david restorick interiors

Clemence Sellies

2012-02-13T02:04:00.000-08:00

An huge amount of work to look through from Clemence Sellies. It may all be a little bit much for a monday morning, as a lot is highly conceptual and not straight foward. But if so, just scroll through the (very nice) image collection here.

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

2012-02-12T09:37:00.000-08:00

I cannot recommend Cave of Forgotten Dreams highly enough. Werner Herzog films can sometimes be difficult (to say the least), but this is special. It focuses on the Chauvet caves where there are perfectly preserved paintings from around 30,000 years ago. Interest here on many epic levels; a window into ancient mans' existence in a rich and unruly land, geological wonderment, but also just sheer appreciation of the talent of these artists. Awesome. (Lovefilm link here)

SamiKallio Studio

2012-02-11T02:36:00.000-08:00

Different is not always good, but SamiKallio's different is. Its hard to explain, but the detailing on all the work is just not what you would expect it to be like. Surprising, intricate, beautiful, and what a great philosophy too....
..."We have the ambition to manufacture furniture with a guaranteed emotional and technical durability of 300 years."

Splinterbike

2012-02-11T02:23:00.000-08:00

'SplinterBike' - documentary taster from TopBox Media on Vimeo.

Bit if a fun post for a Saturday morning. I was wondering how the Splinterbike project was coming along, and sure enough, they have done it. The aim was to build a 100% wooden bicycle, absolutely no metal components. All right, its not that pretty, fast, comfortable or serious, but fair play, I am sure it was not easy. (And its raising money for the amazing charity, Shelterbox).

Kinetica Art Fair

2012-02-09T11:59:00.000-08:00

The Kinetica Art Fair is simply not long on for long enough. It opens today and closes on the weekend, so don't ponder. Get down there to see some brilliant weirdness, like Alexander Bercherts' Hoover tubes.

stitching concrete

2012-02-08T07:28:00.000-08:00

Considreing the cement industry is the second largest CO2 emitting industry behind power generation, I am not sure whether I should be championing something else made of concrete...but....Concrete canvas is just incredible.
It's a fabric impregnated with cement which can be stretched and manipulated to make the required form. Once sprayed with water, it activates the cement which sets hard in 12 hours. The possibilites are massive, from emergency shelters and landscape control to (the probable reason it was developed) war zone environments.
Anyway, enough of the bad side, Florian Schmids' stitching concrete stools are wonderful things.
That colourful naive stitching seemingly holding the loose fabric together. It could almost be felt, something by Joseph Bueys, (I think he would have loved using this stuff). But its rock hard, how does it feel to sit on one of these? what colour does it go in rain? (it's concrete, it's fine outside), how heavy are they? Very interesting and thought provoking objects.

2012-02-07T00:59:00.000-08:00

A1 Architects

Working with Lucian

2012-02-06T04:47:00.000-08:00

A lovely and gentle insight into the world of Freud (here), including this wonderful image of Hockney and the artist.

The Guardian

2012-02-05T03:12:00.000-08:00

Nice little mention in yesterdays Guardian magazine, (and online here), for my 'CutCorner' coffee table.

Patrick Stevenson Keating

2012-02-02T14:05:00.000-08:00

Have not had a chance to fully look into Keatings work, I think it is going to take me some time to figure out the quasi physics vs lo fi experimental object investigations.... but i like it.

2012-02-02T10:48:00.000-08:00

Just for the record, there is obviously nothing wrong with having a job in an office, (a lot of us maker types have an insane fear of it, thats all.)

2012-02-02T01:55:00.000-08:00

Seem to find myself thinking about my old burner in the last workshop a lot at the moment.
Respect to everyone beavering away in frigid workshops. Get those long johns on, the thermos filled, and banish those yearly thoughts of getting a job in an office.

SCP

2012-02-01T01:16:00.000-08:00

Last few days of the SCP winter sale. A few decent buys to be had here, with end of line and ex demo stuff. Matthew Hilton's Compass table is one.

