designboom listens: jacques monneraud finds inspiration between music and silence

jacques monneraud’s creative world, in sound

For French ceramic artist Jacques Monneraud, creativity moves between moments of intensity and stillness. Best known for his Carton series, which transforms the fragile appearance of cardboard packaging into enduring ceramic vessels, he approaches making as a process of experimentation, doubt, and discovery. Music accompanies these shifts, from the restless momentum of Philip Glass’s compositions to the silence he seeks when he needs to think clearly.

In this edition of designboom listens, Monneraud shares the soundtrack of his creative universe, revealing a musical taste as varied as his approach to ceramics. Film scores, French rap, progressive rock, and contemporary pop all find a place in his playlists, alongside songs tied to childhood road trips and the decision to leave advertising behind and devote himself to pottery. Together, his selections offer a glimpse into the memories, emotions, and moments of concentration that inform his practice. Explore the sounds that shape Monneraud’s practice through his answers below, and tune in to the full playlist.

inside the playlist: from road trips to late-night listening

What song best captures your creative practice?
Jacques Monneraud (JM): That’s not an easy question! I’d say the third movement of Philip Glass’s Violin Concerto No. 1. The creative process isn’t calm and serene for me, and this piece captures quite well the alternation between the breathless rush of ideas and the tumultuous crash of doubts that come along and shake things up.

What is the very first track you play to clear the air and get inspired when starting a new project?
JM: Justin Hurwitz – Another Day of Sun. I really love Justin Hurwitz’s work on the La La Land soundtrack. I’m a big fan of film scores, and their composers share my playlists with artists like Neil Young and Billie Eilish.

Is there a song that instantly takes you back to a specific memory or place from your past?
JM: Supertramp – School. It takes me back to the hours we spent in the car as kids, driving off on holiday with my father, surfboards strapped to the roof of our Passat estate. I really like Supertramp because they knew how to work with silence.

What song is stuck in your head right now?
JM: Beyoncé – 16 Carriages. I love this album. I listen to a lot of different kinds of music. I think that, just like with pottery, it’s variety that makes things beautiful.

What is your ultimate 2 AM studio track — the one you secretly know every word to?
JM: I was going to say Demain c’est loin by IAM, but since we’re talking about guilty pleasures, I have to admit that I’m a huge fan of JUL’s freestyles — those performances outside of his albums where he really gets to rap. They’re actually fairly unknown tracks, but JUL is an excellent rapper. Rap generally has a pretty special place in my playlists. Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Ben PLG, BB Jacques, Youssoupha and Alpha Wann.

What song do you put on when you’re stuck and need a breakthrough?
JM: Absolute silence. That’s not the name of an album. I really need to be able to hear myself think at those moments.

What track is dominating your speakers this week, and is it influencing what you’re making right now?
JM: Daft Punk – Contact, and actually the whole Random Access Memories album, which I’ve been playing on repeat. It’s Daft Punk’s last album. The more I listen to it, the more I feel that you can sense they knew, while making it, that it would be their last. With that in mind, I think they really wanted to leave behind a positive message, a message of love. That touches me a lot, and I think yes, it does influence what I’m making.

What song helps you slow down and focus on the tiny, quiet details?
JM: Fyrs – Lost Seas,  Hermanos Gutiérrez – Nuevo Mundo, Pink Floyd – Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Philip Glass – Akhnaten. These pieces help me reach a particular level of concentration. I think concentration works a little bit like sleep, and that you can sink into a very deep state of focus. When you reach that state — what athletes call ‘the zone’ — your senses change. In my case, my hearing becomes muffled, as if I were underwater, truly inside a bubble where time doesn’t exist. Smell and taste disappear and make way for touch and sight, whose acuity becomes almost maximal. It’s a very pleasant feeling.

If people were wearing headphones while experiencing your latest work, what one song should be playing?
JM: Sirens, from the The Odyssey soundtrack. Ludwig Göransson is to me what Beyoncé is to a 25-year-old American. His albums are Christopher Nolan’s films — and ever since Nolan discovered him, he seems unwilling to let him go — and I look forward to each new one with great anticipation.

What is your favorite album cover art?
JM: System of a Down – Steal This Album!. I remember when I first discovered this album. I was 14. It was a time when the musical experience began with a physical encounter with the CD and its cover. In the record store I used to go to, the simplicity and sheer force of this invitation to anarchy really hit me like a slap in the face. That’s when I understood the political power of music.

What track best describes your favorite project you’ve worked on so far?
JM: Stromae – Défiler. It was playing on repeat in my headphones when I decided to leave my job and devote myself to ceramics. Stromae is one of my favorite artists.

project info: 

artist: Jacques Monneraud | @jacquesmonneraud