London Design Festival 2014: artist Jeremy Maxwell Wintrebert explains the concept behind his glass installation at the V&A in this movie produced by Dezeen for champagne brand Perrier-Jouët.
Called Human Nature, Wintrebert's installation at the Victoria and Albert Museum for Perrier-Jouêt consists of 84 colourful glass cylinders stacked on top of each other.
The colours Wintrebert chose are taken from the enamel flowers on Perrier-Jouêt's Belle Epoque bottle, which was designed by French Art Nouveau artist Émile Gallé.
"The idea behind Human Nature was having these very simple, geometric colourful shapes and using the Belle Epoque bottle as sort of an inspiration," Wintrebert explains. "I tried to replicate some of the colours that you have on the enamel and use it as part of the storytelling."
The glass cylinders, which were hand-blown at a glass factory in Germany, were just placed on top of each other on site and support their own weight without any support structure. Wintrebert says that this simplicity is key to the project.
"I like to take away as many things as possible and get to the essence of something," he explains. "Stacking these cylinders definitely encapsulates that. What is beauty? How simple and how powerful can we make it at the same time?"
Wintrebert hopes that his installation will make visitors to the V&A pause for thought and consider the space they are in differently.
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"Émile Gallé really wanted to bring beauty back into people's spaces and contribute to changing people's perception of objects," he explains. "If I was to expect anything from people's reactions [to the installation] it would be that. A simple moment where they have a different experience in the space. And maybe they just have the thought: 'Wow, how beautiful.'"
Wintrebert's Human Nature installation for Perrier-Jouët is on show from 13 to 21 September at the V&A in London.
Dezeen documented the glass-blowing process used to make the installation in a previous movie.
The music in the movie is by 800xL.
