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| Wooden rulers by HAY |
27.3.13
26.3.13
Circles on Posters
1. EQUILIBRUM, lithographic print by Daniel Freytag - available here
2. APOLLO, gyclée print by Berg - get it here
3. MINT & GOLD PLANET, screen print by Hey Jo - spotted here
22.3.13
21.3.13
20.3.13
19.3.13
18.3.13
Schwarm by RaR
I discovered this project on last years' Object fair in Rotterdam (the 2012 one), really loved it, and took a postcard home. The postcard disappeared into a pile of papers, as postcards do, only to re-emerge during our move last month.
Well, its never too late to share.
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| Lucanus Cervus 37 x 13 cm |
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| Scarites Buparis 31 x 11 cm |
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| Coccinela 25 x 16 cm |
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| Apion Aeneum 29 x 12 cm |
Images via Thomas Eyck
'Schwarm' is a project by RaR: Beate Reinheimer and Ulrike Rehm. Both German artists who studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam.
The 'Schwarm' insects are made in a limited and numbered collection of 30, and are available at Thomas Eyck.
15.3.13
Remember
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| Art print by Marc Johns image via Society6 |
I'm looking forward to exhibiting in a castle, and -keeping Marc Johns' wisdom in mind- i'm going to have fun at it.
Will i see you there?
14.3.13
Rediscovering Van Gogh
Alright, there's a lot of text following, and it's all because i wanted to show you these Van Gogh paintings that i really like. (and would like on my wall, because i think they're pretty).
For the whole story, read the words. If you just like pretty things: look at the pictures.
Here goes....
It's probably the same everywhere: when you're a child, grown-ups feel the need to teach you all about art. Now there's nothing wrong with that per sé. On the contrary: in my opinion art should be a large part of the upbringing of any child.
No, the problem is that -at least in my childhood- teachers and art historians are more concerned about telling you which paintings you're supposed to like and why, and less about encouraging you to form your own opinion about art.
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| Vincent van Gogh - Amandelbloesem (Almond Blossom) 1890 - Oil on canvas |
Which paintings are considered 'Classics' might differ from one country to the next. In the Netherlands we're being conditioned to admire the Potato-eaters by van Gogh and Victory Boogie Woogie by Mondriaan.
While in high-school, we visit all the Important museums to listen to elaborate stories about all the Important paintings. If you're not that interested or happen to not like one of those Important art-historical pieces, it means you don't 'get' it.
Basically you grow up with the idea that if you don't like 'the potato-eaters', that means you don't 'get' art and you've failed horribly as an art lover.
Right.
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| Vincent van Gogh - The Bedroom 1888 - Oil on canvas |
I can still remember being in a museum in Köln, having to listen to a guide going on and on (and on and on and on...) about one particular painting. I was sixteen years old and after about eight minutes of listening closely to the man's German-tinted English, my feet started to ache and my eyes started to longingly wander to everything else in the museum, including the fire-extinguisher, which started to look pretty damn interesting by minute twelve.
At the time i was a Roy Lichtenstein admirer, and knew there were some pop-art works in the museum. However, when the guide had finally finished his tour of the 'highlights', the museum was about to close, and we only had ten minutes of 'free time' left. Ten minutes most of us used to get the hell out of the place and breathe in fresh air again.
I got so sick of people -art historians, teachers, museum guides- telling me what i'm supposed to like, that for a while i stopped visiting museums altogether.
It took me nearly all my years in art school to get rid of the 'I don't like it - that must mean i'm not getting it-syndrome' and to feel confident enough to again start to form my own opinion about works of art.
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| Vincent van Gogh - the Yellow House (La Rue) 1888 - Oil on canvas |
I can like a painting because of the way the artist got the perspective all wrong, the colors that were used in a piece, or if i could imagine it hanging on my wall. Also, i might like a painting one day, and don't care for it the next. No absolutes in my book when it comes to art.
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| Vincent van Gogh - Wheatfield under thunderclouds 1890 - Oil on canvas |
Oh my. So shallow.
Or is it?
Isn't the whole point of art to have people think for themselves whether they like it or not?
Admittedly, sometimes a bit of background information is a nice addition to a first glance. But often a first glance and the subsequent emotion is all it takes, and every attempt to explain why you like a piece would detract from that experience.
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| Vincent van Gogh - French novels 1888 - oil on canvas |
If you don't like them, that's fine, i might not like them tomorrow either. But if you do, scroll back and feast your eyes.