Kynance Cove

2012-02-01T01:06:00.000-08:00

Came across this strange looking creature down at Kynance Cove over the weekend. Starting from the bottom it is really nice detailed oak bench, using curves, pegged through tenons and wany edge planks. But as it rises the back turns into a panelled affair and then at the top, all the boards have been left at (sort of) ramdon height. Just plain odd.

Arno Mathies

2012-01-31T02:30:00.000-08:00

Getting the high praise and coverage it fully deserves is the awesome foldboat project, by Arno Mathies with Max Frommeld. But Mathies goes further and deeper for me with his own work. His cardboard Gruff series is a wonder; ideologically, in construction and aesthetically. In his (new work?) Mathies is "Interested in the boundaries of the fake and the real, Render furniture is project made using the qualities and realities brought from rendering programes. The project focuses on trying to recreate the material and texture properties created from the renders into furniture. Everything is fake except for the table tops thus challenging the boundaries between the real and the fake".
This is obviously a comment on the state of mass produced (fake wood) laminate furniture to some extent. But really it's asking why a fake wood table has to look like a real wood table when it does not require the same constructional methods. It's like fake bacon rashers made for vegetarians. Why???
If you are going to fake something, make something completely new, different and much more exciting.
There is a groundswell with this type of creative thought, attention to pattern, investigation into more abstract form coming out of the RCA at the moment, (and that is a good thing).

Derelict

2012-01-30T03:59:00.000-08:00

Interesting looking characters from Derelict (no website). Strange personalities coming through, very wholesome and welcoming, but also slightly awkward looking. Would definitely like to see more.

Series 2

2012-01-18T01:59:00.000-08:00

Another Country are now onto their second collection. Not quite the same consistency with the new range, but I think the long tables and benches are very successful, and worth a look.

Edward Zucca

2012-01-17T01:32:00.000-08:00

Astonishing group of objects from Zucca, with his 'Mystery Lamp' series.

Some recent pics

2012-01-17T01:22:00.000-08:00

Painting again

2012-01-15T11:11:00.001-08:00

It has been years since I have picked up a paintbrush in creative anger. I forgot the utter pleasure it allows; no sizing issues, no colours to match, no schedule. Just wonderful cerebral liberty.

2012-01-12T02:21:00.000-08:00

"A table may need four legs to function, but no one can tell me the four legs have to look the same." Ettore Sottsass

Cloud of Hammers

2012-01-12T01:44:00.000-08:00

This is from a 2009 show (although i had not seen it before) by Greg cox. Investigations into deconstruction and renewal. (Great title for a show too.)

Inane Systems

2012-01-03T04:41:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to you all!
Lets start 2012 as we mean to go on, with Inane Systems (aka Ryan Dunn). Dunn plays with ideas of contact, alteration and disassembly, through many different mediums.
Top image is Nickel Fabric, a conceptual fabric design created through a process of electrolysis, produced as part of an investigation into mark making using electric currents.

Martin Boyce

2011-12-06T01:32:00.000-08:00

A highly deserving winner of the Turner Prize this year, in Martin Boyce.
'the things that we pass through every day and occasionally catch a glimpse of, and maybe see something that has a meaningful resonance .......I guess the work is to amplify those moments....
It's a collapse of architecture and nature'.

2011-11-24T01:12:00.000-08:00

2011-11-23T08:15:00.000-08:00

The Boathouse

2011-11-22T10:07:00.000-08:00

First (dodgy phone) photo of my latest project. More soon.

Sasaworks

2011-11-08T02:04:00.000-08:00

Very Good things, coupled with very good vibes, coming from sasaworks. This is the architecture and furniture equivalent of the slow food movement. Emotional understanding, respect for materials, education, and a super nice aesthetic to boot.

todosomething

2011-10-18T23:40:00.000-07:00

Very interesting new piece from todosomething via Specific Merchandise. Just think that the balance of materials is very nicely judged, with the concrete being treated as the cushion, and also the flash of colour with the painted board ends.

