“We handle the art of suspense with grace! » Yann Grienenberger makes no mistake. Every year, the Meisenthal international glass art center, which he directs, makes all craft lovers, all lovers of Christmas time, eagerly await to discover the face of the last born from a prestigious lineage.
For this 2024 edition, the task was entrusted to German designer Mark Braun to give shape and life to the 35th edition of the Christmas bauble. A recurring collaborator of the CIAV for a dozen years, the creator presented, this Tuesday, November 12, the result of his long months of reflection: “Kaktus”.
Slightly rounded in shape, which widens as it descends, the structure is decorated with small crosses and has a flat, although gently serrated, bottom. A set that looks exactly like a prickly pear. To understand this twinning, we must delve into the mind of the artist.
A fruit of the future
“One winter, the weather was too bad in Pays de Bitche, and there was a shortage of apples, which usually decorated the Christmas trees. The glassmakers therefore decided to blow these fruits into glass, to decorate the trees. From there, I asked myself: if the phenomenon happened again in the distant future, what fruit should we imitate? », summarizes Mark Braun.
Aware that the future, under the effects of climate change, will be ever hotter, the creator turned to plants that grow in other latitudes, but which could, in the long term, be found here. Until we arrive at the cactus, a symbol of plants confronted with heat.
“A spicy humor”
“I imagined a tropical Christmas, where the cactus would replace the tree,” smiles the designer – hence the subtitle of his work, “Christmas on the balcony”. After undertaking extensive documentation and visiting a specialized nursery, the forty-year-old chose to work on the shape of the prickly pear, the fruit of a Mexican cactus.
“This ball carries a note of humor, a spicy humor,” says Mark Braun. Climate disruption is a serious subject, but I wanted to treat it with a light, ironic look. “It’s a way to stay optimistic and have a positive attitude.”
“The creation is magnificent artistically, but also in what it tells. It’s a deeply interesting message,” underlines David Suck, president of the Pays de Bitche community of communes.
Stella was the ball of the previous year: she was a hit!
A production of 45,000 copies?
“Kaktus” will go on sale this Thursday afternoon and will have, for the first time, the brand new digital queuing system. “It won't have too big an influence on our sales, even if I think we will do a little more than last year,” indicates Yann Grienenberger.
The production target is between 40,000 and 45,000 units. Every day, the glassmakers blow 500 to 600 examples of the new model. Its price was set at 26 euros, 29 for the red version, more expensive to produce. The limitation rules are renewed: each household will be able to acquire a maximum of four units of “Kaktus”.
Mark Braun, a German designer as a symbol of openness
After the Belgian-Luxembourger Nicolas Verschaeve in 2022, the international glass art center has once again entrusted the creation of the Christmas bauble to a foreign designer: the German Mark Braun. Aged 49, he founded his agency in Berlin in 2006. Several of his works have been rewarded with prestigious prizes, such as the German Design Award, considered the highest German distinction in the field.
Also a teacher, Mark Braun has had the opportunity to work at Meisenthal several times. “I evolved in a familiar universe,” he confirms. “The aim of the CIAV is to work with a variety of stakeholders. The fact that the artist chosen this year is German has an even more marked connotation, here in Pays de Bitche,” underlines David Suck, president of the community of communes.
