IF WALLS COULD HEAR 2020 / 2021

In the 2020/2021 collection If the walls could hear, designer Christophe de la Fontaine and artist Aylin Langreuter contemplated on what happens to the furniture once it leaves the design studio and showroom behind, becoming a part of life of its new owners. The new catalog made in collaboration with writer Lea Schmidbauer echos the form of a screenplay and features fragments of life: A view of the relationship between people as protagonists and their intimate spaces as supporting roles.

Art direction and layout by Aylin Langreuter, words by Lea Schmidbauer, photos by Benedikt Kartenberg

DANTE - Goods and Bads Falstaff armchair by Stefan Diez

1 scene 1

INT. LOU’S ROOM – MID-AFTERNOON 1

LOU (12) sits in a CHAIR by the window. A light breeze lifts the curtain. She has one leg pulled in, chin resting contemplatively in the palm of her hand. She does not see us.

LOU (V.O.)

I am Akabe, Princess of the Elements. I possess the gem- stone scepter, the one with the color changing emerald. I can tame fire and when I do, my eyes turn purple and shoot flashes of red hot lightning.

From a distance, someone calls out.

MOTHER (O.S.)

Lou? Do you want some scram- bled eggs, too?

Lou does not move.

2 scene 2

INT. BEDROOM – MORNING 2

An unmade bed without a bedhead and one small pillow. On the BEDSIDE TABLE, a tipped over bottle, some bright orange tablets spilling out.

A muffled voice, coming from the bathroom.

DANIEL (O.S) (feverish whispering)

There is a dog outside! A rabid dog. He is very hungry. Can you hear it?

The unnerving sound of fingernails scratching over tiles.

DANIEL (CONT’D) (panting)

Get away from me, you mutt! Off! OFF!

A blood-curdling scream. Retching. A toilet flushes. Silence.

3 scene 3

INT. MR. GARIBALDI’S STORE – Sunrise 3

The Martian sunset’s bright light pierces the drawn blinds of the little shops front window in which a slick red BAR CART is on display. JOSHUA (45), who has just closed the blinds, is wearing a pair of mirrored Aviator sunglasses and now stands motionless and looks outside at the red planet‘s dusty dawn.

JOSHUA
I am so tired.

MARLENE (O.S.) Come, then. Let’s go home.

Slowly, a sad smile creeps on his face.

JOSHUA
I so wish we could.

CUT TO BLACK

4 scene 4

EXT. LOBBY – EVENING 4 POV Arnold:

The elevator doors open, and Arnold steps out into the lobby. A young COUPLE is sitting astride of one of the BENCHES that line the lobby’s glass wall. Their half empty drinks are on the floor and they are kissing wetly, oblivious to the bustling that surrounds them. But as we pass them, the GIRL suddenly turns her head and looks STRAIGHT AT THE CAMERA.

Arnold stops dead in his tracks.

ARNOLD (O.S.) (shocked)

Karen?

5 scene 5

INT. POOL HOUSE – NOON 5

It is eerily quiet inside the pool house. We hear only the soft gurgling noise of the water lapping into the filter and the faint hum of the filter’s motor. A silk kimono with
floral print has been thrown carelessly over a PARAVENT.

Suddenly, there a footsteps approaching fast on the gravel outside. A voice is calling loudly.

PAULA (O.S.)
Madame? Madame? Ou êtes vous?

A fist bangs on the glass.

PAULA (CONT’D) (panicking)

MADAME?

With a loud, hungry gasp for air CLAIRE (57) emerges from the water.

6 scene 6

INT. COFFEE-SHOP – BEFORE SUNSET 7

Slowly, Sterling (65) walks to the back of the coffee-shop. He knows what he will find before he sees it, but it hurts all the same. It is too late. An empty coffee cup on the marble TABLE is all that is left of him. He is gone.

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