«At first glance» is an artist’s rug signed by Maud Louvrier Clerc and published in 8 copies by the Pinton workshops, a French manufacture for 150 years. The rug is round and 2m in diameter. It is made with 9 colors of threads: 5 blue, 2 green, 1 white, 1 sand, 1 brown and 27 shades. The carpet is tufted with 4 threads. A shade is for example the combination of 3 colors: 1 white thread, 2 light blue threads and 1 dark blue thread. The mixture of wool and tencel, eucalyptus fiber rendering between cotton and silk, produces light effects. The mat oscillates between matt and glossy. The plastic artist also used several techniques mixing woven, cut and curled in thicknesses ranging from 10 mm to 16 mm to give a real sensation of relief to the touch.

The work represents the Earth seen from the sky. Like an astronaut discovering it from an orbital station, the first visual contact puts us in front of a blue planet, both beautiful and small in the immensity of space. A second physical contact gives us access to its softness and complexity, which our hands and feet can touch. This can be the third contact, a deep spiritual connection reinforcing our desire to protect it.

The artist was inspired by her painting series “La Disparition du sable” and a childhood memory: her first look at our planet that she placed in CM1, which had moved her and filled her with pride to live on such a beautiful planet. Her teacher had given her a small sticker, barely larger than a piece of sugar, with the picture of the earth seen from the sky, which she had received as a true treasure. She intends with this carpet to transmit in turn this feeling of wonder. The title of the rug refers to “the overhang effect”, which is described as a cognitive shock, an awareness of the beauty of our Earth witnessed by some astronauts during space flight and that occurs when thesehere observe the Earth from either Earth’s orbit or the Moon. For the artist, in connection with his own experience, this overhang effect is possible to live without becoming an astronaut.

What I liked about the transcription of Maud Louvrier Clerc’s work in carpet is the idea of a space for reflection on our planet placed on the ground. Environmentally conscious, I was immediately impressed by this beautiful metaphor.” Lucas Pinton, President of Pinton