Samira Boon - Dutch design from Japan

26 Jul 2005 Category: Features, Japan, Products, Recommended, Worldwide

Samira Boon - Dutch design from Japan

K wearing a *Get- well- soon- mask*

Samira Boon smiles, as she opens the door to her studio, where she prepared fruits for breakfast. “Let’s have a relaxed interview!”, she said and invited me in. Samira Boon originally came to Japan during her architecture studies in 2002. Being a little too impatient to wait until huge projects, such as buildings were finally realized, a coincidence brought her to design smaller things with her own hands, something where she would see a result immediately. Starting off with the “Get well soon- mask” she is now constantly expanding her product line - living and working in Tokyo.

Interview by Uleshka

Living in Tokyo I thought about those sterile looking masks worn especially during hay-fever and flu-seasons a lot of times. Finding your colorful and funny approach to print motives on them is such a simple way to cheer everyone up. How did you get to realize this idea?


Get- well- soon- masks

Well- I wanted to make something funny out of these boring masks and at that time, some of my Japanese friends were leaving for Australia. As a good bye present, I had in mind to create something combining those two countries, so I started printing Australian animal-motives on Japanese masks. For some reason everybody thought this was a brilliant idea and told me I should start selling those- and so I did. When I was introduced to the owners of the Watarium and they were really interested in selling them- I had to find a way to produce them properly. Up until then, I kept ironing them in my own apartment (Laughs!).

So basically you started a little business, while still studying architecture?

Yes! That was very exciting for me, because I was so new to this kind of work. Only having worked as an architect before, there were so many things I had to learn. Simply finding the right way to print the masks took us so long, until we found the right material with the right treatment in order to print on them the way we wanted to.


workshop at the Hara Museum

two of the participants’ masks

Can you tell us a little about the workshop about mask making you held at the Hara Museum in 2004.

At that time, the masks sold already at the Hara Museum and Junko Watanabe (curator) really liked them- so out of this, the workshop developed. It was mainly aimed at children and their parents, but many adults came too and enjoyed playing around a lot. I was hoping to find a way to make everyone experiment with colors and material, so I simply gave them a blank mask as a base and selected materials for them to create. Amazing what funny stuff some came up with, that gave a lot of energy back to me.

Are you thinking of doing something similar again?

I am currently planning one for the Hara Museum in Gunma for the beginning of October. This time, I would like to give them a useful object, probably a bag. I will give them a simple base again and they will have two hours time to change and decorate it, you can add straps to wear it as a rucksack or as a normal bag. I want to give as little guidance as possible and leave children in their own imaginary world. Let’s see what they come up with this time.


Furoshiki-shiki folding technique

Furoshiki-shiki bags in many colors

Right after you managed the production process of the masks you started your Furoshiki-shiki series. A furoshiki is actually a traditional Japanese way of folding a piece of cloth to a bag. You use adhesive colorful vinyl to create all sorts of bags, name-card holders and you will soon release a series for iPods. It is a very simple idea again, that just works. How do your different projects relate to one another?

Being educated as an architect, most materials are new to me and on the whole, designing products is a purely experimental field for me. I find that this certain lack of knowledge can be an advantage, though. Having to figure out everything for yourself, makes you creative. I simply follow my intention and tend to design, what comes into my mind. The furoshiki series started, because I never really liked handbags. I found them somehow complicated and wanted to create something, that is as simple as possible, preferably out of one single piece. When I discovered the slightly adhesive, translucent material I now use for that series, the design almost followed directly.


Furoshiki-shiki opened up to be used as cover and mouse-pad

Furoshiki-shiki iPod prototypes

Do you usually look for an interesting material first and then find something you can create out of it?

No, not necessarily. I think that the product and the material really depend on each other. When I design, it can happen in two ways- it is either the material, which inspires me and leads me to create something- like in the case of the furoshiki (whose design is based on the sticky property of the material). Or, there is a product or shape, which I already created and then need to find the right material for- like my new range of bags. Those will firstly be produced out of felt, but I want to try things with leather and a similar shape, as well.


discussing materials with assistant Tomoko, photographs: Naoko Matsumoto (B.P.B>)

a few felt-bag-prototypes

So is there something like a “felt line” coming up with those bags and vases?

Seems like it (smiles). Playing around with felt, I played around with simple shapes again and developed the flower vases. I like to take a single piece of material and cut or fold it in certain places and then create a three- dimensional object out of that. In the end, it is always the simplicity of things, that I find most fun, challenging and fascinating.


felt-vase

felt-vase detail

You really enjoy experimenting, don’t you?

Yes, and I love to learn new things all the time. For the felt-products, we went to Felt house in the nothern part of Tokyo, where they showed us all the possibilities of how and what to do with felt and also with leather. That made me want to create my own materials.

… so you attended the workshop in Holland a few weeks ago!

Exactly. I was very much interested in making three dimensional fabrics. Then I found this workshop about creating 3D fabrics by Yoshiki Hishinuma, who used to work for Issey Miyake and is recently known for his 3D knitting techniques. The combination of his knowledge, inspiration and assistance together with this amazing workshop space in Holland: a museum and factory altogether… it was just perfect. You could use all the machines for stiching, weaving, shrinking yarns…


some self-made fabrics

Samira at her colorful studio

How did the workshop change your way of working then? What were your main experiences?

Besides the technical knowledge, it also gives me the confidence, that I can make my own fabrics and don’t necessarily have to go and look for fabrics, that are already there. It frees my thinking and strengthens my experimental nature. Many people looking at those new fabrics I brought back, want me to create things out of them: “I want a belt! I want a blanket! Make another bag out of that one!” It makes me very happy to see that, because I want to experiment a lot.

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