bruninx.com by presentation

TO Mr. PAUL SMITH johan bruninx

ohan Bruninx graduated from the Design Academy in Eindhoven in 2007. Fascinated by the past he turns forgotten objects into valuable creations. Old toys from the addic or second hand furniture are given back its right to longevity as a piece of art. What makes his work unique is his own interpretation to the concept of ‘sustainability’. His design

philosophy has to do with bringing the impossible together, with creation and recreation. With action and reaction. It is a mix of past and present. Whether it’s wax horns or steel butterflies, Bruninx plays with materials and technology, with art and design and states that waste has become the raw material of the future. Johan first drew attention with his ‘Plakbanterie’ project. For which he won the Young designer competition at the Kortrijk Design Fair in 2008. With this craft deco-graduate project from the Design Academy Johan Bruninx also got noticed by the international design press. With paper tape, he camouflaged discarded furniture. With craft mosaic motifs as a sort of marqueterie this furniture got a new life and identity. Or how sustainability can have a surreal streak. From 2008 onwards Johan started to experiment with various materials and coating techniques. In 2009 and 2010 Johan got selected for the Canvas Collection, a national competition for young artists. This gave him the opportunity to exhibit two times in Bozar in Brussels. Two years later he was spotted by the people from Paul Smith at the Milan Design Fair and was invited to exhibited in the London PS Globe galery. Besides al of this Johan is also active in video art (a stop-motion production featuring vinytage design was shown on the world tour exhibition ‘Living in motion by Vitra), and also in the context of the Canvascollection a video of him was shown in Bozar Brussels. But Bruninx also challenges Koons, dealing with things that he finds at flea markets. Such as discarded toys he gives new life in an almost post-modernist way. Icons such as Mickey Mouse, the American capitalist symbol par excellence, is decapitated ruthless and literally merged with the Asian counterpart Picachu. There is a special symbolic power in it and the fact that he is going to make this creation using a mold casting calls to the spirit of neo pop art. This book wil give you a look at some of his artwork. More on www.bruninx.com.

‘MICACHU’ IN BOZAR © bruninx.com 2009

‘BACK TO THE BUG’ © bruninx.com 2007

STEEL BUTTERFLY HINGES © bruninx.com 2007

‘MADE WITH CHINA’

More than 50 million copies were made of the number 14 by Michael Thonet. The vulnerability of the woven seat has turned the object to an unfortunate rarity. The artist finds his solution in the firmness of a Royal Boch china plate.

PLAKBANTERIE

Second hand furniture, marked by time is restored with layers of brown paper tape in complex patterns as a kind of “marquetery”. The surface not only looks intriguing but by touching it one feels the skillfulness. This project was also featured in Marcus Fairs ‘Green Design’, a book endorsed by Tom Dixon, which documents key developments in sustainable design.

DEER PIANOMAN

@ the Piano recital Sopra la Musica of Waldo Geuns, Johan decorated each table with mood illumination.

ÂŠ bruninx.com 2013

‘ROCOCO’ Once a Godzilla toy, now transformed into a baroque silver candlestick. The drama on the table, face to face with a Manga transformer.

‘ILUMINATE THE POSITIVE’ The artist plays with the inner structure of cardboard waste and gives a helical dimension to the light. It becomes even more fascinating when you let the tube roll.

‘FOXY LADY’ © bruninx.com 2007

ÂŠ bruninx.com 2012

Father who art in heaven Exhibition: Hasselt Labo Lijmfabriek

ÂŠ bruninx.com 20011

FOR PAUL SMITH

FOR MY FATHER

‘A DEEP TRIBUTE’ The second part of the Designers in Residence project was held on july 21 and 22, 2013 at C-mine in Genk. The project is a part of the exhibition ‘The Machine’. This time it was the turn of designers Johan Bruninx and Kostas Tsagkas. Bruninx (32) and Tsagkas (37) met at the Design Academy in Eindhoven. Both graduated at the furniture and interior design department. Bruninx lived for a while in Genk, but moved to Eindhoven. Tsagkas is, as its name suggests, from Greece. He now also lives in Eindhoven. At the academy they exhibited alongside once before, but this is the first project they are working on together. Copper Treasure: The duo has been inspired by the location and the mining history of Genk. The relationship between man and machine, and the heavy industry of the mines is easily made. It all started when Bruninx, at a local flea market, bought 4,700 half-franc pieces. On the copper coins the head of a miner is depicted in profile. Ceci n’est pas un banc: For their design, they relied on a painting by René Magritte, The Cape of storms. The result is a kind of bench that can also be used as bed. “We wanted to create a narrow space resembling the working conditions of the miners. You can also compare it with how workers have to work in developing countries, “sweatshops” explains Bruninx. Old is new: The coins are cleaned in special centrifuges. Bruninx sees this symbolic act as a tribute to the miners from Genk. The wooden bench is inlaid with coins. A wooden train locomotive is also part of the work, as a symbol of the industrial revolution. For the Manifesta 9 project Bruninx has also made some works inspired by the mining past of the city.

ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE . CMINE © bruninx.com 2013

TUBISM

This time, the artist uses waste cardboard tubes (there are plenty of at the Design Academy) and simply glues it all together. It looks fragile but it isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. The glued surfaces are stronger than the material itself.

ÂŠ bruninx.com 2013

QB.COM

In this project, the artist becomes the designer pure sang and plays with the most practical options out there to securely stack and hide. This furniture is made out of waste wood.

ÂŠ bruninx.com 2006

hard seller

An experiment like so many in the work of the artist. How it actually got in the collection of Moooi... Jack will know. After all these years the concept still stands straight.

ÂŠ bruninx.com 2005

What would happen if the Vitra furniture would come to live.? Wonderfull short video that was picked up by Vitra and showed on Vitraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s World Tour.

www.vimeo.com/johanbruninxvitra

I CAN SEE CREATURES NOW What if the kids could discover their own creatures in the wall paper.

Johan suggests to deliver the wall paper with a pair of self adhesive eyes

ÂŠ bruninx.com 2005

Thanks to the Design Academy in Eindhoven. FYI: the stackable block seats above are Johanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s admission exam in 2005