‘Cigarette Stub Marquetry’ (‘Marqueterie de Mégots’), The Paris of Talents (Le Paris des Talents) – Paris

Sixteen artists-in-residence from the Ateliers de Paris were invited to create a work that would represent and celebrate the world of Design in Paris, entitled A Map of the Capital (un plan de la capitale). This work was created by sixteen different designers, each contributing their own savoir-faire, and it celebrates craftsmanship, innovation, the art of reinvention, adaptability and the enjoyment that comes from creating something together. Through the choice of a common colour palette, different techniques co-exist and come together to form a coherent whole. As you make your way through the streets of Paris, you come across one fascinating material after another.

For this symbolic artwork, William Amor presents his work, ‘Cigarette Stub Marquetry’ (‘Marqueterie de Mégots’). Filters from hundreds of discarded cigarette stubs collected in the vicinity of the Villa du Lavoir in the 10th arrondissement in Paris have been cleaned and sterilised.

The cellulose acetate from this small but highly polluting piece of litter is then dyed various hues of green, in a hot pigment bath. Once dried, the fibre is reshaped and cut into small sections. William Amor then works with these cigarette stubs that have been transformed into decorative pieces, to create a kind of straw marquetry or featherwork. The artist has placed each element one by one, using precision tweezers and exerting pressure on the fibre to create a mosaic effect, like a landscape viewed from above. Carnations made from pleated plastic bags further enliven this garden, a metaphor for the cobbled streets of Paris.

City of Paris, Ateliers de Paris & Publicis Luxe Project