Maison & Objet

“The loveliness of Paris seems somehow sadly gay. The glory that was Rome is of another day. I’ve been terribly alone and forgotten in Manhattan. I’m going home to my city by the bay.” - from “I Left My Heart In San Francisco”

I am not easily inspired. I do not get inspired by something just because I’m supposed to, or someone tells me that I “just must!”

But I do get excited to see, feel, and learn about things. Things that make my brows twitch and my enthusiasm gush out loud. These rare reactions usually happen when I am totally triggered with inspiration, and I hoped to receive them once again when I stepped into this season’s Maison & Objet in Paris.

Traveling to Paris isn’t bad…actually it is quite a wondrous journey every time, a guaranteed trip with numerous surprising inspirations, so with my large Samsonite packed and strapped, I looked ready to be inspired.

I can’t agree more with what Vincent Wolf wrote on his recent blog “Vegas.” He expressed a depressive state of empty moments in the design market, and the vibrant success of only a small group of design retailers.

With that said, walking out of Maison & Objet left me with a mild case of emptiness, as if my love had left.

I understand that most of visual presentations are subjectively judged and criticized without much productive feedback. And there are many factors that might have contributed to the lack of energy at this year’s show. The economy might be one. But, as I am not easily inspired, this week’s posting may be a situation when I try my best to represent a few inspirations to share, when I could have chosen from a multitude.

I anticipate the day when I spark again with inspirations. Thank the gods for Paris, as the city itself was much more of an inspiration than Maison & Object. Paris may be to me what San Francisco is to Tony Bennett.