‘Ceremony’
‘Ceremony’, by David Caon and Christopher Farr
for Australian designer David Caon’s first project for Handmade, we introduced him to the British pioneer of contemporary rugs, Christopher Farr. Their response to our theme of Wellness + Wonder was predictably unpredictable, combining the very Milanese concept of the aperitivo with Japanese tea ceremonies, woven together – in this case quite literally – by Christopher Farr’s long experience at the cutting edge of textile design. ‘Ceremony’, as the final product came to be called, comprises an ultramarine rug, supported by aluminium armatures so that each end becomes half-rug, half-chair, plus a matching side table that also functions as a storage unit or ice bucket.
Caon launched his Sydney studio in 2009 after several years working in Paris with fellow Australian Marc Newson. ‘Ceremony’, though, was inspired by his design apprenticeship in Milan, where he worked with Memphis co-founder George Sowden. ‘Milan is where I was introduced to the tradition of aperitivo,’ Caon says, ‘and I found it such a lovely way to end the day. I think it’s part of Italian culture, where if you’re going to drink, of course you must eat something.
‘For “Ceremony”, I wanted to take this tradition and elevate it to a form of ritual. By eliminating the typical tables and chairs and providing only floor-level seating, it also alludes to the Japanese tea ceremony, creating a kind of bridge between the two practices. The table must be there because an element of equipment or monument is required during the tea ceremony. But aperitivo is also by nature a relaxed and informal practice, so I formed the rug to create backrests and allow people to lean back and be at ease.’
The rug itself was made by Christopher Farr using a unique new weave developed in India by Los Angeles fashion and textile designer Gregory Parkinson. It is woven from polypropylene fibre, which is normally used for yacht ropes, making it waterproof and extremely hardwearing. Matthew Bourne, who set up the company with Christopher Farr in 1988, takes up the story: ‘It just so happened that we were already working with Gregory, and he suggested we try and do something with polypropylene, so the project was very much a three-way process. We were Whatsapping with Gregory in India, David in Sydney, me in London, and Chris in Los Angeles, which I guess is the modern way of working. But we’ve always loved collaborations,’ Bourne adds. ‘They’re what really keep us going.’ That’s as true today as it was 30 years ago, when Farr opened his first shop in Primrose Hill, north London. Trained as an artist at the Slade School, Farr first made the connection between carpets and fine art on a travel scholarship to Peru. The precolumbian textiles he saw there were, he remembers, ‘as saturated in colour and as aesthetically pleasing and as powerful as a great Rothko’. Back in London, Farr attended a groundbreaking show called ‘The Undiscovered Kilim’ at the Whitechapel Gallery, curated by a young Nicholas Serota and mounted by David Black, who owned the leading rug gallery of the time. ‘It was the first time anyone had really taken rugs seriously as abstract art,’ Farr says. ‘At the time, the whole star artist business was really kicking off, and it appealed to me that these were done by anonymous artists. It led me to get a part-time job with David Black.’
Bourne was also working for Black parttime as a carpet restorer. ‘One day, Chris told me he was going to open his own shop selling antique rugs,’ Bourne says, ‘and he asked me if I wanted to work for him on Saturdays in return for having a room at the back where I could do my restoration work. After a while, Chris started offering his own designs, as well as antique rugs, and they sold well.’
But the real turning point was a collaborative show at the Royal College of Art in 1991 called ‘Brave New Rugs’. ‘Suddenly we were all over the papers,’ Farr recalls. ‘I think we had the right idea at the right time,’ adds Bourne. From that point on, they only sold original new designs. Further collaborations, with Romeo Gigli, Rifat Ozbek, Allegra Hicks and Ralph Pucci followed, establishing Christopher Farr as the go-to brand when it came to contemporary rug design, a position it has consolidated since with acclaimed re-editions of work by past masters such as Gunta Stölzl and Josef and Anni Albers.
For its 30th anniversary celebrations, the label is launching three collections of new designs with long-term collaborators Collett-zarzycki, recent Central Saint Martins graduate Irene Infantes, and Commune co-founder Pamela Shamshiri, not to mention a top-secret charity project with some leading names in the art world. ‘It’s slightly intimidating to look back over 30 years,’ Farr says, ‘but it’s refreshing to know that a company such as ours, that puts design and art above all else, can still thrive in such a ruthless economic climate.’∂ caonstudio.com; christopherfarr.com