Miquel Matas Ferrer

L’ÚLTIMA TERRA

Artistic research (In development)

— Film, 2022

HELIOS SELENE

The Helios Selene applique is the great unifier of both light and darkness. Being the Sun and the Moon our greatest luminaries of the sky, each one guides us through the day and through the night. When the sun sets, it gives way for the moon to slowly appear and glimmer at night. Light a candle at dusk to transit from light to darkness in a peaceful and harmonious way.

Handmade brass candle applique by Portuguese artisans.
Dimensions: 13cm x 35cm x 12,5cm

A collaboration between Après Objet and Dora Daar.
Après Objet is a project run by Lucía Vergara and Miquel Matas i Ferrer dedicated to the search and curation of limited edition handmade objects, focusing on culture and popular crafts.

— Object, 2021

MANTRA
8’50”

A look in repetition. Contemplating, listening, allowing time, to understand the rhythms of a majestic territory. The images in this film were recorded in Ritoma, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Gannan, at 3200m. They alternate between ground and sky: the eye becomes a foreign lighthouse seeking patterns, looking to comprehend the dialogues and animal tensions inhabiting a dilated space-time.

Directed by Miquel Matas Ferrer
Color grading by Artur Tort Pujol
Sound design by Pierre Lefrançois Vérove

Specials thanks to Ritoma Village, Dechen Yeshi, Yidam Kyap, Sabrina Kraus, Mario Valero & Ju Balcells

— Film, 2021

FAIRE DU VÉLO AVEC DES ESPADRILLES
Loop – Cut 0’10”

En descendant Rue du Fbg Poissonnière, 75010 Paris
Kodak VISION3 50D, Super8 film

— Film, 2021

WOODTURNING WORKSHOP

In the 1930’s a lot of small wood-turning workshops were opened in Sant Pere de Torelló (Catalonia) by workers in nearby Torelló textile turneries, fed up with the precarious job conditions they were suffering.

I visited one of the last companies in activity ‘Industrias del Ajedrez’ founded in 1935. They only use local boxwood or olive wood to produce magic and high-end chess pieces.

— Photography, 2021

SOFREGIT QUIM MATAS DOCUMENTARY
9’30”

(Catalan) A través d’una mirada intimista, el documental retrata com les inquietuds culinàries d’en Quim, el treball en família i la recerca constant culminen en un producte d’excel·lència. També revela alguns ingredients del seu secret professional: una honestedat tranquil·la, el coneixement del gest i el no tenir pressa.

Directed by Miquel Matas Ferrer
Image & editing by Marc Cuscó
Sound design by Pau López
Original music by Josep Comas

— Film, 2021

LA PAILLE ET LE FEU x Après Objet

The Sun. In the religious traditions of the Mediterranean region, the sun is considered a sovereign god, moving up to the top of the sky up on a chariot hauled by fiery horses and with well-defined functions: illuminate, warm, and purify. Popular and peasant French beliefs, derived from Celtic traditions, consider the sun as a god or character close to the earth and men, to the extent that, sometimes it might be confused with the ancient animist principle by which human behaviour is identified with celestial phenomena such as stars, winds, rainbows and clouds.

La Paille et le Feu is the name of the celebration of Saint John’s Eve in the French region of Alsace: music, bonfires and hats with roses are the elements used to celebrate the summer solstice and the power of the sun. Traditionally, the women of the village would sew roses to wide-brimmed hats that men would wear afterwards to jump over the bonfire. This one, settled on a nearby hill, burned all night and people would dance in circles around it, imitating the rotation of the sun. At the end of the ceremony, with the piles of glowing embers still smoking, the youngest would go downhill back to the village enthusiastically shouting towards the starry sky.

– Text based on ‘The sun in traditional French culture, Jacques Lacarrière’.

La Paille et le Feu is the first lamp edited by Après Objet. The base is made of terracotta from La Bisbal d’Empordà and its lamp shade is assembled by hand using French old linen. The ground and the sun. A lamp inspired by the peasant sun celebrations, to illuminate and warm our homes.

Après Objet is a project run by Lucía Vergara and Miquel Matas i Ferrer dedicated to the search and curation of limited edition handmade objects, focusing on culture and popular crafts.

