favorite field, the one that links the past to the present, arts and crafts to new technologies.

New technologies are one of the means that allowed YMER&MALTA and Benjamin to create this clever system of organic networks, proliferating ramifications, which sometimes acts as a base and sometimes acts as a support for the shelves. The digital machining of the wood was made possible through the remarkable manufacturing potential of the latest machine acquired by the ARC, Mobilier National’s Research and Creation Workshop, a five-axis digital milling machine, offering the possibility of making extremely fine and elegant assemblies. The same innovative potential was used to treat the lighting fixtures, through 3D printing. This unique technique allows to develop amazing effects in the thickness of the material, offering fineness, resistance and translucence to the finishing touches of the wall lamp and lampshades, like no mere hand gesture could have. These new technologies allowed the duo of creators to put into shape their most advanced ideas, organized around a desire for lightness, gracefulness and transparency. At this stage, the complexity of this research does not allow us to present the final pieces, but only a «promising work in progress». At first, pending better results, the lights are 3D-printed using powder sintering.

Also noteworthy in this project is the excellence of the leather sheathing work, applied to extraordinary lengths. The leather glides along the structures, its velvetiness responding to the softness of the various wood species. The chromatic range of materials is borrowed from a range of natural colors, brown and blond like a walnut, powdered grege like the leather and shell white like the wall lights.

Organic shapes drawn from the heart of nature, and the most natural colors give the ensemble a feeling of luxury, calm and pleasure. Designed for a man or a woman, this desk undoubtedly expresses the spirit of the times, a combination of ancient techniques and new technologies, a certain taste for comfort, respect for noble and natural materials. With “Eidos XXI”, YMER&MALTA and Benjamin Graindorge turn the office into a contemplative landscape, a landscape where one slips in, where the grain of the materials matches the lines of the hand, ready to write in a subdued light.

A dialogue is established with the body, accompanied in its movements and gestures by the refinement of the forms, the lightness of the appearances, the rigor of the lines, the softness of the touch, the evidence of the varieties. Each line is rounded, freed from the right angle, inviting the body to dance with the curves, to delicately settle in the flexibility of the material.

The accessories, such as plugs and wires, are judiciously concealed in the structure, ridding the mind of technical problems. Praising serenity, a search for benevolent sobriety, the pieces of this desk set, powerful and floating as if suspended in space, are assembled in a game of truth, letting the imagination gently wander to better create.

The generously sized elements do not embarrass themselves with useless decoration, no drawers, but rather shelves, not to hide, just to deposit, what is essential.
»
Cloé Pitiot, Curator at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs de Paris

This piece was presented in the Gobelins Chapel, at the Mobilier National.

Honeycomb panels, blond walnut, leather, 3D printing
Prototyped at the Research and Creation Workshop of the Mobilier national
L.290 x W.145 x H.127cm
Limited edition of 12 pieces

Acquired by the Mobilier national

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