Dezeen promotion: French furniture brand Roche Bobois has produced a movie featuring its Mah Jong sofa, which has been reinterpreted by a group of artists for a charity auction (+ movie).
The movie, which was shot at the Palais Brongniart in Paris, features women dressed like synchronised swimmers playfully rearranging segments of the modular Mah Jong sofa into the shape of a swimming pool.
The pieces join together to form a colourful collage of cushions. Some of the swimmers jump from a diving board made out of stacked tables, while others lounge on the cushions.
Orignally designed by Hans Hoper in 1971, Roche Bobois' Mah Jong range has three basic elements that can be stacked, aligned with each other and grouped in different ways allowing for a variety of layouts. The sofa can be used as an armchair, sofa, lounge chair or bed.
Mah Jong is handmade in Italy using processes similar to those of the Haute Couture fashion industry. Cushions are hand-stitched with a method similar to that of mattress-making.
This year, Roche Bobois asked eight artists chosen by magazine ArtReview to reinterpret the sofa for an exhibition and auction called 8 x 8 Mah Jong Re-imagined.
"This is a wonderfully exciting project that celebrates creative expression and individuality," said Roche Bobois creative director Nicolas Roche. "It's been fascinating to see the variety of approaches and ideas to come from such a talented group of artists."
The London-based artists include Pio Abad, who has previously designed silk scarves and wallpaper, and Larry Achiampong, who works with visual archives, live performance and sound.
Cornelia Baltes studied at the Slade School of Fine Art and uses imagery from the everyday, experimenting with the boundaries of painting, photography, sculpture and installation.
RCA-graduate George Eksts alters the perceptions of space, duration and time, while Patrizio Di Massimo combines collaged and re-edited video, photography, sculpture, drawing and printmaking.
Lauren Godfrey, Peter Liversidge and Joby Williamson have also designed covers for the sofas.
The completed works will be exhibited at Roche Bobois' London showroom in Chelsea from 5 to 10 April, and then auctioned at The Great Hall at St Bartholomew's in London on 21 April 2016.
Prebids can be made at the exhibition and the auction will raise money for Vital Arts and Gasworks gallery and studios.
Vital Arts delivers art projects for the well-being of patients, staff and the wider hospital community at Barts Health NHS Trust while Gasworks gallery and studios, operates a programme of exhibition opportunities, studio spaces and residencies for early-career London-based and international artists.
For more information visit the Roche Bobois website.