Contest theme: la légèreté au quotidien / everyday lightness

Sophie Cherer / Everyday lightness

We want wisdom, we want beauty, we want tenderness.We want to glide, fly, smile, love, last.We want to seize the day.And start again tomorrow.But how can we seize the day if it’s heavy?Wooden language, lead shoes and hearts of stone get in our way and weigh us down. Let’s
move on.
Our time and our world are longing for lightness.
Yet, in language, lightness has become synonymous with vanity and folly, if not artificiality and pretence.  
Lightness, however, is not caffeine-free coffee, sugar-free fruit or fat-free cheese, no more than it is a tree without roots or a house without foundations.  
And why not a human without a body or mind, lacking all five senses and deprived of the sixth?  
No.
Lightness is the opposite of denaturation.
It is a reunion with our inner nature. 
Whereas the lightness of being can be unbearable at times, that of objects never is. Lightness is never pejorative when it comes to objects.  
It is that perfect balance, which, although deep, can be seen on the surface. That perfect balance of style and substance, aesthetics and function, the fortuity of their discovery and the necessity of their creation.  
What do we expect of an object? 
For it to make us unique individuals. Freer, happier, more competent,
more ourselves.  
For it to help us. And enchant us. For it to soothe and stimulate us… Our eyes, ears, hands, our entire body, all at once. For it to be an extension of ourselves. For it to warm our hearts.   
What do we expect of a new object?
For it to fill a void.
For it to be to utensils, furniture and instruments what poetry is to instructions: same letters, different order, beautiful words.  
And for it to make sense.
For it to resonate.
We think we have it all, and yet we’re missing so many things that would make life lighter. 
Harmonious awakenings, smooth lunches, easy commutes, commotion-free calls, flying cases and open doors, everywhere.   
We want altruism and benevolence.
Is it merely by chance that many of the most spectacular design revelations are chairs?
We aspire to rest, relaxation, confidence and comfort.  
And sitting, like laughing, is unique to man.  
What do we expect of an inventor of objects?
For him to be a benefactor of humanity. For him to improve our condition.  
Humbly.
There is nothing heavier than boasting, self-complacency, self-proclaimed superiority. 
For him to change our existence with one or two things we didn’t know about life, a few solid, sturdy, not necessarily lightweight, objects that procure a feeling of buoyancy for those who wish to see, hear and touch them.  
For him to let us thank, praise and glorify him. Him, and the rest. Those who go unnoticed, those behind the scenes. Those of the past and those in the wings. Those who make.
Those who polish.  
For him to remember.
That without them, there is no him.
Man has taken on the cosmos and the abyss, he has grazed and crossed the most improbable borders. And yet to land on the moon or plunge to the depths of the ocean, he needed just one thing to begin his exploration… 
A ladder.   
Easy as pie.
So light it can be taken anywhere.
So unassuming, so commonplace.And yet it has served as a springboard to the wildest achievements.