With both Fien Muller and Hannes Van Severen being artists, it’s natural that the collection sits somewhere between design and art – it’s obviously ‘furniture’ but the emphasis is not completely concentrated on function and suggests different ways of living and use of space… an uncanny twist on universal forms.

It seems it’s not so much the qualities of an individual object that are important, but what happens when that object is introduced to another. The sense of colour is extraordinary in the same way, with quite odd combinations – sometimes subtle, sometimes glaringly opposing, but always with a harmonious result.

There is wit in both artists’ work which follows into their furniture collection – two shelving units become entangled and inseperable, two people are forced into conversation by a double seat… The muller van severen collection invites participation – the double facing seat only achieves its potential with use – two people engaging and perhaps forming new ideas, flirting or just sharing a bit of banter. In this instance, the process of ‘designing’ appears to be more like a conversation and an evolution of ideas, with one finished product inspiring the next, hence the collection working so well as a whole.

muller van severen homepage