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    Gisbert Pöppler

    Gisbert Pöppler

    1. Where were you born and where are you from ?

    I grew up in West-Germany, near the North-See and moved to Berlin only two months before the wall came down. Joining the creative chaos of reunification, I studied architecture and established my studio.

    2. What is your first memory connected to the art world ?

    As a child my parents built our home. A modern Glasshouse – in a tiny village of 200 people with a windmill. Art and design were simply part of our household, which I merely accepted. Then I went to an American high school as an exchange student for a year, where I visited Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water and I realized how much power design has.

    3. Have you always worked in the art/design field ?

    I spent a year caring for the elderly as my civil service duty, other than that I have always worked in the design field.

    4. What led you to the design creation ?

    I search for the right pieces on every interior design project, but don’t always find them. So, one day I realized I had to design my own things, and this became very exciting!

    5. How would you describe your creative process and it influences ?

    I start with intuition – a combination of natural inclination, experience and knowledge. I analyze, ask many questions along the way, listen carefully and work from there. I love to experiment with new materials and techniques I come across during the process.

    6. Could you describe a typical day of your work ?

    A typical day for me is full of communication, I meet with my team and discuss our work, what we are doing, what needs to be done and many fine things dealing with each project or design. Lunch is very important in the studio as the entire team leisurely exchange ideas and experiences together. The daily routine consists of coming up with ideas and finding ways to communicate them.

    7. Why did you choose the specific materials you work with ?

    I love working with the senses and I love craftsmanship. The materials I choose often have more to do with how they can be worked with and enjoyed as opposed to simply selecting from a finished pallet.

    8. What are the technical particularities of your creations ?

    I value comfort and function as much as the design. A lot of energy is spent building prototypes and making changes during this process to ensure each piece functions as well as it looks. You have to love using it as well as seeing it especially if it’s a collector’s piece.

    9. What advices could you give to beginning artists who would like to create sculptural design works ?

    Well, of course everyone expects their first work to be a masterpiece and they should go about designing with this intention. That being said, it is good to move on and be open to whatever pops up in the process, sometimes the obstacles steer the design in a good direction.

    10. If your works had to belong to a design movement, in which one would you define it ?

    My work is very Post Modern, I enjoy being free from the rigidity of modernism and at the same time like to interpret classic forms with reduced ornament.

    11. What designers have influenced you ?

    Yves Saint Laurent for creative style and Philip Johnson for attitude towards design.

    12. What contemporary designers do you appreciate ?

    Tom Ford

    13. What contemporary artists (in any kind of art) have you been inspired by ?

    The Artist Sarah Morris and the countertenor and break-dancer Jakub Józef Orliński

    14. If you had to summarize your creations in one word or sentence, what would it be ?

    Confident

    Proust Questionnaire with very short answers (one or a few words) :
    (The Proust Questionnaire is a set of questions answered by the French writer Marcel Proust. Other historical figures who have answered confession albums are Oscar Wilde, Karl Marx, Arthur Conan Doyle, Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Cézanne…)

    1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

    Daisies

    2. What is your greatest fear?

    Public speaking

    3. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

    That I fear public speaking.

    4. What is the trait you most deplore in others?

    Ignorance

    5. Which living person do you most admire?

    Emmanuelle Charpentier

    6. What is your greatest extravagance?

    Gardening

    7. What is your current state of mind?

    Curious

    8. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

    Flawlessness

    9. What is the quality you most like in a man ?

    The feminine side

    10. What is the quality you most like in a woman ?

    The masculine side

    11. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

    Très chic

    12. Which talent would you most like to have?

    I would speak more languages – starting with French.

    13. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

    Backward Salto

    14. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

    My Studio

    15. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

    A Bird.

    16. Where would you most like to live?

    Villa l’Esquillette on the Côte d’Azur

    17. What is your most treasured possession?

    My ideas.

    18. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

    Losing the joy of life

    19. What is your favorite occupation?

    Watering my flowers

    20. What is your most marked characteristic?

    I am not easily bribed

    21. What do you most value in your friends?

    Companionship and conversation

    22. Who are your favorite writers?

    Otfried Preußler

    23. Who is your hero of fiction?

    Le Petit Nicolas by René Goscinny

    24. Which historical figure do you most identify with?

    Henri Matisse

    25. Who are your heroes in real life?

    Cecilia Bartoli

    26. What are your favorite names?

    Frieda, Andrin

    27. What is it that you most dislike?

    The “ugly” we find acceptable

    28. What is your greatest regret?

    Not speaking French or Russian

    29. How would you like to die?

    Happy in old age

    30. What is your motto?

    Everyone has a different flaw.

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