Wu Guanzhong

Just Before his death, at the age of 90 in 2010, Wu Guanzhong donated five last paintings to the Hong Kong museum of Art. These five, along with 15 works were recently shown in a sublime exhibition at museum. They opitimsie the constant struggle to leave figuration in favour of pure abstraction, but more tellingly, they opitimise his struggle with life itself.
Simply not recognised by the Chinese authorities for vast swathes of his life, Guanzhongs' work reveals an intense personal trauma. For me it points to a manic depressive; in absolute bliss at one moment, like daydreaming in the midday sun, to crawling around on the wet forest floor the next.
There are no secrets here, Guanzhongs' integrity means, (regardless of their occasional confused actualisation), the images deliver the most clear, honest emotions.
Guanzhong could never 'let go of the kite' and succumb to pure abstract painting, but there is no doubt he is was his most interesting when he tried.
"When the thick dark ink splashes onto the plain paper, it explodes and dazzles. In the same way that pearls jingle when they are dropped into a jade dish, ink produces a formal beauty that is random when it hits the rice paper. Randomness is not something to depend on, however. The directions are instead determined by emotions to reflect the force latent in the splashed marks. In physics, fission is caused by a change in force. In humans, a swing or a dramatic swing in emotions is detectable at the tip of a Chinese brush. I have no words for fission, and one that is spontaneous, to describe my mindset in different moods".

Valcucine

Carlsten Thostrup

Carlsten Thostrup did not actually exhibit the 'Reel Cabinet' at their stand in last weeks Milan Design Festival, but I think it is their standout piece. The design has an immediacy about it, the detailing not necessarily being central, but rather a mechanical physicality coming to the fore. The space frame legs feel a little short and the wheels slightly large, but it doesn't matter. It's just very honest and engaging; I want to use it, hear what it sounds like, (and get lost in that blue).

Michael Wolff

Continuing the emotional, left field thinking with an excellent recent TEDx talk by Michael Wolff, talking about design and experience in very broad terms. It's only ten odd minutes long and you only need to listen, so I highly recommend.

".....people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

The Hemlock Cup

The Hemlock Cup, Bettany Hughes' book, focuses not on the philosophy of Socrates, but rather 5century BC Athens. It is a fascinating insight into a strange, distant world, but the place which interests me most is the Agora. The Agora was a 37 acre patch nestled in between the epic Acropolis and the Temple of Hephaistos and was "the heart, spine, liver, spleen and lungs of Athens; the engine."

It housed all the essential services and workers; sculptors, shoemakers, armories, markets, perfumers, courts and prisons. But it also encouraged something else. It was the philosophers home, the free thinkers, the people who challenged the Gods. For the first time abstract thought was actively encouraged, and there were even dedicated spaces so they could engage with as many people as possible. It must have been an insane place, fizzing with industry, inventiveness and originality, and is brilliantly described in a wonderful book.

I sometimes talk about emotion being imbued into a piece of furniture, a sculpture or architecture, about a certain energy or feeling being imparted by the maker. I like to think its the kind of recondite subject that would have been discussed in the Agora.

I think this quote sums it up, when Plutarch, writing hundreds of years later describes the architecture in Athens....

".....Though built in a short time they have lasted for a very long time......in its perfection, each looks even at the present as if it were as fresh and newly built......it is as if some ever-flowing life and un-ageing spirit had been infused into the creation of these works."

Baileys

I you like the slightly shabby, homely, eco vibes, then Baileys is up there. Amazing article in Mays' WOI's about Mark and Sally Baileys Welsh Bolthole too, where the cream of all their buys and creations have found their natural home. Beautiful.

Hong Kong

Temple of Ten thousand Buddhas.
(There is no visual reference in this image to gauge the scale, but it is big!)

Absolutely loved the Bamboo scaffolding. Crazy contrast between the concrete high rises shrouded in this organic framework.

Truffled Beef tendon, Daikon, spiced consomme at Bo Innovations.

Incense coils in the Man mo Temple.