STYLE Edit: How 3 different digital artists created stunning short films and images inspired by Van Cleef & Arpels’ classic Perlée collection
Artists Arthur Hoffner, a designer who has worked with Robert Stadler, Singapore motion design specialist Clement Chia and illustrator and animator Friedrich Neumann have each created new video and image works inspired by the refined curves of the Perlée collection – pendants and rings with roots in a gold beading technique used by the brand for almost a century
Over the years, Van Cleef & Arpels’ playful Perlée collection has seen several sparkling iterations in gold and precious stones. Characterised by intricately hand-polished tiny beads, the creations have their roots in the traditional gold beading technique used by the maison to decorate jewellery and watches since the 1920s.
As part of a unique collaboration with three digital artists, Van Cleef & Arpels has recently given a whole new dimension to the Perlée collection through a series of short films and still life images.
Dabbling with various shapes and a vibrant colour palette, the three artists – Arthur Hoffner, Clement Chia and Friedrich Neumann – have each interpreted the refined curves of the Perlée collection in their own way.
“The interplay of moving shapes and joyful hues resonates with my own experiments. In my eyes, the sphere is almost too perfect to be real. Its quintessential roundness inspires motion, embodies balance and conveys a feeling of suspended time,” says Hoffner, who discovered the art of ironwork at the age of 10 and has worked with several established designers and companies such as Robert Stadler, Théo Mercier, Henriot-Quimper and Hermès.
Clement Chia, a motion design specialist from Singapore, has presented a captivating interpretation of the Perlée Couleurs transformable long necklace and the Perlée diamond ring as part of this collaboration. “The elegant design of the Perlée collection is a huge inspiration of what I do in my works. I am always in love with creating art that mixes softness and details. The precision in each jewel inspired me to find the perfect balance between minimalistic and artistic result,” he says.
Inspired by the bright colours and refined elegance of the Perlée collection, Friedrich Neumann worked with the clover bracelet and the Couleurs pendant to present his vision for this collaboration. “It was important to generate a natural and harmonious feel on both visual and auditory levels. The use of light and joyful colours, interesting but minimalist environments and harmonious motion in combination with sound variations were essential,” says Neumann, who brought alive a rhythmic interaction between spherical shapes and the jewellery in his creation.