13.3.13
The ordinary done pretty: Mathematician kit by Tom Dixon
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| Mathematician Kit - Eclectic series by Tom Dixon Spotted on Nordic Leaves Should be available later this year |
12.3.13
A little sneak peek...
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| Neotribal - Seaside series |
I might have mentioned to you i'll be participating in a jewelry event in a little castle this coming weekend (March 16/17).
- If you happen to follow me on twitter it must've been hard to miss (sorry 'bout that).
If you didn't know, here's a link to my latest (and -let's be honest- first) official newsletter.
Feel free to subscribe, i promise i won't bombard your inbox with updates about every snippety snappet.
Anyway, back to the upcoming exhibition...
With a little help from my friends (thanks T, M&D and Baby X of course - for sleeping) i've managed to find a bit of time in between all that's been going on to create new pieces.
I thought it was about time to give you a little sneak peek...
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| Neotribal Braid - Seaside series |
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| Braided Lost&Found |
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| Neotribal braid - Black collection |
There's still a few days (or, to be more specific: nights) left, and there's a couple of pieces i'm still working on. More pics might follow later.
By the way, the weather forecast is not looking too fantastic, which means this'll be a great weekend for an indoor activity, especially for an indoor activity that has to do with jewelry and medieval castles with moats (and nice coffee-bars).
Just sayin'...
More on Studio Swine
'Diving' (on a roll here) into the Sea Chair project of Studio Swine last week (click), made me discover these other cool projects by this London/Sao Paolo based design company:
HAIR GLASSES:
Notice the little comb on the leg?
More information about the project here.
BUTTONS:
Read all about it here.
By the way, Studio Swine is made up by designers Azusa Murakami and Alexander Groves, who both attended different art schools and met during their MA at the Royal College of Art in London.
Their website states that the company is based in London/Sao Paolo, which sounds incredibly adventurous albeit not very practical. I can imagine it involves a lot of getting in and out of airplanes.
Or maybe they travel by ship? That way they can collect a bit of plastic on their way over.
HAIR GLASSES:
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| Images courtesy of Studio Swine |
More information about the project here.
BUTTONS:
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| Image courtesy of Studio Swine |
Read all about it here.
By the way, Studio Swine is made up by designers Azusa Murakami and Alexander Groves, who both attended different art schools and met during their MA at the Royal College of Art in London.
Their website states that the company is based in London/Sao Paolo, which sounds incredibly adventurous albeit not very practical. I can imagine it involves a lot of getting in and out of airplanes.
Or maybe they travel by ship? That way they can collect a bit of plastic on their way over.
11.3.13
Tiles on floors
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| Casa Dei Poeti (Ginostra B&B MareSole) - photograph by Sergio Ghetti spotted on the Style-files |
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| Interior of House Rauch in Austria by Lehm Ton Erde - Photograph by Beat Bühler / Martin Rauch Spotted here |
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| Cement tiles by Popham Design Spotted on Pirouette Here's how it's made |
8.3.13
The most important thing to do any weekend
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| Print by Anthony Burrill |
I won't though - do nothing at all, i mean ...oh no, not this weekend. Nope, no way mister! I'll be working hard to make new work for my upcoming exhibition.
Still... sometimes i do need the reminder to go out and breathe in a little bit of fresh perspective.
Best done on the beach, i might add.
7.3.13
Lines
2. Ballpoint pen wallpaper by Allisia Melka-Teichroew (ByAMT Inc) for ROLLOUT
3. TILT by Tina Schmid - spotted on swissmiss
6.3.13
Sieraad Exclusief @ Slot Doddendaal - 16/17 March
On the 16th and 17th of March I will be participating in the upcoming exhibition 'SIERAAD EXCLUSIEF' at Slot Doddendael.
Slot Doddendael is a gorgeous little medieval castle (with a moat!) on a small estate in Ewijk, near Nijmegen (the Netherlands).
Address:
Binnenweg 2
6644 KD Ewijk
Opening hours:
Saturday & Sunday (16-17 March) 11:00 - 17:00
Entrance fee: €6,-
Free parking
I'll be at the castle both days.
Hope to see you there!
Fitted
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| Photograph by Annie Schlechter spotted here |
(that will hold all my materials) (so i can finally really start working again)
(also love the little blue-ish painting)
5.3.13
4.3.13
Upcycle: Sea Chair by Studio Swine and Kieren Jones
By now we've all heard about the gigantic floating garbage patches that can be found in the world's oceans. They're called 'gyres'.
