Interview: Johanna Grawunder, Scenographer of Van Cleef & Arpels' Time, Nature, Love
Almost as captivating as the stunning jewellery of Van Cleef & Arpels' Time, Nature, Love exhibition in Seoul’s D Museum are the scenography and architectural décor of the showcase — here, designer-artist Johanna Grawunder tells us more
Hi Johanna! This is the fourth time that you've worked with Van Cleef & Arpels. What made working on Time, Nature, Love in Seoul extra special?
It is true this is the fourth time we show the Time, Nature, Love exhibition, and each time it has been very different and differently inspiring! Place is such an important aspect of my work, so in designing the show for the D Museum in Seoul, it was important to integrate something of local culture as well as be influenced and guided by the Museum space itself.
I was very much influenced and excited by the subtle, beautiful colours of the Celadon porcelains — antique and contemporary works, which tell a very important cultural story of Korea. This colour, so sophisticated and natural, yet vibrant and unique, became the base-color for the exhibition, and all the other colours we used were complimentary pastel colours that worked with the scheme.
I was also inspired by Korean calligraphy and specifically the modern Korean alphabet. This very geometrical and simple code may be seen in the plans of the exhibition: not literal characters, of course, but the rhythm and shapes, becoming pathways and rooms in the plan. Also — sorry — manhwa! I love the pastel colours and the bold contrasting lines. It is all in our project, at least in spirit!
South Korea is diverse and so rich in culture. Was it hard identifying exactly what you wanted to draw from for the exhibition scenography?
These inspirations, the Celadon porcelain colour and the manhwa pastel colours were parts of Korean culture that resonated with me personally. We toured the fantastic National Museum Celadon collection on my first visit and the depth and variation of this material really seemed like a sort of metaphor for Seoul: tradition but with an infinity of possibilities. The manhwa inspiration was also personal, I am a fan. And this juxtaposition of the traditional with modernity seemed a good way to go for the exhibition.
How did you convey each of the complex and vast themes through scenography?
For the design of the exhibition, the three sections — from the curatorial project by Alba Cappellieri — are very important as they not only help organise the flow of the experience, but also set some boundaries. For the Time section, we are in a flowing organic maze, walls that undulate one into the other, with colours that fade in and out. It is a time-warp in a way, a meandering experience that hopefully helps us lose track of time! For the Nature section, we created a series of oval-shaped rooms. Each room is dedicated to one of the themes of Nature (Flora, Fauna, Botanica) and is organised sort of like a Natural History Museum, with each category in its own area of expertise. Then, Love. Love is the centre of the exhibition and is located in the central “piazza” of the exhibition. The Love section is the pivot to everything, the display cases are embedded, like jewels, into the surrounding walls, and we have added a unique hanging chandelier, “Dichroic Confetti”, in the centre of this space to create and very special light effect and direct the flow of visitors around the perimeter to see the spectacular pieces on display.
Time, Nature, Love has been to some other cities before arriving in Seoul. In terms of design and scenography, what are the biggest updates that the Seoul-leg of the exhibition sees?
Each edition of the exhibition has had specific updates, as you put it, and new special qualities. For Seoul, we had the opportunity to create the central “Piazza d’Amore” where the Love section is formed by the walls of the rooms of Nature. In the middle of Love, we designed the Dichroic Confetti chandelier, in order to make a kind of fountain of light and colour in the middle of the room. It turned out to be a preferred “selfie” spot!
Also, the transition corridor that leads the visitor from the first floor of the exhibition to the second floor is an immersive light installation designed in collaboration with the graphic artist Michal Batory. It is an amazing rich space and turns a simple corridor into an experience.
The sculpture in the Love section is certainly one of the many highlights of the exhibition…
The Dichroic Confetti light sculpture came out of the possibility, because of the generous support of art by Van Cleef & Arpels, to make a specific large piece of work, independent of the exhibition in a way, and to integrate such a piece into the exhibition. This was a request from the beginning of my collaboration with Van Cleef & Arpels. In Milan, I designed a standing light sculpture, and in the other editions we had custom pieces as well. So it was an opportunity afforded by the Maison that I took full advantage of! It is quite a large piece!
But I also think it works very well in the space, to make a luminous ceiling, to define the Piazza d’Amore, a sort of light fountain that springs up from the middle of the space, to generously give yet another surprise to the visitors, as they come around the corner, and to create the selfie-buzz and so on. It makes the Love room the pivot and central “hang-out” area of the show.
What’s the one biggest challenge that you overcame for the Seoul-leg of Time, Nature, Love?
Perhaps the biggest challenge, but also the best part was arriving at the inspirational manifestations we discussed earlier. There is always for me a moment of “constructive discontent” where I work hard to find the hook for the project. But once Celadon, calligraphy and manhwa came into the picture, then everything just flowed.
If you had to pick a favourite space, which would you say it is?
I think it would be the Love space. It is very architectural, other-worldly, organic and yet, technological in a way. I hung out there a lot in the first days, just watching people respond to the space but mostly, to the masterpiece jewels on display. In Love, you can walk around the room and go back and forth easily, so people tended to stay there more. The light makes everyone look beautiful and in general, it is a nice place to be. I hope the jewels are happy there. They do seem to like their new, if temporary, home in Seoul.