— Object, 2021

TAPABOCAS x Après Objet

TAPABOCAS (Manta de Pastor) is a thick blanket made of wool. Traditionally it has been the garment worn by the Pyrenean shepherds to protect themselves from the cold or rain. Originally the natural colors of sheep wool (white and brown) are combined in a plaid pattern. It is worn over the shoulders and can be opened in bad weather conditions, covering the entire body as a cape.

La Fàbrica de Llanes d’Arsèguel (Alt Urgell, Catalunya) is a wool factory from the 18th century still runned by hydraulic energy, using the iconic spinning mill named ‘Mule – Jenny’ designed in 1770. Today it continues manufacturing the well-known Tapabocas (Shepherd’s blankets) and warm and thick socks, perfect for the harsh winter climate of the Pyrenees.

Après Objet is a project run by Lucía Vergara and Miquel Matas i Ferrer dedicated to the search and curation of limited edition handmade objects, focusing on culture and popular crafts.

— Object, 2021

LETRÈSBÛCHE

Basic stool build with wood leftovers and recycled materials.
Each piece is unique.
Aprox. dimensions: 30cm x 30cm x 20cm

— Object, 2020

CONVERSA with Alba Yruela and Lluís Tudela

During the spring of 2015, I proposed a visual conversation to Alba Yruela and Lluís Tudela based on their photographic archive. At that time I often visited them in their apartment in carrer Urgell, Barcelona. I have always admired their photography, an intimate and honest work that moves away from trends and appearances.

I asked them to choose 8 photos each: images that represented them or that they would like to share. I sent Alba’s selection to Lluís, and vice versa. Each of them responded to the other, image by image. I proposed them to use images they had already developed; an archival exercise to enrich the conversation and show the ongoing complicity between them.

5 years later, during the spring of 2020, a spring we will remember for years to come, I reviewed old projects and I was stunned again with that correspondence and the strength and connection in their work. Excited, I suggested to print a limited edition of this dialogue. 32 images shot with 35mm film roll. A conversation of shapes and colors, of points of view, of moments of a day to day life.

This is an invitation to delve into their imagery.
Thank you Alba and Lluís for your involvement: this publication is for you.

50 copies*
Soft cover, 44 pages, 145 x 208 mm
*Out of stock

— Publication, 2020

LA GRANDE TABLE

Enric Farrés and Alba Santmartí asked me to design a table for their living room. The only condition was to have a 120cm circular surface.

Inspired by classic tubular steel designs and the stainless steel exterior tables of Spanish bars, I designed a repetition of inverted U’s for its legs. The surface would be a green waterproof mdf wood covered with a wired glass.
I manufactured the table with 3 different suppliers from my hometown, La Bisbal d’Empordà, the same region where Enric comes from.

— Object, 2020

LABELS x Après Ski Clothes

Natural cotton woven labels.
Stitched, 3 colors, 40x33mm

— Visuals, 2020

NORDEN CAMP

New identity using local imagery and typography to connect traditional with contemporary culture.

Norden is a place between Worlds. A place where nomadic tradition dances with contemporary culture, ancient past evolves into a mindful future, and a raw wilderness awakens the peaceful spirit. A journey into the uniqueness and realities of nomadic life.

Established in 2013, Norden was born from the desire to share the unknown splendors of Tibetan nomadic life with the outside world. Founded by Yidam, born into a nomadic family, and his wife Dechen, daughter of a Tibetan father and European mother, Norden exemplifies a community searching for their voice in a time of change. Located on winter pasture on the Sangke Grassland (Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, China) at 3,200 meters in altitude, the camp blends the lush landscapes of the Tibetan plateau with contemporary interiors and carefully curated local food, ambiance and experiences.

— Visuals, 2020

NORLHA ATELIER

Founded by mother and daughter Kim and Dechen Yeshi in 2007, Norlha is the Tibetan Plateau’s first yak khullu atelier. — www.norlha.com

2019

THOUGHTS

We know that manual labour has been replaced by machinery, accelerating production speeds and increasing goods production. Rhythms of production have been denatured and no longer depend on our biological limits. The aim today is to produce more in less time, to the point of exceeding our capacities of consumption.

The creative industry is another victim of this insatiable turbocapitalism. Quality, critique, reflection and respect are no longer the tools or the goals of this industry. Production now follows specific trends that seek immediate approval and reward, which takes away rigour from the profession, and turns it into an accomplice of the hyperproduction of communicative content, characterized by distraction and a lack of sensitive attention.

