Henri Frachon and Antoine Lecharny have developed a practice centered on the observation and conception of objects rather than their use. They draw the outlines of an "abstract design" that shifts our attention to the essence of a form. How does a hole behave? A hole inside a hole? And how is it shaped?

Is it the matter that surrounds it, or its constitutive void? What does a volcanic crater have in common with a flow-drilled hole? In their exploration, the duo works with raw materials and brings multiple skills together: stone cutting, metal spinning, embroidery, carpentry and glassblowing... They draw, model, miniaturize, experiment, fail and start again, to the point of exhausting their theme. Their work is divided into four elementary subjects organized into four lines: the Hole, the Triangle, the Jonc doucine and the Dissonance. The Abstract Design Manifesto, presented on the wall, sheds light on the work's "raison d'être" setting forth the rules. Radical and experimental, their approach can be compared to fundamental research.

Disegno Astratto, their first presentation at the Palais de Tokyo, as laureates of the Audi Talents Awards, is to be experienced as a journey, delighting in those details that can be found everywhere in our daily lives.

Gaël Charbau