Pylon Design Winner

2011-10-14T02:16:00.000-07:00

I guess this is what happens when you have an MP, the Energy secretary, Chris Hunhe on the judging panel of what should be a creative competition. The winning design for the recent brief is just plain dull, and its certainly not going to look any better in twenty years time. I am not saying my initial sketch is better in any way, (i did not even enter), but I think the idea of creating a hybrid pylon is much more future thinking. The middle of the pylon is a wind turbine, feeding directly back into the thing it is supporting, the grid. In built up or conservation areas, just leave out the turbine.
At least there is one saving grace with this competition, there was no obligation to use or develop the winning design, and they are looking at others.

Edward Taylor

2011-10-13T00:26:00.000-07:00

Edward Taylor's Helios light ... "a task lamp composed entirely of high strength magnets, totally customisable, capable of being assembled or dismantled with ease. Aluminum, Steel, Walnut, Rubber."

La Bolleur

2011-10-10T02:52:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have taken my previous advice to keep tabs on La bolleur, and are in the know already, apologies. I love them, and can put their success down to the most basic, overiding desire to only make, organise and get involved with projects that they Really want too. The obvious enjoyment of the work imbues the finished projects with wonderful mellow energy.

Pierre Ospina

2011-10-07T00:44:00.000-07:00

2011-10-05T23:44:00.001-07:00

Bert Jansch 1943 - 2011

2011-10-05T23:41:00.000-07:00

Very, very sad news Yesterday, with the death of Bert Jansch. I think (hope) 6 Music will be paying homage to the great man today, so should be worth tuning in.

2011-10-05T01:09:00.000-07:00

Arik Levy

2011-10-04T00:07:00.000-07:00

Objects of the highest quality and interest from the brilliant Arik Levy across the London Design Festival.

2012

2011-09-30T05:33:00.000-07:00

Nice little slideshow highlighting the good and bad architecture in the 2012 Olympic Park.

In search of lost time

2011-09-29T02:24:00.000-07:00

Apparently this was doing the rounds a couple of years ago, I missed it and do not particularly like the interior. But...It is just very interesting to imagine how the clock faces affect the feel of the space. On one hand it must be like living a theatre set for some superhero story, but it also must be strangely quiet and eerie to look at the same time over and over. Can your hear the ghost of the inner workings, the once incessant noise. And also what about the emotion from outside? nobody is looking at the building anymore, its kind of lost its purpose, it is sad. Very emotionally complicated.

Studio Pepe Heykoop

2011-09-28T02:21:00.000-07:00

A lot of stuff on Studio Pepe Heykoop site, and hugely varied too. The leather lampshades shown are the most accessible of the work, drawing on metal industrial shades as inspiration, but hand sewn in leather with help from the Tiny Miracles Foundation. More experimental and selfish work includes a soft oak chair, some (Martino) Gramperesque arrangements and the XXL lampshade.

The coolest place on Earth?

2011-09-27T06:28:00.000-07:00

Silencio is about to open it's doors in Paris. It is devised and designed by David Lynch, inspired by one of his films 'Mullholland Drive', and will feature live stages, an art library, lounges, bars and a cinema. Apparently, this place is amazing, The curved walls are lined with wooden blocks covered in gold leaf and Lynch has even designed a new, ergonomic cinema seat to refine the experience. Over the top? of course, but totally valid and intriguing none the less.

Les Pas Perdus

2011-09-27T01:06:00.000-07:00

This is the sort of project that I find truly humbling to see. Les Pas Perdus have turned an old mining village into a morphing surreal installation of goodness, culminating in an 8 metre high sweeping staircase constructed from used pallets. Oh Yes.

Jasper Morrison

2011-09-26T03:02:00.000-07:00

I will be rounding up some bits from The London Design Festival over the next week or so. Starting with the brilliantly simple show at The Jasper Morrison Shop, 300 Years of Drinking Glasses. Promoting historical, contextual debate through seemingly the most basic of objects.

Marquetry Postcard

2011-09-26T02:46:00.000-07:00

Hey Tim, thank you very much for the wooden postcard. Absolutely amazing. Thought you might find this musical bin of some interest too (Tim & I have dabbled in making musical furniture before).
Hope all is going super well and good in Japan. X

2011-09-23T01:11:00.000-07:00

"...a most boisterous originality of mind, and this in an age of slavish imitation and apishness."

