OFF DESIGN PARADE, Le Carré du Globe x Bob Bourbon / Fabrice Serafino

Established 7 years ago in the heart of the city, Le Carré du Globe now exclusively displays
and sells Bob Bourbon’s astonishing luminous creations. Recently, a meeting with basket artist Fabrice Serafino led Le Carré du Globe to exhibit his unexpected works made from wicker. As
part of the Design Parade, Le Carré du Globe presents an exhibition of works co-created by the two designers. Wicker and steel, light and matter, nature and indus… A surprising and superb combination of two artists whose poetry is subtly expressed through their respective materials.

BOB BOURBON

For over fifteen years, I’ve been trying to create visual poetry through installations, sculptures and light creations based on urban objects and obsolete industrial or commercial materials destined for the scrap heap. Unable to remain insensitive to this distressing but very real situation, it wasn’t until I spent some time in
the USA that everything became clear and obvious to me in the face of this influx of exotic materials and, above all, the sheer quantity of them. Of course, I have to adapt, understand and constrain the material, but as in a meditation, I find inspiration, reflection and appeasement. These creative moments force me to apprehend my surroundings differently.Inspiration comes quickly, but conception is always a slower process. Only the material imposes limits. If I set myself objectives, it often happens that what I discover - poetry, aesthetics and freedom - leads me elsewhere, further than I could have imagined.It has always seemed astonishing to me that the human being on this planet is the only living being to apply himself to destroying it, just as he is also the only one capable of creating Art.And what if Art could play a role? What if Art could play a role in inducing new, more environmentally-friendly behaviours? Upcycling Art, as the Anglo-Saxons call it, is a very new notion, and perhaps not yet very well known, but it’s my artistic approach. Having an offbeat view of the world around us, provoking emotions and sharing my sensibility on subjects such as waste recovery have given meaning to my creations, and I’m talking here about decontextualizing objects to open up an infinite number of creative and poetic doors. Colors, shapes and materials are all pigments to be used in this contemporary artistic creation, and if in many respects it can also be part of a civic approach, I’m ready to share it. We’re all artists!

FABRICE SERAFINO

A dancer with internationally renowned companies, Fabrice Serafino went on to design sets and costumes for dance, theater and opera, and had already enjoyed a long career in the performing arts when he discovered a new passion. As soon as he was introduced to wickerwork, it was love at first sight, and he perfected the traditional techniques, which
he sometimes diverts to go where the material guides him. Today, in his new workshop in Solliès-Pont, in the Var region, he makes utilitarian objects such as baskets, sacks and birdhouses. His practice often takes on an artistic dimension when he creates sculptures and wall pieces in contemporary basketry. The latter have recently been exhibited in museums and galleries.