Life becomes work. Work becomes life.
The Everyday Aesthetics of Philippe Weisbecker

This book is an intimate portrait of a day in the life of Philippe Weisbecker, the Paris-based artist celebrated for his drawings of everyday objects. His distinctive visual language has long been admired in Japan, where his work has appeared on the redesigned Isetan wrapping paper (2019) and the official posters for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. In 2020, his exhibition Philippe Weisbecker's Japan: Carpentry Tools, Architecture, and Everyday Objects was presented at A-Quad, Takenaka Corporation's gallery in Tokyo.

Seeking the source of Weisbecker's creativity, this book documents his home and studio in Paris, where objects gathered over a lifetime quietly coexist: flea-market finds, travel souvenirs, antique tools, drawing materials, handmade furniture, and well-worn sketchbooks. Hidden among them is the book's unspoken protagonist—his grey furniture, designed and built by the artist himself.

The book unfolds over the course of a single ordinary day, divided into seven chapters, followed by a concluding essay:

• 06:00–07:00 — Waking
• 07:00–07:30 — Walking to the Studio
• 07:30–08:30 — Breakfast
• 08:30–10:30 — Everyday Tasks
• 10:30–13:00 — Working
• 13:00–14:00 — Lunch
• 14:00–19:00 — Working
• Afterword: Building Everyday Life

Weisbecker lives with his wife in an apartment overlooking the Seine. Every morning he rises at around six o'clock, walks for thirty minutes to his studio, works there throughout the day, and returns home at seven in the evening. His life follows a quiet, regular rhythm. He prepares his own breakfast and lunch each day.

Both his home and studio are furnished with simple grey stools, shelves, tables, and wall-mounted cabinets that he built himself. Asked why he paints everything grey, he modestly replies that imperfections in the paint are simply less noticeable that way. Yet the effect is far more profound. Against this calm grey background, artworks, meals, collected objects, and the routines of everyday life all appear with equal presence. The distinction between figure and ground quietly dissolves: daily life becomes art, and art becomes daily life.

It recalls the spirit of Japanese potter Kanjiro Kawai, who lived by the phrase, "Life is work; work is life." That same philosophy quietly lives on in Weisbecker's Parisian studio.

His handmade stools, he admits with a smile, are not especially comfortable. Friends have often criticised them for precisely that reason. Yet he continues to use them because they feel true to himself. During an online conversation with graphic designer Kaoru Kasai, who wrote the book's obi text, Weisbecker observed that "simple furniture leads us toward silence." Looking around his studio, it is difficult not to agree.

The photographs throughout the book were taken by Toshiaki Miyamoto, who was living in Paris at the time. Only a small selection could be included, and deciding what to leave out proved unexpectedly difficult. The accompanying text—drawn from Weisbecker's own words and beautifully translated by Natsuko Kida, who also manages his activities—is equally memorable.

One passage from the chapter "Working" remains particularly striking:

Sometimes it arrives of its own accord. Sometimes it refuses to appear, no matter how much I seek it.

I try everything to invite it.

I may find beautiful paper, use a fine ruler, choose the perfect pencil—but if nothing happens, I turn to my final method.

I bury my nose in the accumulated source of inspiration that quietly inhabits the studio.

The physical form of the book was equally important. Under the supervision of textile designer Reiko Sudo, the cover is bound in sha, the traditional open-weave fabric used for Japanese mosquito nets, backed with black tissue paper to reveal its delicate texture. The book was designed by Yoshihisa Tanaka, whose work has shaped many outstanding art books, and printed and bound by Tosho Printing Co., Ltd., publisher of the BONBOOK series.

This volume is the eighth title in the BONBOOK series, joining works by creators from across disciplines, including manga artist Fumiko Takano, poet Takashi Hiraide, and graphic designer Kazunari Hattori, who also designed the FRAGILE BOOKS logo.

The publication of this book also led to the exhibition HANDMADE, devoted to Weisbecker's handmade furniture, held in the spring of 2022 at ATELIER MUJI GINZA. The exhibition introduced visitors to the quiet world in which art, furniture, and everyday life become one.