Subarquitectura

2011-08-24T01:47:00.000-07:00

Suarquitectura's running track in Elda Spain brilliantly adds another mound like section of track as both a roof to cover the changing rooms and also to provide seating for viewers. I really like this, there is initially an element of fun, (with almost childhood scaletrix ideas,) but the more I look the more I appreciate it's subtlety. It's important to note how good this looks from the outside too. Provincial athletic tracks are normally dead flat and very boring , with everyone standing at the same level. But this has a very individual personality, and I would imagine a certain magnetism because of that.

2011-08-23T00:06:00.000-07:00

Busy Busy

2011-08-22T05:55:00.000-07:00

As you all know, crazy busy at the moment so it's a drip feed blog. I have NOT given it up, so keep checking, and expect much more in a few weeks. In the mean time: a cute concrete lamp and giant watch print T-shirts.
Both sound very wrong, but look very good.

Heribert C. Ottersbach

2011-08-12T02:55:00.000-07:00

Ottersbach really does it for me, combining many of my interests - urban landscape, monochrome, division of a rectangle, modernity and process - all at Ben Brown Fine Arts.
"If painting still wants to be taken seriously within the overall social discourse, and not be dismissed as office, insurance, or bank building-compatible service, it must establish its canon anew. Less is no longer more."

2011-08-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

Phew. I am broken. Working crazily trying to get this project done over the last week or so. Nearly there and will post some decent pics soon.

Design for Download

2011-07-27T00:44:00.000-07:00

Little Interview here with the Rietveld obsessed (not a bad thing) Minale-Maeda, talking about their new project with Droog. Really not sure what to make of this yet, having free plans for people to copy is absolutely nothing new. Low Tech: fast furniture for next to nothing is 30 years old, and woodworking magazines have included plans for ever, so, the only real difference is the 'printable brackets' used to construct the pieces. Are these purely conceptual? or are they real ? If so, how is something made out of paper going to give any sort of structure to a cupboard?
Might have to mull this one over, and waffle on a bit more about it later.

New Craftsman Gallery

2011-07-26T22:46:00.000-07:00

Detail shot of the window display for a recent refurb of the New Craftsman Gallery. More photos on the website soon.

Some New Pieces

2011-07-24T06:07:00.000-07:00

Lucian Freud. 1922 -2011

2011-07-22T01:03:00.000-07:00

Tim Thornton

2011-07-22T00:56:00.000-07:00

Lovely to speak to you yesterday Tim, really liking your Tumblr too. X

Klauser & Carpenter

2011-07-20T11:29:00.000-07:00

New(ish) epic marble table from Klauser & Carpenter. There is a lot going on here, a mix a craft and technology, a nod to Saarinen and a wink at British abstraction.
(Hope you are both well and good).

Kenneth Grange

2011-07-20T01:23:00.000-07:00

Kenneth Grange - Making Britain Modern, opens at the Design Museum today. In some way Grange has a real problem as he has designed many iconic products and objects that are disliked, hated even. Parking meters do not conjure the nicest thoughts, an Intercity 125 invokes stressful commutes, London Taxi's are never around when you need one (and extortionate when they are), and I got bored with shaving and opted for the hairy look years ago.
But, and its a big BUT, everyone of these objects are part of our memory, our subconscious, they are supposed to look like they do. The new London Taxi is what a London Taxi looks like, the old ones look wrong now. The Japanese Bullet Train is like a pumped up version of the 125 and looks stunning, and I for one would rather have the old parking meters back, they are more human than parking attendents, they make noise, they have moving parts, they are what a parking meter should still be.
In some way Grange is riduculously simple, he is a very clear thinker with no frills or embellishment, but the designs are highly intelligent. 'Making Brtitain Modern' is an apt title for the exhibition, but the most amazing thing about Grange is how he has affected the way we view the see and perceive, he is inside our brains, his work is part of the landscape.

