French artist and photographer Charles Pétillon's balloons with various sizes invaded deserted landscapes and concrete buildings in Milan. Commonly known with his balloon installations, Pétillon's sizeable balloons were made of different fabrics featuring pastel tones of smooth colours.

Commissioned by Sunbrella, a design brand on performance fabric, the installations series - named Sunbrella Connexions - were created during Milan Design Week to interpret textiles in various sizes and contexts.

Pétillon’s installation consists of ten enormous balloons, inter-connected and covered in the latest Sunbrella fabrics. To contextualize and evoke a meaningful interpretation of the fabrics, the installations were displayed and photographed in unique indoor and outdoor spaces. 

Through this interpretation, Pétillon creates connections between the reality and virtuality of the images, offering the viewer a new experience of the Sunbrella brand.

Both the installation and series of art photographs were exhibited at the Super Design Show. The projects are also introduced with a video documenting the behind-the-scenes creation of the artistic journey.

Video by Sunbrella

In previous editions, Charles Pétillon had presented balloon installations in different contexts and environments by only using white-coloured balloons in different sizes. One of his installations was introduced as Invasions in which they were dramatically used within a house, forest or an architectural dome. 

Pétillon's other installation, comprised of 100.000 balloons, was hanged from the ceiling of London's Covent Garden Market, which introduced a realistic fog and dominated the interior of the local market.

Paris-based artist Charles Pétillon began his photography career in advertising under the supervision of Jean Larivière alongside whom he experimented with techniques offered by the photographic medium, discovering a new approach to art photography.

All images © Charles Pétillon

> via Charles Pétillon & Sunbrella