Pour Toi, Mon Amour, 2023
Natural Stone Veneer on Fibreboard, 510(w)x1220(l)x760mm(h)
Commentary: Designed as a credenza for an avid collector of Surrealist art, Pour Toi, Mon Amour appears as a solid block of stone mysteriously floating buoyantly above the floor. Supported on concealed pedestals, a series of open joints in its surface define a variety of storage sizes. These open joints or ‘cracks’ are just wide enough at some locations to act as finger pulls enabling its monolithic form to ‘break-apart’ on under-mount glides for access to storage. With a sub-frame made from a lightweight plant-based (tree-free) fibreboard, the credenza is veneered in an innovative 1.5mm thick real stone veneer consisting of a paper-thin natural stone layer on a carrier of reinforced glass fibres. Developed in collaboration with R&D GmbH (Germany) in 2018, the veneer’s innovative extraction process enables 200-300 sheets of veneer to be produced from a single 20mm thick stone slab! This extreme thinness not only addresses issues of resource conservation but also means that transportation of the veneer produces approximately 95% less CO2 during transport than much heavier conventional stone slabs.
In an obvious reference to René Magritte's sublime 'The Castle of The Pyrenees' painting of 1959 (above), Pour Toi, Mon Amour similarly exhibits a sort of dream-like quality as it appears to be the only object in the room to ignore the laws of gravity. Displaying both weight and weightlessness, it merges the rational requirements of a storage unit with the irrational imagery of a Surrealist work of art. With a base version in a stone colour and pattern that recalls the stone represented in Magritte’s famous painting, the credenza will be offered in 12 other unique real stone veneers.
¹ Meuris, Jacques, "Magritte"; Konecky & Konecky, 1988
© 2023 atelier Christophe Du Chemin