Although these gyres are mainly the sad evidence of our human incapability of dealing with our own waste, i must say nicknaming them 'Pacific trash vortex' makes my imagination run wild. With my mind's eye i'm envisioning slowly circling masses of plastic debris stretching from horizon to horizon, so dense you could almost step on them, and with the occasional top of a shampoo container sticking out.
That that's not in fact a very realistic view of the situation, i found out with a little Wikipedia search. (short recap: the patches are not visible through satellite photography -so no use looking for them on google maps-, and mainly consist of plastics that are disintegrated into tiny polymer particles suspended in the upper water column -plastic soup-)
Enter the SEA CHAIR project by Studio Swine and Kieren Jones: collecting plastic debris out of the seas to be made into designer stools.
Extensive motivation of the project and information about the garbage patches can be found here on the Studio Swine website.
I first saw a presentation of this project at the RCA-exhibit during the Salone last year. It was one of the few things i saw that week that left a lasting impression on me in my scatterbrained state of early pregnancy.
What i remember most vividly is the gorgeous plans of the differently sized vehicles -ranging from hand-pulled beach trolleys to huge fishing trawlers- that could be used to harvest the plastic and the calculations on how many stools each ship could make in the course of a day or year.
Can you imagine?
When it comes to the design of the finished product, i love the roughness and the color (which is determined by the color of the collected debris). The little tag with the location-coordinates of the found debris shows great attention to detail.
At the time i was slightly disappointed the team only came up with one model of the chair (a little stool, in fact), but i don't care about that so much anymore, i can understand Studio Swine's preference to keeping it simple. Especially since they made the whole project open source: a detailed description of how to make the stools can be found on their website (here), inviting everybody who has the will to pick up some debris to build furnaces and produce their own stools.
The description is accompanied by this stylish video:
(which i would advice you to watch full screen)
Somewhere in the back of my mind an urge is stirring. The urge to scavenge the beach for plastic debris, build myself a furnace and create my own little stool factory.
Being realistic: i hope a lot of people share this urge and stools will soon be widely available so i can just purchase one.
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| Ocean Gyres - graphic by Studio Swine |
That that's not in fact a very realistic view of the situation, i found out with a little Wikipedia search. (short recap: the patches are not visible through satellite photography -so no use looking for them on google maps-, and mainly consist of plastics that are disintegrated into tiny polymer particles suspended in the upper water column -plastic soup-)
 |
| Photograph found on Dezeen |
Enter the SEA CHAIR project by Studio Swine and Kieren Jones: collecting plastic debris out of the seas to be made into designer stools.
Extensive motivation of the project and information about the garbage patches can be found here on the Studio Swine website.
 |
| Sea Chair by Studio Swine and Kieren Jones Image found on Dezeen |
I first saw a presentation of this project at the RCA-exhibit during the Salone last year. It was one of the few things i saw that week that left a lasting impression on me in my scatterbrained state of early pregnancy.
What i remember most vividly is the gorgeous plans of the differently sized vehicles -ranging from hand-pulled beach trolleys to huge fishing trawlers- that could be used to harvest the plastic and the calculations on how many stools each ship could make in the course of a day or year.
 |
| image courtesy of Studio Swine |
Can you imagine?
This would make the perfect solution to our ocean's waste patches: we would set up a few gigantic trawlers to harvest the plastic waste and turn it into wicked chairs before sailing back into the harbour. Easy as that. It might take a few years decades, but then the ocean would not be toxic anymore, but nice and clean and blue again.
Because of the tiny particulates that make up the trash vortexes it might not be that simple. But even if the Sea Chair project only filters out the larger pieces of debris, this still helps a great deal to make the oceans cleaner. |
| image courtesy of Studio Swine |
When it comes to the design of the finished product, i love the roughness and the color (which is determined by the color of the collected debris). The little tag with the location-coordinates of the found debris shows great attention to detail.
At the time i was slightly disappointed the team only came up with one model of the chair (a little stool, in fact), but i don't care about that so much anymore, i can understand Studio Swine's preference to keeping it simple. Especially since they made the whole project open source: a detailed description of how to make the stools can be found on their website (here), inviting everybody who has the will to pick up some debris to build furnaces and produce their own stools.
The description is accompanied by this stylish video:
(which i would advice you to watch full screen)
Somewhere in the back of my mind an urge is stirring. The urge to scavenge the beach for plastic debris, build myself a furnace and create my own little stool factory.
Being realistic: i hope a lot of people share this urge and stools will soon be widely available so i can just purchase one.
