PLEASE BE SEATED
THE TATI COLLECTION BY DOMEAU & PÉRÈS
DESIGN MIAMI
12.03.2019 – 12.08.2019
Les Ateliers Courbet and Thirlwall Design present Please Be Seated, a capsule installation offering a glimpse at French filmmaker Jacques Tati’s iconic designs in his 1958 film ‘Mon Oncle’ (My Uncle) – one of the director’s most acclaimed satires on modern design, lifestyle and consumerism. The installation, presented at Design Miami 2019, introduces to the United States the sole edition of Tati designs ever made, produced by esteemed design studio Domeau & Pérès in collaboration with Jacques Tati’s Estate ‘Les Films de Mon Oncle.’
The French master craftsmen and design publishers Domeau & Pérès pay homage to Tati’s visionary designs and whims with a limited edition of three visually appealing and completely impractical seats. The ‘Tati Collection’ has been exhibited in European museums and institutions since its 2007 unveiling in Paris with the actual Villa Arpel from the movie set of ‘Mon Oncle.’ The restored Villa was pulled from the archives for the first time since 1958. The collection was also included in the French Pavilion of the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2014. Today, the three seats belong to important public and private collections including that of Le Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.
In ‘Mon Oncle’, Tati shares his questioning of and satirical perspective on modernism and modern design through the misadventure of his iconic character, the candid and clumsy Monsieur Hulot. Certainly visionary at the time, Tati’s work and ideas feel as relevant today as they were in Mr. Hulot’s postwar Europe.
Jacques Tati’s Villa Arpel