Shibari Bench

Benches and stools: Shibari
For her sculptures, Morgane Tschiember sometimes hangs elements on ropes in reference to Japanese Shibari discovered during her stay at the Kujoyama Villa in Kyoto. In Japan, Shibari is an age-old art, that of tying. An art and technique coming from samurais, resumed in certain sexual practices, but also in the gardeners’ art who shape trees by tying them up. She created for ColAAb, in a minimalist spirit, between art and design, benches and stools (Shibari bench et Shibari stool) inspired by the teaching of those Japanese gardeners. The beams – solid oak squares and rectangles – polished and oiled, are enclosed by linen rope skillfully tied; the wood, slashed on the surface “almost closes in on the rope”. As always for the artists, it is about “achieving great simplicity in the shape without hiding the way things are done, how they stay together, to show how materials work together”.