"Penjors*"

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*A cult object that is meant to represent the basic needs and the relationship between nature and the humans.

Imagine a simple, man-made object. Imagine fifty pieces of that object as the starting point for our workshop. We will use this object as our reference, and we will develop a series of elements which will attempt to vibrate and magnify the nature around us. There are many different natures on this planet all based upon the elements: earth, air, fire and water. These elements, from their design and construction, will confront issues as an integral part of the creative process; - it might be formal, mechanical, aesthetic, social, spiritual, philosophical... Through their presence and movement these objects will resonate and dance with their associated element.

As the days go by we will discuss many ideas covering design, architecture, simple mechanics, aerodynamics, the environment, Gaïa, dogs, fish, Tweed, the Queen, Modest Mouse, Link Wray, Joy Division, Ricardo Villalobos, Arvo Pärt, Steve Jobs and Stephen Ive, Mantegna, Malevich, Zen and the art of fly-fishing, friends, sliced bread, socks, rugby, beauty, truth, Aston Martin DB5, BBC radio 4, Le Palais , nanotechnology, rapid prototyping, déjà-vu and the Great white shark (not necessarily in that order).

A week is not long so let’s get the most out of it!

This workshop is a cross-over approach which wishes to blur the boundaries between design, architecture and art.

Matt Sindall (UK,F)

Matt Sindall, born in 1958 in the UK, is based today in Paris. He started out as a set designer at the National Theatre in London, and then worked for the BBC as art director for many successful programmes. In 1990 he was called to Paris to the studio of Jean-Michel Wilmotte, with whom he worked for a number of years while continuing to develop his own projects. He has participated in several editions of VIA’s (Paris) programme “Les aides à la creation”, has worked for Renault and Michelin, taught at the Ecole Supérieure d’Art et de Design at Reims and collaborated with the Saint-Étienne Design Biennale.

Matt has participated in a number of international workshops and conferences on design and new materials, amongst others in Italy, New Zealand and China.