‘beauty can help save us’: jacques monneraud on turning cardboard into lasting ceramics

At first glance, Jacques Monneraud’s vessels appear assembled from folded sheets of cardboard held together with strips of packing tape. Every crease, dent, and corrugated edge feels convincing enough to dismiss them as disposable packaging. Only after a closer look does the illusion begin to unravel. These objects are made entirely from clay, transformed through an intensely laborious process that leaves almost no visible trace of the artist’s hand.

For Monneraud, however, the illusion is only the beginning. Behind the Carton series lies a much broader reflection on time, permanence, craftsmanship, and the traces we leave behind. Across a conversation with designboom, the French ceramic artist speaks about leaving advertising to embrace slower forms of making, why beauty still matters, how deception can become a tool for attention, and why turning fragile cardboard into fired clay creates what he calls a ‘temporal short circuit.’

all images by Jacques Monneraud, unless stated otherwise

Before ceramics became his full-time practice, Jacques Monneraud spent years working in advertising, an experience that continues to shape the way he thinks about objects and time. Looking back, he describes his move toward ceramics as a conscious search for permanence. ‘I’ve developed a stiff neck from constantly looking at the past and the future at the same time. I think that’s what led me toward ceramics rather than newer forms of making. I wanted to create things that would last longer than a thirty-second commercial shown during halftime at a football game, and I wanted to make them with my own hands,’ the artist tells designboom. ‘That said, I’m fully aware of everything my years in advertising have given me. I often think about Guinness’s famous slogan: ‘’Good things come to those who wait.’’ I wanted to swim against the endless current Marcus Aurelius wrote about and reconnect with a slower sense of time, the kind that allows you to pay attention to details. I remember those endless afternoons of my childhood, and the creativity that boredom inevitably brought with it. We hardly ever get bored anymore. And I think that’s a shame.’ That relationship with time echoes throughout his work. Cardboard, one of the most temporary materials of contemporary life, becomes ceramic, one of humanity’s oldest and most durable artistic mediums.

the artist extends the language of cardboard to familiar household containers | image by Natacha Nikouline

Packaging became Monneraud’s subject because it offered an immediate way to think about transformation, permanence, and the things that never truly disappear. ”’Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed.’’ I was a kid, terrible at chemistry, and I had no idea why that sentence moved me so much. Looking back, I think those words shine a light on the simplest things in life. If the soil is polluted, it won’t grow good fruit. Our bodies and our minds are like the soil. Today, we’ve forgotten that nothing ever really disappears, not tweets, not plastic. Packaging is everywhere, and it felt like the right place to begin talking about that,’  the French ceramist shares with us.

‘Following that same idea, I’m convinced that beauty can help save us because it has the power to bring out the best in human nature. It’s food for the soul. Beautiful things can soothe us, move us, bring people together, and create common ground. So I tried to make something beautiful out of something ugly. In fact, I’ve always thought that’s the very essence of ceramics: trying to turn mud into gold,’ he adds.

a grouping of ceramic vessels with folded spouts and corrugated handles | image by Natacha Nikouline

The remarkable realism of the Carton series is not intended as a technical demonstration. Monneraud sees illusion as a way of interrupting the speed at which people consume images and objects.‘An essential one. Picture a carnivorous plant disguised as an innocent flower. That’s the kind of illusion I’m after. I’m not trying to make a clever reference. I genuinely want to fool people,’ the artist admits. ‘If an artwork merely refers to something in order to make a point, it has to contend with the pace of modern life, with distraction, and sometimes with indifference, because it asks the viewer to meet it halfway. But if you manage to fool the senses first, the brain lets its guard down and starts wandering peacefully. By the time it realizes it isn’t looking at cardboard after all, it’s already too late not to spend a few seconds thinking about it.’

For Monneraud, the deception never exists for its own sake. ‘Fortunately, my goal isn’t to digest people like insects. It’s to recreate a spark of innocence, a brief return to childhood that allows them to look at the world around them with fresh eyes. Whenever that happens, I feel the piece has succeeded,’ he explains.

