Matières 2024#01

The newsletter of raw materials & delicate inspirations by Laurent PASSE, creative cabinetmaker in Provence
January 2024 – English version

Like a door between the past & the future, in reference to Janus, god of beginnings and endings, of choices, January invites us to symbolically cross a door. It’s time for assessment and projection. Taking the time and the necessary perspective on what we have done well or not so well seems to be a sign of wisdom.

Isn’t opening a door a sign of letting go and moving towards some form of the unknown? Isn’t it like diving into oneself to discover one’s qualities and faults in order to better accept them?

This January letter will reflect these two extremes as one, in black & white!

Laurent,

The coplanar sideboard

Made from very textured old oak, the sideboard is presented here in a full white finish, as are the legs and interior. Its particularity lies in its coplanar system which allows the opening of the two panels laterally :

Dimensions of the model in photo: L 170cm x H 75cm x D 48cm

The coplanar sideboard is not yet in our store, its price is on request.

To better listen to the Word!

The end-of-year holiday period was an opportunity for me to visit The Thoronet Abbey. Sister of Sénanque and Silvacane, she is one of the great-granddaughters of the Abbey of Cîteaux, founder of the Cistercian order.

“It was today after four hours walking that we arrived at Thoronet, a serene and serious forest, a green valley, narrow and shallow, crossed by a stream whose course, at the place called, goes towards the east” . Fernand Pouillon – The Wild Stones

Obviously, the purity of the lines moved me. The economy of materials and the sobriety of the whole inspire me. How can I not see in these precepts an echo of my own reflection ? Old woods impose humility on us. The raw appearance of the old oak invites monochromy because everything is said. We simply have to add this little extra soul through the intelligence of the hand.

Cistercian architecture appears to me to be a non-figurative art form. The organization of space and decorative sobriety inevitably lead the mind to focus on the essential. Perhaps to better listen to the Word ?

The wild stones

This novel by Fernand Pouillon, French architect, published in 1964, is a great complement to my visit to The Thoronet Abbey. Written in the first person, the novel appears as the logbook of Guillaume Balz, a Cistercian monk responsible for resuming and completing the construction of this abbey around 1160.

We dive very quickly into this story which has several reading levels. With a few elements from the life of Fernand Pouillon, we perceive his singular character. This diary of a material and immaterial enterprise strongly inspired my message of wishes for 2024:

Creation is first and foremost an act of faith.

Excerpt: “Structure is everything, form is everything, matter is everything. (…) The calculations are proof, they will never be a means. Did the first builder know how to count? No. On the other hand, he had a goal, an intention: that of shelter. This necessity became beautiful, because this man had before his eyes nature and its sky, light and its colors, mountains and their shapes, stones and their material. (…) In conclusion, I believe that duality, plurality in the conception of the work is worse than a weakness, it is a vice. That is to say, beauty cannot exist without balance, technique without matter, and, finally, balance without beauty. »

The kitchen in our showroom or the emphasis on burnt wood

We are carrying out more and more projects with a burnt wood finish. Entirely carried out by us in the workshop, this technique is both primitive and complex because it consists of several stages.

And for all those who have not yet had the opportunity to visit us, here are some pictures of our burnt wood kitchen presented in one of the rooms of the showroom.

Don’t forget to make an appointment to prepare for your visit.