Jo Meesters: Masterful!

Pulp

Eindhoven-based designer Jo Meesters is on the cusp of an international breakthrough, but Leolux spotted him a long time ago. The first time was when a stylist lent us a rug by Jo for a photo shoot for the Leolux Annual at that time, and later when he gave a lecture as a curtain-raiser to trendwatcher Li Edelkoort before the Nederlands Interieur Instituut, at which Leolux was also present. The result of their cooperation was first seen at the Cologne Furniture Fair in 2010, surpassed only by the Leolux stand in Cologne earlier this year. In the mystical décor his floral carpets made of sheets, as well as enormous vases and lamps in papier-mâché, acted as intriguing eye-catchers.

Papier-mâché

‘Papier-mâché is a material that I've actually rediscovered. It's a left-over material stemming from old, recycled newspapers. So utterly green and sustainable. I began to experiment with it and then developed my own recipe as it were. It is a surprising, alternative material and I keep discovering new ways to use it in a playful way. The pulp is mixed with glue and then finished with an epoxy lacquer. After grey and black, I'm now working in white too. To really emphasise the contrast between throw-away and valuable, some vases and dishes have even been finished in gold leaf. It was together with Leolux that I first made such big objects with it.'

Passion for materials

Leolux is open to joining forces with young designers and artists and profiling itself with them. The same applies in reverse, says Jo Meesters. ‘I was really impressed by the Leolux factory. It's amazing that all this happens in house; from production to transport. What binds us is a piece of tradition, and a passion for well-designed products. We both try to give our designs a soul and do that with a lot of attention and care. As soon as I have the materials together, I know what to do by sheer intuition. I'm an intuitive person. With a passion for materials.'

Sustainable

Jo Meesters' career as a designer began when he graduated in 2000 from the Design Academy. But it was no bed of roses. ‘I applied to a few companies as a designer, but I was apparently difficult to place. Too diversified and not really specialised, so they weren't sure what to do with me and the answer was always “thanks but no thanks”. So I then spent no less than three years doing office jobs. Working from 9 to 5 to clear my head, to distance myself from the design business, to see whether there is a life after the academy after all. And then I was asked in 2003 to help work on an exhibition called Eternally Yours. A turning point in my career, that expo was all about the question of how we can prolong the lifecycle of products. I was still itching to work as a designer, so I had done all kinds of things with ceramics at home. I collected ornamental vases and cups at flea markets and the like. By partly sandblasting them away you get a new décor, a new story, a new cup. You show a part of what it had been and the rest is different and thus new. So you've prolonged the lifetime of a product. Then I started making really new patterns; for example by creating new and contemporary landscapes on Delft Blue. This work ‘Ornamental Inheritance' brings two aspects of my work together: recycling, but then at a higher level, and the traditional. I love working with my hands and feeling the materials, and then to work on the product for hours on end with love and devotion.'

Recycling

Being green and sustainable as a designer is hugely en vogue at the moment. But with Jo Meesters there's no hype: ‘I've always done that. I'm interested in any materials that age gracefully, like glass and wood. For me, working sparingly with energy and materials goes without saying. It's just the way I am. It's why I used old sheets for my final exams too; for lack of the money to have something new made, but above all because those materials were available and still perfectly usable. Recycling what's still good has always been my thing. I was like that even as a young boy on the Philippines, where I was born. I made vases out of old tin cans and from the biscuit tins we used to place on hot coals to cook with.'

Experience

However decorative and artistic Jo's work may be, his greatest pride and joy is the “most technical” thing he ever had produced: Green Oasis, a metal summer house in the shape of a mechanical digger. ‘I do in fact have a second love: architecture and public space. That summer house is something special for me; you can sit in it and really experience the object. On the one hand it's a cold metal object, but in precisely that combination with plants I managed to create a warm look full of atmosphere. Otherwise, the technical stuff is not really my thing. I like doing the models and sketching on paper, but I leave the rest to others.' In his studio, Jo works with various work placement students and hires freelancers in for special techniques. ‘I hope people enjoy the things I do. One role model for me is Hella Jongerius. She also looks for that field of tension between the personal and traditional on the one hand and industrial mass production on the other. I find it a challenge to seek my own direction there. It's all a compromise: partly traditional, partly industrial; partly limited edition, partly mass production. And, above all, I want to keep surprising myself by discovering and (re-) using lovely materials.'