As images become easier to generate through machines and artificial intelligence, the ceramist finds himself increasingly drawn to work whose making remains visible through its investment of time and effort. ‘Lately, I’ve noticed myself losing interest in images that are undeniably beautiful and flawlessly executed, simply because I know they were produced by machines. On the other hand, I still remember being fascinated by the work of Aardman Studios (Wallace & Gromit), knowing that it took an entire day to produce just six seconds of film, all by hand,’ he reflects. ‘It raises a fascinating philosophical question about the relationship between the outcome and the work required to achieve it. Does something become more meaningful because of the effort behind it? I believe it does. In that sense, I see craftsmanship as a glimmer of hope.’

a selection of ceramic vessels by Jacques Monneraud

Every object in the Carton series brings together two radically different lifespans. Cardboard is folded, shipped, recycled, and forgotten. Fired clay has survived civilizations. Monneraud is interested in what happens when those timelines collapse into a single object.

‘I’m fascinated by the disconnect between the present moment and the future, especially our remarkable ability to act without really considering the consequences of our actions. Take something as fundamental as having children. How can we bring them into the world while behaving as though they won’t one day have to live with the consequences of the choices we make today?’ he reflects. ‘By giving something as fragile and short-lived as cardboard the potential to survive for thousands of years, I hope to create a temporal short circuit and invite people to reflect on that paradox.’

Jacques Monneraud has recently focused much of his attention on forms from Ancient Greece, working closely with ceramic art historian Virginie Armellin before translating those references into his own geometric language.‘The first step is always reading. Why does this shape exist? In the past, function often dictated form, and I love discovering that side of an object,’ he admits.‘Once I’ve chosen a piece, I filter it through my own set of constraints. For example, I avoid curves entirely in order to reinforce the illusion of cardboard. I make that ‘’translation’’ through drawing.’

‘Then comes what I call the technical journey: figuring out how to actually make the piece. Should it be built in one section or several? Do certain elements need to be made upside down? Will the weight of the clay cause problems during firing? Those are the kinds of questions that shape every decision,’ the French artist adds. ‘Once that’s settled, the real work begins, and so do the problems. But that’s exactly what I enjoy: trying, failing, starting over, finding solutions, making custom tools, learning how to throw a particular form. That’s my playground.’

‘The whole process is laborious and deeply empirical. By the end, my workbench looks like an operating room after a very long surgery, covered with dirty tools, dried patches of clay, and puddles of fresh slip. Only then does the object finally have a beating heart, and I can go to bed,’  he continues.

geometric vessels reference both historical ceramics and everyday packaging | image by Natacha Nikouline

The illusion depends on extraordinary precision. Fingerprints, tool marks, or imperfections would immediately reveal the ceramic beneath the surface. ‘The illusion I’m after requires leaving no trace of my presence. Yet, with the exception of small pieces of tape, my works remain raw, and before firing, even the slightest fingerprint marks the clay like concrete that is still wet. I can’t hide behind a layer of glaze,’ Jacques Monneraud shares with designboom. ‘Which means that, in order to exist artistically, I have to disappear technically. I like this paradox a lot, and I think it’s what gives the work its singularity. The most beautiful watches are not always the ones whose mechanism is visible.’

Although the work addresses consumption, permanence, and memory, Monneraud avoids moralizing. Humor remains one of the central tools within his practice. ‘I’ve been dealing with my own demons for a long time, so I’ve chosen humor and surprise over sarcasm and cynicism,’ the artist confesses. ‘It’s a personal challenge, and unfortunately, a daily one. That said, I also think it’s the best way to build a bridge with others. Since I don’t make objects to keep for myself, it feels important to use the right language to create that connection.’

the carton series spans pitchers, bottles, jars, and storage vessels | image by Natacha Nikouline

Questions surrounding sustainability inevitably arise when discussing cardboard and ceramics, yet Monneraud sees ecology as only one part of a broader conversation.

‘Anyone who produces things today, whether an individual or a company, has to ask these questions, because there are already far too many objects in the world. In ceramics, the responsibility is even greater, since once fired, a piece can outlive us by thousands of years. In my studio, the selection process before something goes into the kiln is extremely strict for that reason,’ he highlights. ‘My work is not directly about ecology. It’s about our relationship to what disappears and what remains, it is about nostalgia, memory, and the traces we leave behind. These are the sensitivities I try to focus on, because I believe they might be what ultimately saves us.’

As for what comes next, Jacques Monneraud offers only a brief glimpse.

‘I’m drawn to porcelain the way Frodo is drawn to the Ring. But it’s still a bit early to talk about it.’

cardboard-like forms reduce everyday objects to simple geometric volumes | image by Natacha Nikouline

This article was originally published by Designboom.

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