Any interaction, even a brief one, with the work of Grace Wales Bonner or Peter Mabeo will make it clear that there is far more beneath the surface than one may originally anticipate. For both parties, the deep, well-understood ideas that undergird the results of their creativity seem far more important as the objects themselves. Whether it be a menswear collection from Wales Bonner or a wooden side table from Mabeo, both are committed to creating contexts that encourage curiosity and expansive thinking.
Grace Wales Bonner founded her label, Wales Bonner, in 2014 after graduating from London’s Central Saint Martins. The brand is intentional about their embrace of a multiplicity of perspectives and is built on the foundation of broad research encompassing critical theory, musical composition, literature, and history. Wales Bonner’s distinct vision of luxury is informed by a hybrid of European and Afro-Atlantic approaches. Collaboration also plays a significant role in the brand’s vision. “I am interested in what is created in the in-between space, through conversation, and communion around ideas, a process that supports me in creating something which I hope will be richer through that process,” Bonner tells us.
Peter Mabeo of Mabeo.
Peter Mabeo’s design practice, Mabeo, shares similarities to that of Wales Bonner, which is likely what makes them such fitting collaborators. Founded in Botswana by a self-taught Peter Mabeo, Mabeo has become a platform recognized for its sense of space and for evoking curiosity and experimentation. Much like Wales Bonner, Mabeo places a significant emphasis on relationship and interaction in ways that transcend aestheticism, materiality, or design philosophy. “I have always admired Peter’s elevated aesthetic sensibility and how his design is able to feel both poetic and pragmatic at the same time,” Bonner says about her creative relationship with Mabeo. “We both share an interest in craftsmanship, and how it can be translated to our different ways of conceptualizing what it is to design or to make, and the imaginative possibilities that are present in craft traditions and processes.”
Over the last few months, Wales Bonner and Mabeo have been collaborating on a piece of seating for Daniel Arsham’s Art & Residence Program at Milan Design Week. Considering the pair’s aligned values around the importance of research and collaboration, their piece was created with those ideas in mind. The chair, which is actually three separate pieces and includes storage, is described by Peter Mabeo as, “A seating and storage solution that, while being simple in construction or minimally oriented, is made from rich materials with rich, handcrafted methods.” Described separately, the pieces are a wood chair adorned with a hand-made slatting and a matching side table that features a small shelf and drawer that isn’t immediately visible. These two pieces are complemented by a small stool-like seat that fits in seamlessly next to its counterparts.
“I have always admired Peter’s elevated aesthetic sensibility and how his design is able to feel both poetic and pragmatic at the same time"
While the collaborative chair has a distinct look, Mabeo made it clear that the piece was created not based on any material context, but in a way that might transcend that type of thinking. “The energy of being broad and accommodating while being attentive to a specific method or resulting aesthetic is what is seen. So geographic or social contexts are not the focus. Attentiveness and care within any setting is what is envisioned,” Mabeo says. The idea of this piece as a contextless paradox of a material object existing fluidly in space seemed to play a significant role in its design for Mabeo. “Mental distinctions created by what is expected, such as different settings within which an object or where one belongs while identifiable and helpful, are constraining.” The context that this chair fits into then is one of the more ideological sort, rather than some kind of rigid piece of material space that constrains.
This context of this piece, conceived without regard to its eventual home in a space, is defined less by the setting it sits in and more by its intended uses. Instead, this chair was made with specific intentions in mind. “In this case, we tried to consider the chair as an intellectual support that can enable a kind of research practice and a different way of archiving knowledge,” Bonner says. “Designing the chair was part of a larger process in thinking of a kind of architecture that supports archive practices.” This chair has become a kind of material combination of the pair’s commitment to creating work that’s supported by ideas that are suffused with time and meant to be more important than the piece itself.
The depth of concepts used to create this piece are distilled through its relative simplicity. It is a chair and a side table and a stool, but once you understand its intention, the trio becomes more. For both Wales Bonner and Mabeo, this piece is their latest step forward in a series of collections of objects meant to convey a rich, soulful, deeply considered narrative. “The opportunity to work with Peter on designing furniture feels like a natural expansion on my approach to collaboration and developing ideas in conversation,” says Bonner. “My multidisciplinary practice is also founded on a research practice and we were able to respond to these notions across continents. Beyond the distance of space it was also interesting to explore the existing commonalities in our approaches.” Given its context by Wales Bonner, and created by hand from rich, luxurious materials by Mabeo, this piece pays homage to the deep conceptual practices of both parties.
Wales Bonner and Mabeo’s work is on display during Milan Design Week along with the other creatives involved in the Art & Residence Program presented by Daniel Arsham and StockX. “Art & Residence” presented by Daniel Arsham & StockX explores this converging of worlds and taps non-traditional creatives to push the boundaries of what a chair can be. From fashion designers to architects, “Art & Residence” bridges creative communities – from the world of StockX, to the storied platform of Milan Design Week. For more information on the creatives involved in the program, you can click here.
