Switzerland, a medicine capsule, a missile, a minaret. A vase that sets the ground rules for a game of interpretations.

S.M.S. is a soliflore vase designed by François Mangeol of ESE (ÉSÉ – Édition Sous Étiquette, St-Etienne, France). A vase for a single flower, which bears no resemblance to the traditional ones with bulbous bodies and long drawn out necks. The red color of glass is obtained simultaneously with its final appearance by the hand of the artisan and his torch. Due to the production process, all handmade vases have slight variations, which make them unique.

Its shape is open to interpretations. The striking red glass vase with a distinctive white cross reminds of Switzerland, while its geometry resembles an over scaled medicine capsule, or maybe a missile or a minaret as François Mangeol states. S.M.S. declares that the interpretation of things is never singular; each object, despite its assumed banality (a plain vase in this case), incorporates the potential of a multitude of interpretations, determined by a multitude of parameters, including among others, the sociopolitical context and the state of the observer. Interpretation is thus rendered ambiguous.

ÉSÉ – Édition Sous Étiquette, St-Etienne, France, 2011. No part of this web site may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of Morfae and the copyright owner.