Oct
03
“I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences
And gaze at the moon till I lose my senses
And I can’t look at hobbles and I can’t stand fences
Don’t fence me in
Poppa, don’t you fence me in”
Looking at the soft and tender, yet strong and powerful fence from the Dutch design house “Demakersvan“ this Bing Crosby song almost immediately popped in my head. This fence looks so wonderful but make no mistake it’s still a fence, meant to lock you up, like a jealous lover.
Still it is great to see how something which was meant purely functional can also be beautiful. Rejecting the throwaway nature and sameness in modern production, trying to retrieve that uniqueness that once existed among our things. At the same time, also try to balance the practice with possible industrial manufacture, so as to make the products available to the public.
Website: www.demakersvan.com
Apr
22
It has been really nice weather for quite a while now but make no mistake; I live in a country where it actually rains a lot. Like most people here I hate rain! It seems some Dutch designers got inspired by that sentiment.
First Gerwin Hoogendoorn came up with the SENZ, a truly revolutionary umbrella. Now, Frederik Molenschot & Susanne Happle introduced their Solid Poetry tiles in Milan, the design only shows itself when it rains. Then, the water exposes leaves and flowers in the material of the tile, changing the environment in a surprising way and leaving a wonderful pavement that literally grows under your feet.
Let it rain!
Website: www.frederikmolenschot.nl
Apr
19
Sometimes I forget about an artist for a while. So when I rediscovered the Namaiki book in my libary I googeled them to see what they’re up to these days.
What a pleasant surprise!
Namaiki which means naughty or rebel in Japanese is actually graphic designer David Duval Smith and architect Michael Frank. They’ve been doing insanely colourful objects and installations, mad graphics and psychedelic videos since the mid-’90s.
And now they added another level to their fun and light-hearted installations by switching literally to more natural grounds.
Want to know more about their inspiring thoughts as to why ending up working with living things is just the most interesting thing to do…, here is a great interview with the Namaiki Designers published in PingMag.
Website: namaiki.com