Perfection is not a characteristic of man. In my eyes, beauty is flawed, not perfect.
—Gaetano Peche
An Italian who is in opposition to the Bauhaus
82-year-old "old naughty boy" still active in the front line of design
He designed the "Up5_6 Armchair"
Become one of the best-selling armchairs in the world
52 years later, it is still a hot topic in society
He was an architect, a designer, an artist
Overthrow the dogmas of classical aesthetics
Reject the distinction between beauty and ugliness
Exaggeration, deformation,
Use abstraction, metaphorism
Challenging the world's "good taste"
His works always give the illusion of "unfinished"
Full of randomness, not "perfect"
He is not a functionalist
Nor is it a decorator
He was a philosopher of forms
2021-2022, Gaetano Pesche Asia Premiere:
"Into an imperfect and interesting world"
, duration 18:15
Pecher was born in 1939 in La Spezia, Italy, and graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Venice. When he was young, he issued a declaration that "art should have the right to be inconsistent, we should change, we should be free to create, not to constantly repeat ourselves."
In the 28 years since then, Pecher has taught at the Strasbourg School of Architecture in France, Carnegie Mellon University in the United States, the Domus School of Design in Italy, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the São Paulo School of Architecture in Brazil, and the Cooper Union in the United States.
In Pecher's work, the boundaries of art, design, and industry are no longer important. He believes that art is also a product, a creative response to the events of our current era of life.
His constant exploration of cutting-edge materials, languages and technologies has condensed into his most iconic series Up (1969).
It was the world's first industrial design product with socio-political metaphors, intended to condemn the imprisonment and oppression of women in society at that time, and to speak out for women's equal rights.
Pecher loves color and innovative materials. The 2002 collection nobody's Perfect marked the beginning of Pecher's "diverse, non-repetitive" concept.
Using the properties of resin, Pecher gives each piece a unique color and texture through very different artistic choices.
The design philosophy of "diversity without repetition" has continued through Pecher's later career, and each of his works since then has been handmade and unique.
Pecher's love of figurative figures makes his design style very different from the "abstract minimalist" design that prevailed in those days.
His works are often associated with the human body and senses, which also makes his works more warm.
From 1993 to 1996, Pecher redesigned the interior for Chiat/Day, a New York-based design firm. At that time, telephones and personal laptops began to become popular, and many people used telephones to work, and the necessity of office existence was questioned. For Chiat/Day, Pecher pioneered the open office, no fixed workstations, no paperwork, and a new space reservation system, making the office a disruptive creative space. It was also an encouragement to work from home, leading the soho wave that followed.
01
UP5_6 Armchairs (1969)
Wood, iron
One of the most famous chairs of the 20th century, Gaetano Pecher created at the invitation of italian furniture brand B&B Italia.
Since its debut at the Furniture Fair in Milan, Italy, in 1969, the Up collection has been a milestone in the history of design. The Up5, which mimics the female body, is connected to the ball footstool Up6 with a rope, which means that women's freedom is still imprisoned and calls for this restraint to be lifted as soon as possible.
02
Portrait Chair (2017)
Polyurethane foam, acrylic coating
The 4.5-meter-high portrait chair depicts nearly 20 faces of different skin tones as an expression of the yearning for globalization – people of different skin tones can sit in the same chair and communicate.
03
Portrait Lights (1989-2016)
Aluminum, acrylic paint, light bulbs
The work consists of several sheets of aluminium in tandem. When all the aluminum sheets are turned to the same plane, the portrait can be seen; when the aluminum sheet is turned away, the portrait disappears and the light will turn on. In this work, Pecher shows how to "anthropomorphize" an object, giving it an emotional value beyond its physical properties.
04
No One Chair (2002-2019)
Resins, pigments
The series marks the formation of Pecher's "diverse, non-repetitive" design philosophy. The chair shape is inspired by different portraits.
With the help of an assistant, Pecher first poured the toning resin into two hand-cast molds, and after demolding, the two resin parts were assembled together, and finally each chair presented a unique tone and transparency.
Compared with the products under the industrial assembly line, this production method integrates the creativity of the operator, and the production "flaws" left on each work also support the concept of "no one is perfect".
05
Jeanne（2018-2020）
resin
In this series, Pecher explores the differences in the effects of different colors of resins in the same shape. This is one of the most satisfying works of Pecher's more than sixty years of creative career.
06
Crosby Kids Chair (2021)
The series is named after Crossey Street near Pecher's studio. Each chair has a smiling face on the backrest, and the seat is a portrait side face.
Although the appearance of each chair is similar, the details and colors are unique. Bright colors, symbolic patterns, are the characteristics of Pecher's creation.
07
Lagoon Table (2012)
Polyurethane foam, resin, PVC
This is one of Paicher's "Water Pollution" series. The tabletop simulates a polluted lagoon in Venice, Italy, with each table leg connected to the top by a block of magma.
The work integrates the power of nature, especially the power of water, into the interior home design, while ensuring the traditional functionality of the object, but also reflects Pecher's concern for real problems.
08
Artist Self-Portrait Bookshelf (2019)
The bookshelf is shaped like The side face of Pecher, and more than 285 kilograms of resin material were used in the production. In view of the one-time molding nature of the resin, all the resin materials used in the work were individually colored by Pecher and assigned to 30 assistants, and then 30 assistants poured the resin into the mold at the same time, and finally achieved a unique texture and color on the bookshelf.
