Pilote

What is the story of your studio ? JG: We all met about ten years ago. Mathieu and Yannis did all their curriculum/studies together between Valence, Strasbourg and Paris... while on my side, I studied five years at the EESAB in Rennes. After our meeting, we quickly decided to collaborate. We had already worked together on several projects before becoming actual partners. MM: We had the idea of working together in mind for a long time, but before that, we wanted to live our own experiences and deepen our expertise. After graduation, Yannis had its own plastic artist workshop and organised a few exhibitions, while working in a political communication agency. Meanwhile, Joséphine was working as a graphic designer within the Maison Martin Margiela. I personally worked for several years as a freelance graphic designer. Those years, we met a few times around different projects. As soon as we decided to join together, everything went very fast. Our studio is a social housing offered by the town council of Paris, we had to build a case very quickly to get it. This encourages us to create the structure, to prepare all the administrative aspect, to make a business plan... This is how Pilote was born. YP: We can also say that everything happened very quickly because each of us already had its own customers. We simply explained to them that the structure was changing, but the quality of work would remain the same. The idea was not to rent the same space and work separately, but on the contrary to truly share our skills and our projects.

Do you think it becomes necessary to stand out among the other many creative studios ? JG: We didn’t think that we absolutely had to find ways to stand out. This does not reflect our way of thinking. Knowing each other very well has led us to the idea of sharing our expertise in various fields. For us, there is no bad topics: we work with the baker of the nearby street as well as with prestigious clients such as Louis Vuitton. We will always maintain this desire for variety. Our creative minds are different and complementary. Yannis being a plastic artist not only allowed us to organise exhibitions, but also to have a different approach facing some projects. YP : We have the chance to know each other very well and to fully trust each other. Our work is complementary. We do not wish to limit ourselves, we want to offer our services in space design, events... The idea is not to be confined to a single medium but to open to a lot of things that stimulate us.

Can you tell us about your ’Sommaire’ exhibition organised last February ? JG: The exhibition featured six artists with whom we would like to work in the future. An exhibition and collaboration with each of them are planned thereafter, that will aim to create an editorial object related to their approaches. The choice of artists was made on their work… either because they already had a connection with publishing, or because they matched with our creative process. The idea is to work fully with them on this object. It won’t be an exhibition catalogue, but rather a continuation of the exhibition, self-edited by the studio. MM: We are very interested in the concept of reproduction. Thus, the purpose is to invite an artist to give its own interpretation of a place and a creative field other than the one they used to work on ; like publishing. We want to go beyond the simple exhibition booklet while remaining in the continuity of the artist's work, which also allows them to leave a mark of their work.

How would you describe your creative space ? JG: We give great importance to our workspace, we are very attached to it. We wanted to be able to welcome people in our studio to work on some projects. Today we can transform our space through modular furniture. For example, our bookcases can become an exhibition structure. YP: The events we organize within this space are enriching at the social level. They allow us to meet people, including local inhabitants. We change our shop front according to the different events, we try to be actors of our neighbourhood. There are many studios around here, it is a very lively place, rapidly changing. We note that other events around us are sometimes related to our projects. We would love to work with some of them, especially with the 22RUEMULLER. Interview conducted in April 2016 ©ktlg