Tom Jarvis

2011-07-19T05:36:00.000-07:00

Product design today is very much about updated versions of existing objects, rather than something completely new. Dyson's Air Multiplier uses a revolutionary design, but it still only blows air at you, it is still a fan. And when the 'ground-breaking' I-phone 5 is launched soon, it will probably be pretty much the same as the last version, even though everyone will still want one. Tom Jarvis bucks this, with his unique and niche 'Tools to Service an Orchestra' which are designed specifically to allow brass section musicians to dismantle various parts of their instruments, for cleaning and maintenance. Not only are some musicians going to have an hallelujah moment, but these beautiful objects are going to intrigue everyone else, adding something truly new and fascinating to the (product) world.

Fluoride Chair

2011-07-18T01:45:00.000-07:00

by Misha Kahn

Arris

2011-07-14T03:23:00.000-07:00

Not a great deal on the Arris site, but what there is, is good. Standout piece is the OSB Slatboard 'Cooke Drawer Cabinet'. (Not sure, but might be of interest for you Neil )

2011-07-13T01:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I have lost all the info on where i found this, and I am not exactly sure why I like it. I think it's the formal composition of the photo, kind of reminds me of a family portrait, where everyone is all smartly lined up. Except that when you get the photo developed, you realise your drunken, maverick uncle has managed to squeeze in between Granny and Grandad without anyone noticing.

Glass Hill

2011-07-11T23:56:00.000-07:00

Only a year and a half after its conception, Glass Hill's folio reaches far and wide but what really interests me is the connection with materials and construction. In a computer designed, flat pack furniture age, the link between thee initial concept and the finished piece (between the Brain, Hand and Tools if you like) is broken. But, the only literature on the website connected to Glass Hill's Philips de Pury chair reads,
"Chair,
Edition of 25

Southern Yellow Pine variously planed, dimensioned and machined.

450mm front seat height pitched at 3degrees to rear along 290mm deep seat. Back rest opens at 102.5 degrees from seat plane rising to 760mm above floor height and dropping 290mm towards seat back. Overall depth of seat area from back rest plane is 360mm. Seat is mounted to double rails set at an angle 6 degrees from seat edge with 8 no. 4x40mm screws. Both rails are EX45x60mm with a machined top angle of 4 degrees in opposing lateral planes. All legs and support for back rest are morticed into this rail. Front leg mounts perpendicular to rail and seat, back leg at 24 degrees from seat angle and back rest mount at 12.5 degrees on opposing (top) surface. The sides of the chair are parallel."

Concrete Stitches

2011-07-11T01:50:00.000-07:00

The Concrete Stitches series from James Plumb. The voids left by broken and missing pieces of furniture are filled and replaced with concrete blocks. It's a strange and somewhat complicated aesthetic, but (as with all their stuff), works very well.

Judd

2011-07-07T13:43:00.000-07:00

A couple of shots of Donald Judd's Marfa complex here. Amazing outside table and bench combination, (cheers for the heads up on this one Emma. X)

Rubbish Goes Here

2011-07-07T01:18:00.000-07:00

Interesting photo's from Rubbish Goes Here . A few steps on from the World of Interiors style 'faded grandeur' photo shoots, RGH concentrates on what is left behind, the remnants, the discarded.
"If there is a constant theme in my work, it is the effort to document places in transition. I’ve always been interested in Chicago’s architectural and industrial history. Unfortunately much of that history is being erased with bulldozers in the name of Urban Renewal or Gentrifications. Photography has been a way for me to document that change. For years, that meant shooting abandoned and soon to be demolished buildings around Chicagoland—schools, factories, and hospitals. It amazed me that these places, often of architectural or historical significance, were left to rot."

Mark Matcham

2011-07-06T08:23:00.000-07:00

Good sunny morning fun with more oversized stuff, this time from fresh Brighton graduate Mark Matcham, and his 6m deck chair.

Cy Twombly

2011-07-06T02:14:00.000-07:00

Very sad news today, the death of Cy Twombly aged 83 in (his adopted home) Rome. Twombly was an artsists artist, his ability to convey such emotion, using seemingly so little, was simply astonishing. Long may his work be celebrated.

Jimmy Fiction

2011-07-05T07:31:00.000-07:00

Jimmy Fiction is now up and running, making 'monumental typography' to order. Don't know exactly why this grabs me so much, it's not like I would want to actually spell a word, but there is something seriously appealing about having some of his giant letters to dot around,stand on end, hang on the wall, move inside, sit on, etc, etc.

