Co-founders of Paper Collective, Lill Bersang and Morten Kaaber, discuss the role of art in the modern workplace
The workspaces of today might contain everything you need for productivity – the height-adjustable desks, chairs with lumber support, dual monitors, super-fast, stable connections for endless video calls. But this has not stopped people in recent years from preferring the familiarity of working remotely. The modern office space might tick every functional box, but we believe more is required to support workplace well-being and productivity.
In the rush to optimise performance, the human factor is often overlooked. We need to look deeper into the inherently personal and emotional aspects that surround the experience of working within an office environment. We understand that we all need a good standing desk. But while that desk might help your posture, it has never once sparked a ‘Eureka!’ moment or helped us take a deep breath during a deadline.
In focusing on the personal and emotional aspects of the contemporary workspace, we feel that art can play a vital role in uplifting and prioritising those hard-to-quantify aspects that go into inspiring working environments. We want to help create spaces that make you excited to come to work every morning.
For us, it is not just about filling empty wall space; it is about giving your eyes a much-needed micro-break. An opportunity within the busy day-to-day to be refreshed for a short moment – to be inspired. We view a great painting or textural artwork as a silent collaborator in your workday, offering a subliminal jolt of energy and inspiration while helping to define and accentuate well-designed interior environments. Given how much time we spend in our work environments, shouldn’t we do everything we can to make them enjoyable?
One of the biggest challenges in the modern office is noise. Open-plan environments have created opportunities for networking and cross-pollination, while also increasing noise pollution in our workspaces. Traditionally, the solution involved bulky and unsightly acoustic ceiling panels that appear outdated within contemporary spaces. On the flip side, a canvas painting adds beauty and context to a space, but does not do anything to drown out a co-worker’s noisy Teams meeting.
Our new collaboration between Zilenzio and Paper Collective, for instance, finally stops the tug-of-war between beauty and practicality. The Dezibel Art collection takes high-performance sound panels and dresses them in curated artworks from Paper Collective’s expertly edited catalogue. It turns out your silent collaborator can now literally help provide the silence that contemporary, open-planned work environments deserve. We no longer have to choose between a room that works and a room that feels like home. We can finally have a workspace that’s as smart as our monitors and as inspiring as our favourite gallery.
Find out more via Zilenzio’s website here and Paper Collective’s website here.
