++cataci.com topics/Jon Eliason++

I am also working a lot with stage design. I was so touched by it. One year ago, there was a play, and I saw people gathering from all over the town, and I realised that they all wanted to be emotionally touched. They all sit there and they want to be touched, with the power of shapes. That was very interesting. What is interesting with stage design is that you can see how people react with your design.

PD : How did you become involved with stage design?

JE : There was a big party at Berns. It was a party of a magazine called BOM. They asked me to make an installation. Then, there were dancers from Dancehus (DANCEHAUS?), and a choreographer called and asked me if I had an idea for stage design, and I worked with this project. It went very well. Critics were talking a lot about the stage design, and this is how I started getting into stage design.

PD : Are you more interested in stage design right now?

JE :It is just a shape....sometimes it is glass, sometimes ceramics, sometimes interior, and stage design.

PD : Are you interested in architecture as well?

JE : I work as an interior architect a lot, but I am also interested in exterior architecture.

PD : How about the Swedish TV show Room Service? How did you get into that?

JE : I made an interior design for some private homes, and the project manager of "Room Service" saw it, and they did a test shooting. And it worked out. It is very fun to work with them. Very good painters and carpenters. It is really hard to find good carpenters in Sweden. I have never met any good carpenters in my life beside the ones at "Room Service". They are fantastic. They are skillful and can work with details. That helps me develop my skills as well.

PD : What do you think about the relationship between commercialism and design? It seems that in order to be a good designer, you have to be commercially successful. If you don't sell at all, people wouldn't think that you are a good designer. What do you think about this?

JE : I think you have to do both. You have to be true to your own soul, but at the same time you have to have the skills to be commercial successful. Sometimes I do very commercial things. I don't want them to put my name on it. For example, when I worked with one project, an old lady in the countryside wanted to have a flower on a vase and she wasn't alone. There were ten thousand people who wanted it. I didn't want to do it, but sometimes people want those things. Sometimes you have to do something people want, but you should never lose your soul as a designer. You should never forget that you are here to explore.

PD : What do you think about the exclusivity of design products and the fact that they tend to be expensive?

JE : I guess that we need both inexpensive and expensive products. Sometimes you want to go to expensive restaurants, but sometimes MacDonald's.

PD : If you want to find a good design, often you have to pay more...

JE : Almost 100 years ago, there was more beauty in everyday things. I want everyone to have beautiful things. I think it is sad that money matters so much in design. But it is fine to be expensive, I think, if it is expensive because someone made so much effort and that the selection of material is the consequence of the designer's journey. But if it is expensive only because of the material, then it sucks.

PD : Compared to 40 years ago, you see less difference among cultures and also design. What do you think about the globalisation of design?

JE : I don't think that you can really get away from your own history. You get some influence, but we will never be the same. We eat different things, and have different climates.