Artists, artisans combined at Hermes

Perfection may be what artisans seek in their craftsmanship, while uniqueness is what artists pursue in their artistic creations.

At the world’s top workshops run by Hermes, artisans and artists have worked together to stimulate each other’s craftsmanship and creativity. Since 2010, their collaborative projects have played a link between the expertise of artisans and the motivation and inspiration of young artists.

Hermes has invited 16 young artists over the last four years to its unique residency program to explore special adventures in art and craftsmanship. Four artists, who can speak French, are selected each year to work with artisans. A touring exhibition of their final works started at Palais de Tokyo in Paris in 2013, then moved to Japan before arriving at Atelier Hermes in Seoul’s Maison Hermes Dosan Park this month.

While spending two to three weeks at historic Hermes workshops in France, artists observed artisans’ work processes and learned their skills and techniques by participating in their daily work. In the end, they came up with their own artworks reflecting what they observed and learned at the workshops.

“The residency program gives young artists a chance to work on-site at historic Hermes workshops, drawing on the expertise of skilled artisans to create new works expressing their shared experience, visions, backgrounds and techniques,” said Gael Charbau, curator of the exhibition, in the exhibition catalog.

Inspired by pagodas built in Korean Buddhist temples, artist Oh You-kyeong constructed a silver-plated metal structure, titled “Les Pagodes de la Lune,” at the gold and silverware workshop Puiforcat, founded in 1820 in Paris. 

“I planned this for two months and studied closely whether it was feasible to create the structure,” Oh said at the press preview last week. “The artisans helped me a lot to bring it to reality with their techniques and craftsmanship.”

Oh, with much interest in “mountains, infinite multiplication and the circle of life,” presents glossy silver-coated pagodas that create crystal-clear reflections from lighting in the dark room at Atelier Hermes.

At the leather workshop Sayat, artist Elisabeth Clark said, she was fascinated by the artisans’ circular hand movements when they carried out saddle stitching. Elisabeth also attentively observed curved handles of Hermes leather bags.

She related this to an acrobat’s movement and made a circle 4.07 meters in diameter, sheathed in white leather. The white circle hangs at the entrance of Atelier Hermes.

Artist Olivier Severe explored the origin of crystals and focused on the fact that 70 percent of crystalware is made of sand. At the Cristalleries de Saint-Louis, the artist investigated materials, their nature, chemistry and physical limitations. His end results are creative crystals which look like stones, pebbles, cobbles or rocks. He employed different crystal-processing techniques by artisans at the crystal workshop to shape his artwork.

Other artists also used crystal as a key material. Oliver Beer, an artist concerned about sound and music, developed his sound project using glass and crystal. He created a crystal window with the shape of a trumpet bulging out of it to help the audience listen to the outside world.

Beer also shows an anatomical look of the human auditory sense: He has recreated a replica of an ear cast in gold and put it in absolute silence inside the crystal case.

The “Condensation” exhibition runs until Nov. 30 at Atelier Hermes in Maison Hermes Dosan Park, Seoul. For more information, call (02) 544-7722.

By Lee Woo-young (wylee@heraldcorp.com)