French artist Benjamin Loyaute is showcasing his latest project in London, as part of an international design festival.
The artist uses the power of sweets and candies and the nostalgia they hold, to unite people around the world.
And in this exhibition he uses interactive art to get his message across, as our UK Correspondent Natalie Powell reports…
IN: Turning confectionary
OUT: SOC
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SCRIPT
Turning confectionary into Art.
We find French designer Benjamin Loyaute at the London 2016 Design Biennale - a festival of design, displaying the works of artists from 37 countries around the world.
Loyaute's exhibition is all about interaction
BENJAMIN LOYAUTE, ARTIST
"In this room you see first of all the premier of the film that I did in the Bekka Valley and I spent months there living amongst Syrian families, refugees and talk about their memories…"
But the main attraction is a florescent lit vending machine, dispensing sweets, or candies as the artist calls them, that Loyaute has designed
BENJAMIN LOYAUTE, ARTIST
"A sweet is design, I'm not focused on chairs, …
You know this vending machine, I invite people to take part in this project in a performance, it's like a performance. Her you have 5000 sachets of candies it's kind of sculpture but a used sculpture, you can use it you can keep it but if you want to buy it you can."
The sweets inside the vending machine are similar to pink Syrian sweets called Louloupti.
And the idea of this exhibition is to raise awareness of what many Syrians have lost.
Through the film the French artist has made, we hear stories of Syrian refugees and their memories of their favourite sweets - a universal object that most people can relate to.
Loyaute says sweets have the power to provoke memories which transport us back in time, and that's why he has chosen them for his project.
BENJAMIN LOYAUTE, ARTIST
"The candies you can see in the souk of Hamid, Damascus, Aleppo, but also in Italy, in Great Britain, in France, so we have all memories and are connected through our every day objects and the candy is one of them."
And the sweets in the vending machine itself can be bought, with all of the proceeds going to charity helping to educate refugees and displaced children.
BENJAMIN LOYAUTE, ARTIST
"All the proceeds here in this performance go directly, it's not 10% and I don't want to brand for it
inside this vending machine you can find happiness, the capacity to give a little smile and to do your bit it's very tangible, this machine is linked to a charity account number."
Through this work the artist wants to promote how design can be used for good causes and also how it can link people from all different background.
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