Stephan Schulz

2011-06-29T13:37:00.000-07:00

Stephan Schulz
"The ‘Comfy Cargo Chair’ originated from the idea to create a piece of furniture which does not predetermine the surface for the user. The object is not finished, but rather requires creative collaboration by the owner."

Utopia London

2011-06-28T02:30:00.000-07:00

I cannot vouch for this as I have not seen it yet, but Utopia London looks like a must for London's Modernist Architecture lovers.

"......a documentary film by young director Tom Cordell, explores London's recent architectural history through the eyes of those who helped create it and those whose lives were shaped by it. Focusing on the London Cordell knew as a child, the film shows how architects such as Berthold Lubetkin, Neave Brown, Kate Macintosh and John Bancroft were working together in a spirit of optimism to revolutionise life in the city in the wake of the destruction wrought by World War Two war and the poor living conditions inherited from the Industrial Revolution.
The story goes on to explore how the meaning of these transformative buildings has been radically manipulated over subsequent decades, and, in comparing the attitudes of architects and planners then and now, poses the question; where do we go from here?"

Sarah Braman

2011-06-27T02:30:00.000-07:00

Sarah Braman produces fantastic(al) hybrid objects using discarded furniture and building materials. Braman is represented by Museum 52 in NYC, (the London Gallery on Redchurch Street has now closed) and I like the feel of most of their stuff. I would not say there is a 'house style' in any way, but there is a consistent interest in materials and construction, a realness if you like, that comes through.

Skinflint

2011-06-24T00:22:00.000-07:00

Brilliantly sourced and refurbished industrial lighting by Skinflint. From Eastern block factories to Cornish warehouses, there are no bright colours here, but the inherent history (and beauty in my book) allow these relics to stand alone and proud. There is a lot of nice stuff on the site and I recommend you have a good look.

Convoy

2011-06-23T01:50:00.000-07:00

The blogger image uploader is on the blink at the moment, so in the mean time, why not go to this tumblr site for some good design and style eye candy.

Space to Take Place

2011-06-22T01:03:00.000-07:00

Simply awesome photo (click on it for larger version) of the Space to Take Place project in Amsterdam.
The 100m long bench looks to me like the internal steel framework of an unfinished sea defence wall, turned upside down.

Noam Rappaport

2011-06-22T00:54:00.000-07:00

James Beckett

2011-06-20T13:28:00.000-07:00

A big stack of timber is always going to turn a makers head, what is it? where is it form? what is going to become? Do you have any spare? James Beckett subverts the traditional, presenting the pure timber as a finished peice in its own right. Very subtle composition, interesting weight and balance and a real affinity with the material is shown.

Serpentine Gallery

2011-06-20T02:46:00.000-07:00

Only a few days to wait to see Peter Zumthor's summer pavilion at the Serpentine Gallery. I really like Zumthor and I really like the Summer Pavilion concept, so expectations are high.

"The hortus conclusus that I dream of is enclosed all around and open to the sky. Every time I imagine a garden in an architectural setting, it turns into a magical place. I think of gardens that I have seen, that I believe I have seen, that I long to see, surrounded by simple walls, columns, arcades or the façades of buildings – sheltered places of great intimacy where I want to stay for a long time."

And there is another aspect to this years structure, the collaboration with the planting designer, Piet Oudolf. Oudolf is involved in the awesome High Line project in New york where elevated sections of old freight train tracks are turned into special green spaces.
You can see what all the fuss is about from the 1st July.

Front design

2011-06-15T01:18:00.000-07:00

Front Design's 'Inlay' is around a lot at the moment, tying in with the trend towards pattern and texture starting to grow. The series is like an accessible, pure furniture version of Bethan Wood's creations. Bethan Wood is far more abstract and challenging (and more interesting for me), but Front Design have made two brilliant, coherent peices, (and gladly opted not to simplify the design to ease the construction process.)

Outward facing

2011-06-14T05:41:00.000-07:00

In a time when lots of people want all working parts to be as visually non existent as possible, its nice to see somebody celebrating function. Refining these running gear components into something which is very aesthetically pleasing (and very honest).

