Author: laviniaban

The Glass Anatomy

Glass Organs – the glass body in Toyota campaign

Glass Models, fabricated by Farlow Scientific Glassblowing for the medical industry

The British Museum crystal skull

The concept of  ‘glass anatomy’ could be regarded in many ways: a form of contemporary art pushing forward the old art of glass-blowing, a metaphor for human fragility, a tool for scientific research in different fields, from medicine to car-crash testing.

Anyhow, the theme inspires me a lot and I’m sure it deserves a closer look. Think about the legendary crystal skulls in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican culture and their replicas displayed in museums around the world. Or Aimee Mullins’ transparent prosthesis in Matthew Barney’s Cremaster 3. In the realm of fashion, too, glass meets body delivering stunning effects (see Naomi Filmer‘s jewelry or Margiela’s transparent designs).

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Stark Spring/ Summer

The S/S issue of Varon magazine adds a severe touch to the contemporary male wardrobe. Their Stark Spring editorial is absolutely charming – with stunning black & white photography, introducing powerful outfits, sharp cut details, spiced up with an outstanding hairdo.

Photographer: Mark Keansets/ Styling: Way Perry/ Set designer: Suzanne Beirne/ Hair-styling: Ben Jones/ Make-up: Lucy Bridge/ Model: Joe Brotherton /images via thefashionisto.com

 

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Absurd Geometry

Penrose Triangle, first designed by Oscar Reutersvärd (1934)

90 ° – the impossible triangle vase, designed by Cuatro Cuatros

It’s nice when an impossible object starts to be not just possible, but also useful. The Cuatro Cuatros’ triangle vase would be such a case, because the paradox is their speciality. The “impossible vase”, like most of Cuatro Cuatros’ projects, deals with optical illusion.

The interposition, orientation and perspective create a contradiction of the space that makes us perceive something that is not. It comes from the Penrose experience. 90 ° is a vase that, based on a drawing, has been converted to a geometrical shape with volume. Depending on the point of view, both ends coincide and make it look like a closed figure.

And we have to admit, that’s a smart design piece.

Cuatro Cuatros is a design studio formed in mid-2010 by four industrial designers from Valencia, Spain: Cristina Ródenas Lechiguero, Adrián Martínez Almonacid, Marina Francés and Isabel Cortina (currently is composed by Adrián and Cristina).
Their designs reshape our everyday objects, without being striking. Imbued with mathematical hints, Cuatro Cuatros love to revisit maths’ basic symbols and concepts, to play with the angles (the 180° project, 90° project, 30° and so on), delivering simple solution suited for contemporary lifestyle.

 

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Out of Africa

A New Direction comes from Africa (the set design) landing in Modern Weekly China (the magazine). Photographer: Brett Lloyd, Photography assistance: Peter Fingleton/ Styling: Niklas Bildstein Zaar, styling assistance: Margaux Sirejacob, Agatha Kowalewski, Sarah Schofield/ Model: Sylvester Ulv (FM)/ images via thefashionisto.com.

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Doll Matches

Kokeshi Matches by Hiromi Hirasaka

If you’re not familiar with the terminology, kokeshi referes to a genre of  Japanese traditional dolls. The dolls are handmade from wood, have a simple trunk and a painted face. These dolls have no arms or legs (similar to the Russian dolls), the cilindrical body is adorned with various decorative motifs and the bottom is marked with the signature of the artist. This way, the main focus turns to the head and the expression of the face.

The Osaka-based artist Hiromi Hirasaka borrows the kokeshi concept to design something mundane and unexpected – matches. From matchsticks to matchbox design, we can notice a great attention for detail and of course, a note of humour.

That’s one of those emotional objects that is impossible to ignore and, to be sincere, you don’t really want to light them up.

images source: thedieline.com

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