Over the last few years, I have had the opportunity to collaborate with people whose work remains far away from these rhythms. Artisans and craftspeople who believe that a slower life is possible and that history, cultural heritage and respect for the environment should justify each of their creations. They don’t work or produce to be news, but to protect culture and generate genuine, solid, and quality content which will last. They are not slaves of the current pace: they have chosen instead to be part of the brakes, despite the socioeconomic difficulties that this implies.

Today we can observe a general interest in craftsmanship, but traditional manufacturing techniques and skills are disappearing. We must be aware of these facts, face them and work to protect what is important. Legacy, culture, social consciousness, responsibility for material resources and love for what we do: these must be the engines to generate value today, and build strategies for the future.

It is also what those of us who form part of today’s creative industry must urge each other to defend. Thoughtfulness and an awareness of a creative ecology are fundamental aspects of having a critical approach to creation. Designers and content creators have a duty not only to redirect our activities, but also to slow them down. These are times to stand up, to observe, to listen, to lead and to reshape the new contemporary paradigms.

— Writings, 2019

CAVALL FORT x Après Objet

The first edition of Après Objet is a project in collaboration with Manolo.
A group of friendly horse riders who travel around the Murcian fields and wear a hat to protect themselves from the sun. Manolo loves talking, he has a brilliant and avant-garde imagery where the Sea, the West and Simultanism converge.
Given our interest in textiles and workwear, we decided to give Manolo some fabric for him to paint something inspired by his horse riders. With it, we produced the pockets for 10 workwear style jackets that bring us closer to his workshop, a way to transform the original and classical object and imagine new interpretations. — Read more

Photography playing Cavall Fort: Rafa Castells
Models: Armand Carrillo, Laura Sanpedro, Luna Paiva, Ferran Lajara, Gerrit Jan Veldman, Irina Chochriakova, Romeo Erlich, Yara Erlich y Otto Oliva.

Après Objet is a project run by Lucía Vergara and Miquel Matas i Ferrer dedicated to the search and curation of limited edition handmade objects, focusing on culture and popular crafts.

— Object, 2020

FERRY TO SIFNOS
3’53”

Sifnos, Greece.

— Travel film, 2017

LA MAISON DE COMMERCE, PARIS
Interior design with Atelier Veneer

LMDC travels around the European territories (Romania, Greece, Scotland, Catalonia and France) searching for objects. Handmade objects made by men and women who perpetuate and/or reinvent ancestral know-hows and popular traditions. LMDC is a close ally of companies and workshops that have made conscious choices: local resources, respect for materials, education, simplicity and beauty in everyday life. Understanding the realities and limits of craft production in Europe, LMDC hopes to participate in the emergence of intelligent consumption patterns. LMDC is a gallery-shop in Paris, 7ème.

— Art direction, interior design with Atelier Veneer et Pauline Lévêque, 2017-2019

TRANSYLVANIA, CYCLADES & SHETLAND ISLAND
2’59”

For LMDC, Paris. Super8 film.

— Silent travel film, 2017

LA MAISON DE COMMERCE, PARIS
Photography

LMDC travels around the European territories (Romania, Greece, Scotland, Catalonia and France) searching for objects. Handmade objects made by men and women who perpetuate and/or reinvent ancestral know-hows and popular traditions. LMDC is a close ally of companies and workshops that have made conscious choices: local resources, respect for materials, education, simplicity and beauty in everyday life. Understanding the realities and limits of craft production in Europe, LMDC hopes to participate in the emergence of intelligent consumption patterns. LMDC is a gallery-shop in Paris, 7ème.

— Art direction, photography with Pauline Lévêque, 2017-2019

MATEESCAC I

Produced during an art residence at Proyecto Algo (Barcelona).
Exhibited in Fundació Joan Miró museum hall during the temporary exhibition: “Endgame: Duchamp, Chess and the Avant-Gardes”(29/10/2016 – 22/01/2017)

— Object, 2016

LA CAMISA DEL HOMBRE FELIZ
4’47”

“La emblemática tienda-taller de Barcelona, La Manual Alpargatera, sigue en manos de una misma familia desde 1940. De los olivos de Murcia a los jardines de Vall d’Hebron, el film evoca la relación del trabajo con la vida y la familia. Una vida sencilla y sincera, como la alpargata.”

Footage by La Manual Alpargatera & Tasies family.
Concept and editing by Pauline Lévêque and Miquel Matas

— Documentary film, with Pauline Lévêque, 2016