Matali Crasset is the latest designer to be commissioned by DesignerBox, an online store whose customers sign up to receive limited-edition design.
Other designers such as Arik Levy, Sam Baron and Piero Lissoni have designed collectable pieces that get sent to subscribers every month. Both design and designer are kept secret until the boxes are sent.
For the medium’s 16th edition, Crasset decided to design a series of five wall clocks. "Time is now everywhere: in our pockets, on our smartphones, on our screens, in the city," she says. "But the clock has remained probably because, as stated by [French philosopher] Gaston Bachelard, it is the heart that beats within the house."
Her collection, called "Bad Boy", pokes fun at the conventional appearance of a clock, turning it into a face with eyes, nose and mouth. "I keep the object but I play with it to reaffirm that time allows us to know ourselves better, to assert our personality, gradually find our uniqueness, just like these 'Bad Boys' who enter our home," the French designer explains. "They are 'Bad Boys' because they are fighting against this square concept, regulated, imposed by the lecture of time."
Crasset gave each of the five models playful names that describe their different characters: Bad Boy arto, Bad Boy romantic eyebrows, Bad Boy with a black eye, Bad Boy with a three-day stubble and Bad Boy dandy. She sketched simple portraits so that the effect comes from the turning dial and the peculiarities of each face.
"They all have a different relationship towards time, she says. "The dandy needs more time to get ready, the Bad Boy with a black eye surely enjoys a late night stroll in the city, Arto has trouble getting up in the morning and does not always take the time to comb his hair (teenagers often have a quirky rhythm), another one dislikes this obligation to shave daily, not shaving is like being already a little bit on vacation..."
Crasset’s clocks encourage people to slow down and use time wisely. "The clocks divert daily time usage to reaffirm that time is also a way to know ourselves better, to assert our personalities and gradually find our uniqueness," she says.
