Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Age: 23
Occupation: Designer and fabricator.
Instagram: @bailey.fontaine.studio
Hometown: Tolland, CT.
Studio location: Brooklyn.
Describe what you make: I look to make furniture that is materially expressive. New works are often born from material improvisation while fabricating. I start each piece with a distinct plan but as I work, I end up responding to the changes in the piece as they play out. Each piece ends up an amalgamation of both unexpected and expected material inclinations.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: The Plane Dining Table has the most important turning point in my practice so far. That was the first piece in my Plane Cement Collection and the first piece I really had to sit down and do a lot of engineering for both structurally and materially. It wasn’t as intuitive as my earlier work and having it come out successfully gave me the confidence to unclench my teeth a little and not be so intimidated by scale.
Describe the problem your work solves: My work doesn’t solve any problems exactly. Rather, I’m interested in offering a new outlook on an object’s potential. The most exciting part about being a designer is that we get to push old archetypes and challenge the paradigm. The problem is boredom and the solution is intrigue. How that ends up playing out is between the object and the individual living with it.
Describe the project you are working on now: I’m working on a few new pieces that are directly questioning the role of art and design in people’s lives. It’s something I’ve thought about a lot the past few years—paintings as furniture, walls as sarcastic objects, lights haphazardly thrown in to add some misplaced utility, etc. The word “decor” comes with some heavy connotations and I want to look into that.
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: I’m really excited about the piece I’ll be presenting at the third edition of In Good Company. It’s been co-curated by Rossana Orlandi and Fernando Mastrangelo this year and it’s looking like it’ll be a great show with some really inspired designers. The show opens Sept. 13 and is at Fernando’s studio in Brooklyn at 134 Hinsdale St.
What you absolutely must have in your studio: I listen to a lot of documentaries and books while I’m working. I’ve gone through all the PBS documentaries Netflix has to offer, along with books by Oliver Sacks and David Sedaris. I’ve even started listening to Bob Ross.
What you do when you’re not working: I do some rock climbing and camping, hikes, various outdoor winter sports. I like to be moving and I avoid the city a much as someone who lives and works in a city can.
Sources of creative envy: I think it’s inspiration and appreciation more than envy, but: Fernando Mastrangelo, Eva Hesse, Isamu Noguchi, Ettore Sottsass, Doris Salcedo, Richard Serra, Bruce Nauman, Faye Toogood.
The distraction you want to eliminate: I have to get better at streamlining the more administrative work: tearsheets, emails, samples, etc. I get distracted trying to find the balance.
Concrete or marble? Concrete.
High-rise or townhouse? Townhouse.
Remember or forget? Remember.
Aliens or ghosts? Aliens.
Dark or light? Light.
