Unseen Function
Collection 01
WHEN FUNCTION NO LONGER DEFINES FORM.
Unseen Function is the first collection by Paris-based designer Diane B. de La Serve. Four objects explore a single question: can an object fulfil a precise function without looking like what it is made for? Designed for animals and conceived as part of the interior, each piece retains its use while allowing its form to acquire an identity of its own.
“I’m interested in objects that fulfil a function without being defined by it.”
— Diane B. de La Serve
OUT OF TYPE.
An object designed for a specific use often carries the visual codes of its function. A cat tree looks like a cat tree. A pet bed looks like a pet bed. Diane B. de La Serve's approach begins by questioning those typologies. Rather than decorating an existing type, she alters its form while preserving the behaviours and uses that made the object necessary in the first place. The function remains. Its visual identity shifts.
Unseen Function
Collection 01
Four objects.
Four explorations of function
beyond type.
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4 Steps to Heaven, Objet Sculpture 01
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Trinity, Objet Sculpture 02
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Lust, Object of Rest
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Cloud Nine, Object of Rest 02
4 STEPS TO HEAVEN: A SERIES OF METAL VOLUMES UNFOLDS ACROSS THE WALL.
Read as an abstract composition, each element also serves as a step, perch and observation point for the cat. The animal reveals what the form alone does not immediately disclose. Function, activated by use.
TRINITY, A VERTICAL LANDSCAPE
Turned wooden volumes rise through space, creating a succession of grips, platforms and observation points. Designed around the cat's instinctive need for height, Trinity does not visually announce that purpose. When inhabited, its function appears. When empty, the form remains.
FROM DIANE'S STUDIO
Objects, materials, art, interiors, process and fragments of everyday observation — @theoneoffparis
