It's become a frequent artistic device to create something - a self-portrait, a song, a blog - each day for a year, and then display the efforts in a final ensemble. The Parisian designer Guillaume Bardet went one further. Between September 2009 and 2010 he sketched an object a day, then embarked on a two-year mission to create each one from clay.
The project took Bardet to the Dieulefit region of southern France, where he recruited 14 local ceramicists to help him achieve his goal. The 365 expertly refined works - along with 3D sketches, photographs and anecdotal records - appear in a new exhibit at Mudac, Lausanne's museum of applied arts and design, until 26 May.
'L'Usage des Jours', as the exhibit is called, was installed by Bardet's friend, the designer Vincent Dupont-Rougier, as a visual story of the ceramicist's journey, his moments of imagination and despair, challenge and boredom. Dupont-Rougier has placed the stoneware - some of it richly enamelled or finished in metal, some left matt - against a raw, industrial backdrop. The contrast allows the objects' artful finishes and lit interiors to shine more vividly.
The epic effort won the entire team the prestigious Liliane Bettencourt Prize for the Intelligence of the Hand in 2011.
Between September 2009 and 2010, Bardet sketched an object a day, then embarked on a two-year mission to create each one from clay, the results of which are on show in the exhibition.
The 365 expertly refined works were created with the help of 14 ceramicists in the Dieulefit region of southern France.
'Grande forme No 1', 10 September 2010, created in collaboration with Ceralep
'Pliages No 19 and 20' carafes, 9-10 July 2010, with Quentin Marais.
'Lampe No 10', 12 December 2009, with Quentin Marais.
'Sculptures de poche No 4 à 7', 5-8 January 2010, with Sèvres.
Installation view at Mudac.
'Géométrie élémentaire', 16 October 2009, with Séverine Dufust.
'Tabouret No 26', 20 April 2010, with Bruno Pajaud.
'Miroirs de terre No 6 et No 7', 8-9 March 2010.
'Habitat No 2', 21 March 2010, with Séverine Dufust.
'Sur pattes' coffee mug, tea mug and vase, 2-5 October 2009, with Séverine Dufust.
'Centres de table No 8 and No 9', 4-5 September 2010, with Clémence Fouilhé
'Lampe No 4', 6 December 2009, with Zélie Rouby.
'Sur pattes la suite No 11' vase, 31 October 2009, with Séverine Dufust.
ADDRESS
Mudac
Place Cathédrale 6
CH-1005 Lausanne