CARTE BLANCHE

The New York architect and designer Crina Arghirescu Rogard presents Carte Blanche, a series of three pieces, developed with three collaborators, exploring the formal question of the blank canvas with the functional challenge of design. Inspired by the process of Alberto Giacometti, who emphasized working without knowing what the result will be, the pieces were created in a series of stages. First by Arghirescu Rogard who developed the idea and form for each piece, and then by the collaborators who took over the fabrication and design, adding their visions, techniques and artistry, transforming the concepts into singular works of art. The series includes a hanging swing pendant made in collaboration with the artist Mr. Liz Hopkins and a table and chair made in collaboration with Ekaterini Konidari and the artist Claudia Baez.
 

The Swing pendant is composed of silicone, resin, pigment, integrated LED lighting, and rope. Made in collaboration with artist Mr. Liz Hopkins, the piece explores the permeability and superimposition of recycled materials and our physical enjoyment of movement. The pendant’s form, composed of cotton rope and a seat made from plywood, fiberglass, plaster, and a partial resin surface allows for a functional swinging action. Hopkins integrated illuminated pieces composed of layers of mesh, resin and natural pigments transforming the piece into an ambient light sculpture.
 

For the chair and table, Arghirescu Rogard collaborated with artists Claudia Baez and Ekaterini Konidari and worked with the artisanal upholstery workshop New York Art Upholstery for the fabrication.The chair is composed of a white oak wood structure that has been covered in raw unprimed canvas and finished with water-based house paint. The fabric edges have been left exposed, to appear like an unfinished canvas. The table is composed of plywood and finished in water-based house paint. While the chair is a static piece, the table has been built in parts and can be rearranged. Pulling from her architecture background, Arghirescu Rogard developed the forms by intersecting geometric planes and volumes, so that the pieces are faceted. Working quickly and intuitively, the artist Baez added color and texture to the multiple surfaces, painting them in contrasting vibrant hues. Some surfaces have been completely covered in a single hue, while others have layers of paint or have been left completely bare. In a nod to the collection’s origins, Baez added the sentence from Giacometti, “Je travaille a la dernière minute'' to one of the table’s surfaces. Translated it means “I work at the last minute.” The final pieces are objects that both function as a table and chair, but have been imprinted with artistic interpretation.​