For the third consecutive year, Cartier is supporting Art Basel, the international most renowned artistic fair. This exhibition is taking place from June 10th to 14th. This year, Cartier is present at the Art Collectors Lounge, where they show a masterpiece created by the famous Italian architect-designer Alessandro Mendini for Cartier.
The "Cartier Column" by Alessandro Mendini. Claudia D. Lang © Cartier 2009
This piece of art, scintillating column made of gold and precious stones, unique treasure composed of recycled stones that can no longer be used in jewellery, is ecological and stable, and can be dismantled, repared, recycled. Measuring almost 2,50 meters, this stele of gold gives a second life to thousand of pearls, engraved emeralds, sapphires, mandarin garnets, moonstones, chalcedonies and rubies. It was created in Cartier Joaillerie workshops and required over 18 month of work.
Alessandro Mendini Report in Cartier workshops. Philippe Gontier © Cartier 2009
Creating a work of art using fine and precious stones, a collection made with gems that can no longer be used in classical jewellery as they have been pierced, dismounted and engraved; giving a second life to pearls, engraved emeralds, sapphires, mandarin garnets, moonstones, diamond paving, chalcedonies and rubies… Cartier entrusted this creative mission to the renowned Italian architect-designer Alessandro Mendini, who presented his work at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in 2002 as part of the “Fragilisme” exhibition. The development and production of the “precious column” conceived by Mendini have been entrusted to Cartier Joaillerie. These incredible gems, a true lapidary’s handbook, were classified by category before being encapsulated into crystal cylinders subsequently incorporated vertically within pink-gold flutes. The column required over 18 months of work, from the initial sketches to the final project. In accordance with the principles of Greco-Roman architecture, this ingenuous challenge involved layering more than 7 blocks around a central axis. Topaz, citrine, peridot, emeralds: all the stones were set into epoxy resin after 80 hours of polymerisation. Exhibited for the first time at the Art Basel exhibition, this “big jewel”, as it has been baptised by Mendini, will be displayed in an original salon designed specially for the occasion by the Mendini Ateliers.
Source: www.cartier.com