Table & Bench

2011-05-24T00:53:00.000-07:00

Better photos coming up soon but worth a quick nose now. A recently made and installed (huge) table and bench for an outside dining area. 50mm mild steel box section, zinc then powder coated, with Ipe tops.

Structures

2011-05-24T00:46:00.000-07:00

bao-nghi droste

2011-05-19T00:11:00.000-07:00

I am making a metal framed table and bench for somebody at the moment and outside furniture is always the focus at this time of year. (Although The Zorro range by bao-nghi droste is not specifically designed for outdoor use) I really like delicate look, gained by the use of one consistent material throughout.

Salthouse

2011-05-18T00:14:00.000-07:00

Not normally our normal style but Emma & I decided to go upmarket for a change with our recent little honeymoon at the Salthouse. Very nice too.

Back in The Game

2011-05-12T01:06:00.000-07:00

Right, it's been a while but I am back. It might take some time to get up to speed, but lets start off with a cool little private view happening tonight. Keeler & Tornero present GhostJumps & Wormholes at The Book Club form 6pm.

2011-03-15T01:02:00.000-07:00

Some serious neglect going on with the blog at the moment but i am getting married in two weeks so hopefully I can be excused. Anyway those of you who regularly follow will well know my penchant for low-tech lighting and here we go again. No info on the first image, just a picture find on tumblr with no details (any ideas anyone?). The second is 'Edward,' part of a weird and interesting little family by nachach t. Some good industrial type detailing on some of their furniture too.

Bertelli and Brackney

2011-03-07T06:11:00.000-08:00

It is virtually impossible to have lived in East London and not been into bikes in some way. I have so I am, and find these bespoke wooden handlebars by Adam Brackney for Bertelli Biciclette Assemblate ridiculously cool.

Same Same Different

2011-03-02T23:39:00.000-08:00

Richard Shed's 'Mr Moon Shelf', one of mine, and BuiltIN Studios's 'Oblique Shelf'. Shed offers the scenario of a shelf being thrown at a wall by Keith Moon with one end getting lodged in.

I also had ideas of damage and experience in my head but in a different way, about personality, and how something pristine can lack emotion. By taking corners off I was trying to suggest experience and alteration. We all have knocks and scrapes, be it physically or mentally, and that is what makes us so interesting.

BuiltIN Studio go more sculptural with their idea, having just one horizontal surface, no true verticals and an angled face plane to boot.

2011-02-24T23:55:00.000-08:00

Rocket

2011-02-24T23:04:00.000-08:00

More sale stuff, this time Mid Century Modern furniture at the Rocket Gallery from today until Sunday.

Rutlands

2011-02-24T01:02:00.000-08:00

Geek alert! Rutlands have 10% off everything and free delivery. I went in on a set of Japanese saws - hideously cheap at £45 (yes, for all three).

2011-02-23T00:17:00.001-08:00

Note Design Studio

2011-02-21T01:02:00.000-08:00

Still manic with numerous different projects on the go at the moment, so the skeleton posts are going to continue for a while. Can't fully vouch for this as i have not had a chance to look through, but thought Note Design Studio looked like fun for a monday morning. NDS have also just featured in Stockholm design week.

Clayworks

2011-02-18T01:51:00.000-08:00

I have a keen interest in plaster finishes, a few years ago I spent a 18 months or so learning the basics (it takes years) of traditional Italian finishes, form Rustico to Stucco. I found it fairly complicated and intricate, sometimes with many different elements to make a certain decorative effect. Clayworks omit the ground marble dust and other fancy ingredients, using a simpler recipe with clay to make natural, low impact finishes for buildings. It's nothing new, rather just going back to the way things used to be done but I like the look and style, and Clayworks seem to totally believe in what the do.

Cosmic Communist Constructions

2011-02-17T04:33:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed I am crazy busy at the moment, hence the lack posts. But luckily Steve sent me the link for a mad and brilliant looking new book about Communist structures and Emma follwed up with this cool photo of a futurist looking poster from in the East end. Cheers dudes.