09
Cabinet of the Weary Man (2018)
The cabinet is shaped like a man with bent limbs who has experienced many major events that have brought about social change in the past, but now shows a general state of exhaustion in society. Pecher's belief that the best qualities of humanity are fading away has led him to doubt the legitimacy of male dominance in society, arguing that the world needs more women's resilience and inclusiveness, and that the future belongs to women.
10
World Trade Center Reconstruction (2002)
Herbert Muschamp, an architecture critic at The New York Times, described Pecher's cross-cutting work as "a brainstorming that can be compared to architecture." In fact, in addition to the World Trade Center, Pecher has designed many other architectural works in his more than 50 years of creative career.
These include Osaka's Organic Building, Bahia House, Pink Pavilion and many more, as well as some unrealized but equally important proposals. In it, he showed a sharper critical and progressive character.
Note: Gaetano Pecher
Dai Bei asked: The audience feels that your exhibition is more like a fun playground with no fixed visiting line, what do you think of this Asian first exhibition?
Gaetano Peche replied: In many cases in life, there are no so-called established facts. It's like we have no way of knowing, and no one is going to tell you, how people live their lives. It's the same setup I set up for the exhibition.
I think exhibitions allow people to visit in the way they want. Just like when you go to a completely unfamiliar city, your most intuitive exploration of the city is to use your footsteps and eyes to discover its highlights.
As you wander through the city, you'll find your own direction of interest. It could be a magazine, a store, a corner, etc., and you'll change the direction of your next exploration out of curiosity.
In the same way, when you visit an exhibition, you receive the things that interest you, so your exploration has a direction, and you will visit an exhibition of your own. I believe this is the best way to visit the exhibition.
Of course, there will also be pioneers in life to tell you the answer directly, tell you how to live in life, how to visit the city, and so on. This is a good guide for the unknown, but we should respect their choices.
You can listen to the choices of others, and you should follow your own heart.
Dai Bei asked: The human face is a common emoji in your works, such as "Destiny I Love You Cabinet", "Unique Cabinet", "Artist Self-Portrait Bookshelf" and "Portrait Lamp". Why focus so much on "faces" over others?
Face cabinet
Gaetano Pecher replied: I may be the enemy of abstraction. The use of face design is actually an anthropomorphic design technique, so that the design sounds, so that the object is no longer cold and silent.
Design should not be limited to simple geometric figures, and different artistic designs should have their own different characteristics. And artistic design should also develop from the abstract form of expression to the embodiment of the past.
Abstract art has become a thing of the past, and the present advocates the embodiment of art. People who see the work can intuitively feel the meaning and values conveyed by the designer.
I believe that the work itself is the carrier of the story, the profound meaning and connotation, and this core spirit can be seen by the visitor.
Dai Bei asked: The 1969 work "Prisoner of Prejudice" is still a hot topic of discussion, if you create a chair for women today, what might it look like?
Up5_6 armchairs
Gaetano Pesche replied: The Up5, which imitates the female body, is connected to the ball footstool Up6 with a rope, which means that women's freedom is still imprisoned, and calls for this restraint to be lifted as soon as possible.
This work expresses the dilemma of female self-expression and the breakthrough of self in the male gaze environment.
Since ancient times, men have consistently thought that women are in the service of men. In many countries, women are of a much lower rank than men and have a very humble social status.
This phenomenon has not changed to this day, and if I were to create a chair for women today, I would still insist on creating from the perspective of women's voices.
In fact, to some extent, while women are rising, men are also releasing a signal of exhaustion. So I think it's necessary to stick to such a theme to call for more women's awakening. Because women's futures are unlimited.
I think the coolest thing we can do in our lifetime is to try to get rid of prejudice. What we have to do in the face of prejudice is to sprint into the future, not to stay in yesterday. The same is true of women's emancipation.
Dai Bei asked: In many interviews you talk about "how to create a work", but rarely talk about "how to complete a work". Your work always gives the illusion of "unfinished, and many works look incoherent, exaggerated, and deformed." Why is that?
Gaetano Peche replied: Perfection does not exist. Humans are not machines and cannot design perfect works, but human beings have the characteristics of continuous creation.
Design works will have a temperature due to imperfection, and they will have a long history because of continuous improvement and improvement.
In my opinion, there is no perfect work, only works that are constantly optimized and upgraded. The point is whether you have a passion to continue to create.
Balloon lights
Dai Bei asked: Expressing social topics is a common expression in your design, what social topics are you more concerned about now? Will there be any future works expressed in the design?
Gaetano Pesche replied: I have a different view of democracy than tradition. Democracy is a way of managing people and a way of uniting society.
In my opinion, this way has changed today. In old days, democracy protected equality, and today, democracy protects diversity, which is very important because everyone is different.
Dai Bei asked: In this era of artificial intelligence, what changes will occur in design?
Gaetano Pecher replied: The emergence of artificial intelligence will inevitably lead to changes in design, which is the inevitable result of the progress of the times.
But my real thought is that our brains are the best intelligence. Through the brain, you can understand and perceive a lot of things and incorporate them into the design, which is something that artificial intelligence can't achieve.
Particles in our brains, which work together in hundreds of millions of combinations, each moment is different from before. The brain, this part, I call it a machine, this machine can create surprises every moment.
Artificial intelligence is a way for us to manipulate objects, but our brains are controlled by causal relationships and are not limited.
For example, when I meet interesting people, whether it is sunny or rainy when I go out, my brain will react differently. This is the beauty of life, but also the unpredictable beauty of randomness.
Palladio cabinet