A Final-Year Project in Harmony with Nature
3 July 2021
A student in the arts, Auriane Jeannin created, for her final project as part of the Diplôme des Métiers d’Art (DMA), Arts de l’habitat specializing in decoration and furniture at Lycée Bonaparte in Autun, a chair inspired by the forest universe and its benefits.
Originally from Nièvre and familiar with the values upheld by the Charlois group, Auriane Jeannin reached out to us to support her in realizing her project. As a committed local actor and in line with our engagement in favor of artistic creation and the valorization of oak, we naturally supported Auriane by offering both logistical and financial aid (providing oak as raw material and financing the felt for the seat).
Auriane particularly wanted to emphasize the root-like aspect of her chair, choosing to use an oak stump, a chablis from a forest in Yonne, for one of the legs. The rootedness of the chair is balanced by the light and airy nature of the felt seat and the metal backrest, which symbolize the connection between sky and earth.
The stumps, along with all the wooden components of the chair, were provided by Les Ateliers du Chêne, a house of the group located in Saint-Martin-du-Puy in the Morvan.
For the metal part of the backrest, Auriane called upon the expertise of Denis Genet, a locksmith based in Anthien in the Nièvre. The Établissements Laoureux, founded in 1923 and certified as an Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant (EPV), supplied the felt for the seat.
The student then worked in several workshops across the region, adapting to availability and health constraints, to shape and assemble the different elements of her chair.
Auriane Jeannin’s project was praised by the members of her institution’s jury. To thank the group, the student created a second version of her chair, which has recently joined the collections of the Fonds Charlois pour l’Art et la Forêt in Murlin. The culmination of a beautiful artistic project highlighting oak and the forest!
We again commend the outstanding quality of the chair’s realization.
Find ici the presentation file of Auriane Jeannin’s final project.
Note: A chablis is a tree that has been uprooted and fallen to the ground without human intervention, either for its own reasons (poor root system, senescence, etc.) or external causes (storms, lightning, falling trees, or rocks).
Visual © D.R.
