Hunter and collector
 
 
I have always been drawn by the finest shapes. As a child I played with dolls, later I admired the beauty of women. Nothing can compare to the stride of a godess wearing high heels. When I read books I was impressed by the various shapes of the fonts. Typography began to inspire me. I converted my thoughts into drawings. I was never bored. At school I painted entire blackboards full with animals, flowers, farms and whatever else entered my mind. I was invited to other kindergartens and schools and was asked to draw Christmas scenes, motifs of Swiss history or other things on paper or on their blackboards. Today I draw cartoons for ads, company events, or about matters of topical interest. I wanted to become a graphic designer. Somebody gave me a brochure entitled "the window-dresser" and I started a career as a handyman. From then on I moved things into and out of shop windows, tidied up stores, arranged the masses of articles into decorative groups. I must assume that the department store ignited my unhealthy passion for collecting.  For two yearsI worked for GLOBUS Zurich, in a team of seventy window-dressers, realizing the first „store in store“ concept. In the sixties GLOBUS was the leading department store of Europe. I think that the vast spaces of the 6 GLOBUS concrete floors made me join the brotherhood of stand builders. I very much enjoy to creating an inhabitable environment into an enormous, empty hall. In my spare time I scavenged every flea market and had to bear that a faster hand snapped up the item I had my eye on. I discovered rare finds at garage sales. At the time it wasn't yet fashionable to collect things off the street. I went to work in Basel at a fashion store and I fell in love with a blonde girl who traveled with me to Provence, introduced me to Art Deco whose geometrical pattern fascinated me. I wasn't able to acquire famous Art Deco pieces, so I looked for a material that was quite cheap to buy.  Since 1986, I have been collecting a warehouse full of bakelite items. My wife Manon (who likes to spend her time in boutiques and hotels and wonderful restaurants) has accompanied me to all those trash and treasure markets all over the world. It was mainly she who has guided me to the right places. I stacked the objects in my unit up to the ceiling until there was no space left for working. In 2001 I motivated the Basel Fair to exhibit my Bakelite Collection in a special design show. This event was sponsored among others by Bakelite Germany. My Bakelite collection can be rented at CHF 300.00 per square meter. This includes transport, mounting, supervising, dismantling. It's my goal to make design freaks happy by exhibiting my unique collection. See you soon in L.A., Sydney, Vienna and Munich to celebrate the invention of Leo Baekeland.