SL Delights: conceptual Flemish jewellery and objects

Artist list

Sofie Lachaert and Luc d’Hanis

SL Delights
The duo of Lachaert/d’Hanis decided to go and sell their designs on the street, using a lavishly decorated, fluorescent green vendor’s cart. This cart, stowed with jewellery, objects and large piles of advertising leaflets, was featured at last year’s Flemish design fair in Kortrijk en will now be presented in the Netherlands for the first time in droog-at-home.

Table gems
Each project is a collaboration between Lachaert and d’Hanis. The symbiosis of a jewellery designer and a visual artist results in objects that explore the borderline of the visual arts and design. ‘Sharing’ is a recurring theme in all jewels and objects: a single chair with entwined legs for two, or a bracelet that is a chain at the same time. Ordinary objects acquire a new meaning through small, subtle interventions: a disposable fork made of silver or a candleholder with a ring for a handle. Objects that were almost lost to oblivion acquire new life: a silver birdcage that is rechristened as a sugercage. A container for sugar cubes or an ironic reference to Marcel Duchamp’s Why Not Sneeze Rrose Sélavy? Duchamp raised consumer items to pieces of art. Lachaert and d’Hanis respond by bringing the piece back for use.

Dinner
Preceding the presentation, Droog and Lachaert/d’Hanis organise a dinner on the twelfth of February: ‘have dinner with Flemish Masters’. This dinner, in collaboration with Roodstop, is a challenge to the senses. The poetically set table full of table jewellery is a work of art by itself. The recipes include a full measure of colours, a touch of humour and a dash of alchemy. What else could you expect with a visual artist as host and a jewellery designer as hostess?

Sofie Lachaert and Luc d’Hanis
Both designers graduated at the Royal Academy of Arts in Antwerp and teach at various educational institutes. Their works have been exhibited in the United States, Spain, France and Luxembourg. Since 1990, they have a gallery both in Ghent and in Tielrode where novice designers get the chance to gain practical experience. In Tielrode, they also have a Bed & Breakfast where visitors are steeped in the works and the ideas of the design duo.