JEAN FRANÇOIS CROCHET

Where were you the last time you sketched out a design?
Somewhere else .... in a dream ...

What did you use?
Head, arms, body, shadow, the light.

Anything else?
Expression.

What does the term "End of the millenium" mean to you?
Fossilized false eyelashes (and tell those two guys to go to hell!).

Does obscenity exist in things or in the mind?
Always down at the end of the corridor, on the left.

What film, book or architecture would you suggest to a Martian just arrived on earth, to let him understand us better?
Journal Intime - Nanni Moretti / Journal Intime - Terzani.

Have you every told a story to a child?
Yes, those are the only ones worth telling.

What do you find really unbearable?
A pasted-on smile. Anybody who ever forgets that he spent nine months lying in his mother's womb, just like his big brother, his secretary, his next-door neighbor. One who trips over the body of somebody who has tripped over a bottle of wine. Anybody who doesn't say thanks to the person he should apologize to. The one who shouts against and votes for, the one who says no while he's pressing the button...

How would you describe Paris?
There is luster and lights. There is love in the arms of the Seine. There is yesterday's daytime and tomorrow's night. There is you ... in Paris ... I love you.

Is all you need love?
Yes, and also a set of tires, a pair of pliers, a desert isle, a beaming smile, a slice of roast-beef, a firm belief, strong nails, ice-cream in pails, a soft bed, an antique marble head, a rare steak, a good break, a pair of gloves, a couple of turtle-doves, a toothbrush, an orange crush, thick hair, lots of fresh air, a macho, an adagio, a Sergio...

Does a white sheet of paper frighten you?
No more than a black one, it's a question of harmony.

Is there more tragedy, comedy or farce around right now?
A little oil, a little vinegar, and a pinch of salt.

Do you like animals?
Yes, especially jelly-gum bears.

Is lightness a value?
Yes, so long as it isn't quoted on the stock exchange.

How much change have you got in your pockets right now?
I'm really glad you asked me that question, because I was just about to mention...

Do you ever sing?
Off-key! In all tones.

What is seduction?
A spiral of intelligence.

If you had to choose between the two, which would you abolish: slowness or quickness?
One doesn't exist without the other, but with slowness you wouldn't notice it so much.

If you were asked to help burglarize an art gallery, what would you want to take home for yourself?
The doorknobs.

What do you use to disinfect cuts?
A paint stripper to take a few layers of rust off my skin.
A chemical solution composed of: tartar acid 3g, pewter chloride 10 g, mercury chloride 10 g, some water 1 liter - Apply for a few seconds, then protect with a rust-proof coating or nitrocellulose shellac.

Does industrial design exist?
I'm living with it, I'm rolling in it, I'm writing on it, I'm washing with it. I don't shave any more; I'm not sleeping with it.

What do you think about architects' aphorisms?
They leave me aphonic...