PIOUPIOU
The Pioupiou project was born from the desire to create a contemporary porcelain figurine, inspired by two archetypes of porcelain objects, the tea set and the bird figurines that used to be found on well-arranged tables to show the beauty of nature. My idea was to merge these two archetypes to create a service that would not be presented on a tray (horizontally) but could be stacked to create a vertical figurine. It is a different way to consider everyday objects. Using the stacking, not as a simple way to store, to optimize closet space but as a possibility to give a sculptural look to these objects. Instead of hiding them behind a door, what if they were left in the room for all to see as a figure of the house ? By stacking these everyday objects, we obtain something more fragile, refined, which must be handled with more care, something that echoes the classic figurine.
The tea set also represent a past culture, it was at the time, gifts offered as marriage present.
Nowadays, it is not so common that people have a set for tea or coffee, but more pieces that they get from here and there. I wanted to dust off this « classic » and make an attractive porcelain service/figurine.
Before, birds figure were arranged to show the beauty of nature on the table. Nowadays birds are one of the most domesticated species by human, and many species are in danger of extinction because of human behavior (deforestation, climate change, pollution). So I also wanted to bring this conversation around the table, and around a cup of tea or coffee. To design my set, I inspired myself with different elements of birds like the tail, the beak or the crown.
My figurine is composed with one pot (tail), one milk jug (beak), one cup (with a hole as an handle and different way to grab the cup, (eyes) and one coffee filter (crown). We use directly the different parts of the bird, as humans just take advantage of the animal species and nature that surrounds it. I wanted to represent a bird in an minimalist way, not one particular species, but a sort of collage, which allows some interpretation to the user. The pieces alone don’t look like parts of a bird but it’s putting them together that reveals the figurine.
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