Ground floor. Boon Monceau.
“In Conversation” frames design and art installations as a dialogue rather than an isolated situation that analyzes how spatial proximity generates meaning. In the pairing of Neshka’s Untitled 185 and Taller Battan’s Colorae Side Table, this curatorial strategy demonstrates how objects can enter into a spatial exchange in which material, form and atmosphere becomes mutually reinforcing.
The most relevant framework for the In Conversation series is Edward T.Hall’s theory of proxemics and its application to gallery space. Hall argues that while human perception of space originates from shared sensory capacities, its interpretation is culturally conditioned. Within an exhibition context, proxemics becomes a method for understanding how distance between artworks shape their visual and conceptual relationships. The approximately three meter distance separating Untitled 185 and Colorae Side Table places them within Hall’s social zone, a range that permits interaction while maintaining distinction. Their proximity establishes a dialogue rather than competition: both works occupy the same living room arrangement and contribute to the atmosphere of a domestic interior, yet differences in scale and elevation create a subtle hierarchy. Neshka’s sculpture, positioned higher and more prominently within the room, initially commands attention and acts as an anchor within the installation. Taller Battan’s side table occupies a lower position nearby, creating a slight spatial delay before it enters the viewer's awareness. The result is a balanced but asymmetrical relationship in which one work introduces the conversation and the other deepens it. Seen together, they form an echo system, connected through wood, abstraction and visible traces of making while retaining their individual identities.
This dialogue becomes more evident through the formal qualities of the works themselves. Neshka’s Untitled 185 is constructed from reclaimed cedar treated with linseed oil and charring, resulting in a darkened surface that absorbs light and emphasizes the grain of the wood. Smooth curves emerge from salvaged driftwood and cedar fragments, yet the work retains cracks, irregular edges and evidence of its previous existence. Rather than concealing these marks, Neshka foregrounds them, allowing the material’s history to remain visible within its transformed state. The sculpture appears simultaneously ancient and contemporary, shaped by both natural processes and artistic intervention. In contrast, Taller Battan’s Colorae Side Table introduces a lighter visual presence. Its varied tonal qualities are perceptible from a distance, allowing details to emerge before close inspection is required. While Neshka’s darker surfaces invite an intimate encounter, demanding proximity to reveal their complexity, Taller Battan’s work communicates more immediately across the room. Together they establish a rhythm of looking that oscillates between distance and closeness. Their peripheral relationship within the viewer’s visual field encourages fragmented movement through the installation: visitors may approach from multiple directions, circle the works or sit between them on the Atelier Pendhapa couch. As viewers move through the space, differences in texture, colour and surface treatment become increasingly apparent, producing an evolving perception of each object and its relation to the other.
The co-presence of these works generates a meaning that extends beyond either object individually. Both artists employ reclaimed wood, preserving traces of age, use, and environmental exposure within newly formed structures. As a result, the installation becomes less a display of furniture or sculpture than an exploration of time embedded in material. The works suggest that objects are never entirely present; they carry fragments of previous lives that continue to shape their meaning. Within the domestic atmosphere created by the furniture arrangement, this shared material history transforms the space into a site of memory and renewal. Neshka’s darkened, charred surfaces evoke endurance and transformation, while Taller Battan’s table introduces a sense of continuity and everyday utility. Their relationship proposes a third meaning: that making is not an act of creating from nothing, but a process of entering into conversation with what already exists. Through proximity, the works reveal how discarded materials can be reactivated, how histories can coexist, and how objects can become witnesses to both past and present. The exhibition therefore frames dialogue not only between artworks, but between temporalities, demonstrating how spatial relationships allow hidden histories to become perceptible within the gallery.