2 minute read
Round House
HOME swoons over Marie-Lise Féry’s dreamy Magic Circus Editions
With Pop-Up, Marie-Lise Fé ry takes us on journey through a fantastic world full of references. For her third collection, the Lyon-based designer is diving into the hedonism of the 1970s.
Her view of the period is both ironic and vivacious, offering a subtle, yet showy perspective: are these eye-shaped lamps looking at us? Is the reflective surface of the glass really a distorting mirror showing us the narcissism of the time? With the slender and elegant lines calling attention to every little detail, Marie-Lise Fé ry creates contemporary designs with the trademark “retrofor-tomorrow” approach, which has earned Magic Circus É ditions its name in the lighting industry since its foundation in 2015.
The Pop-Up pieces consist of between one and three domes of lacquered brass (in pistachio, pink, light blue, dark blue and lemon), each attached to a brass stem (gold or slatecoloured), highlighting the delicate shape of the mouth-blown glass. Floor lamps and table lamps stand on a Carrara marble base. Finishes include a hallmark stamped on each piece to identify it. Like jewellery, each handcrafted item tells the story of the very best European artisans who shaped it. The fine glass craftsmanship, paired with brass, resonates with earlier creations by Magic Circus É ditions.
Drawing on the heritage of urban landscapes, shifting our perspectives by playing on scale and use, using lighting to tell stories, Magic Circus É ditions creates beautifully hand-crafted pieces from weightless and playful designs, offering an alternative perspective on everyday objects and inventing 21st-century vintage. Each collection draws from a singular inspiration: early street lights for Collection 01, the Far East for Collection 02 and the glossy polychrome allure of the 70s for her latest collection: Pop-Up. Magic Circus Editions lamps question the changeable status of objects – between function and aesthetic, balance and lightness, drama and reverie.
Magic Circus Éditions founder Marie-Lise Féry was born in Paris. After studying art business, she moved to New Yorko. Fascinated by the city’s architecture, she found an endless source of inspiration in the Big Apple’s monumental dé cors. Returning to France, based herself in Lyon, where she opened an antiques gallery named Un Châ teau en Espagne, and started telling her own stories through objects she gleaned here and there. A way for her to perpetuate her mother’s motto: “Objects with a soul will always find their place”.
Since 2015, the year she established Magic Circus É ditions, she has moved on to lighting as a means of telling her stories, bringing the magic of the show into home interiors. With her love for the theatre, the circus, turn-ofthe-century cabarets and music halls, Marie- Lise Fé ry imagines each new original creation as a way to stage her vision. In the manner of Wes Anderson in Grand Budapest Hotel, blending together elegance, humour and unexpected details, her designs never fail to surprise. Like magic lanterns – precursors to modern-day cinema –, Marie- Lise Fé ry creates a succession of illusions, with immense, lightweight compositions conjuring silent references. Attentive to the look of her pieces both in daylight and at night, Marie-Lise Fé ry takes us on a journey through space (from outside to inside) and time (from yesterday to today).