Scholten & Baijings

2011-02-09T23:58:00.000-08:00

Another example of finesse and freedom in approach to design, this time by Scholten & Baijings.
Paper porcelain table "..combines subtlety with elegance. The folded cardboard models for the crockery are translated into light grey, unglazed porcelain cups and plates, playing with the suggestion of cardboard delicately. "
On the flip side, they have also just completed the theatrical 'Amsterdam Amoire' for Established & Sons which has a rich material palette, including printed laminate, photographs, hand blown glass and steel.

Inga Sempe

2011-02-08T23:45:00.000-08:00

Awful lot of stuff by Inga Sempe, (most of which is by no means bad), but the reason for post is the lighting section, which in my mind is where the real interest lies. I challenge anyone who says they do not like seeing a hot air balloon floating in the sky, and Vapeur captures this escapism and serenity by using that form. The way it's slightly wrinkled (deflated) makes me think its nearing the end of a journey; where has it been? what has it seen? Beautiful, evocative stuff.
And it does not stop there, Grande Plissee is firmly rooted to terra firma, with its mushroom like form.
But Sempe can reference the industrial world too, with Plissee being a extending rectangular form whose workings remind me of a old lift (elevator) door or rivet gun mechanisms.

Arne Quinze

2011-02-07T23:24:00.000-08:00

Artist? Designer? Architect? Arne Quinze is obssessed with elavation, both metaphorically and physically.
"Recurring fundamentals in his oeuvre are the use of multiple types of wood, including salvaged wood; electrical colors in fluorescent paint (yellow, orange, and black); and themes referring to social interaction, communication, rhythm, and the interplay of lines."

llot llov

2011-02-07T03:59:00.000-08:00

So much to like from German design quartet llot llov. A very wide range of disciplines and styles are covered here, from the baroque installation work, through overt interiors, into finely produced and considered furniture and products.
In naming the products I instantly feel there are strong relationships designers and their creations, even though some of the work deals directly with readymade objects, such as High Voltage ceramic isolators.
Luci is a retro craft inspired hanging basket, Todd perfectly solves the 'clothes thrown on a chair scenario' and Clark looks like the long lost giant elder brother of the Isokon donkey, where as the installation work may deal with "The experiment to translate Thai improvisation into modern design.."
I fully appreciate the freedom of thought and openmindedness llot llov display.
Have a good nose around their site.

La Bolleur

2011-02-03T04:52:00.000-08:00

I was thinking... what can I do to lift the mood of the last post? I know, look at what La bolleur are up to.
And sure enough, as well as celebrating being Five and moving to a new studio, they have been making deconstructed children's climbing frames, inflating enormous colourful tubes for no specific reason and making champagne cork rockets.

Google Art Project

2011-02-03T01:39:00.000-08:00

Apologies in advance, i feel one of my occasional rants coming on.
I saw the new Google Art project yesterday when searching for something and thought it might be interesting. How wrong could I be? Very!
Google have wheeled their Street Map camera's around every major Art gallery in the world taking pictures of all the work, allowing you to 'walk' around, from the comfort of your chair.
I searched the Uffizi, for the Botticelli painting I recently posted about and was horrified by the pixellated grey mess i found in its place. Art should be seen in the flesh wherever possible, and the magic of these masterpieces should be protected and embraced. I am by no means against reference, (for which Google images is amazing and allows me to write this blog), but i am against replacement.
What about the context of the setting, the heat of the city, light, vibrancy of colour, scale, emotion that's emitted, history, damage, realness...the experience!

"Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful"

Art project is Not useful, it is damaging. I know some galleries already have similar types of thing themselves, but its the wholesale nature of this which is the problem. The obssesion is with access, with amounts of information, not useful information. So now you can virtually fly around all of the greatest artistic treasures in the world during your coffee break. It's just making the world so small, static and stale.
Please Google, can you leave me somewhere to explore myself, something to find myself and make up my own mind about, by seeing it as it was made, and meant to be seen.

I have deliberately not linked to the Art Project site, and i suggest that instead of searching for it you think about doing something else. Maybe go into your library at lunchtime and flick through some art books, with faithfull lithographic reproductions, go to your nearest gallery, or dust off the old SLR camera, and discover.

(Phew, sorry)