Paris céramique is the result of a four-day
ceramic workshop that took place in Paris in 2013 with Bastien Aubry,
Dimitri Broquard, and Adrien Horni, following an invitation by Thomas Mailaender.
Bastien Aubry (born 1974) and
Dimitri Broquard (born 1969) are the founders of
FLAG, a graphic design studio established in 2002
in Zurich. Since then FLAG works essentially for art and cultural projects such as catalogues, artists' books, magazines, and private posters. FLAG also does drawings, illustrations for editorials, and private projects.
Bastien Aubry and Dimitri Broquard's work is often based on everyday objects. Through a playful appropriation of
design codes, they reinterpret and manipulate mundane objects, often with a tendency towards abstraction, to finally recontextualize them in installation environments they have created themselves.
Without preconceived ideas or hierarchies, but with humor and nonchalance, they mix the techniques of
craft, primitive art, DIY and pop culture. By deliberately displaying a certain dilettantism, which is of course only in appearance, they magnify the beauty of imperfection and, not without irony, celebrate a poetry of failure.
The elaborate manufacturing processes, which combine various artistic techniques in numerous work steps—e.g. image
collages,
ceramics and digital application—result in formally coherent objects that are sometimes functional, but sometimes seem downright emblematic. The reference to arts and crafts is obvious, but the objects oscillate between utilitarian items and works of art, skilfully exploring the blurred boundaries between the disciplines.
Thomas Mailaender (born 1979) is a French multimedia artist living and working between Paris and Marseille. Known for his use of a wide range of media including ceramic, photography, collage and installation, he employs diverse materials and often incorporates found objects in his works. One of Mailaender's attributes is his ingenuity and ability to conceive curious and creative exhibitions; using everyday materials and imagination his curated shows teem with humour and originality.
