Growing Crystals by Isaac Monté

photograph by  Isaac Monte

Isaac Monté teamed up with BioArt Laboratories Eindhoven for a research into stalagmites, resulting in the Crystal series.
"Each object is unique in shape, colour and texture, due to the organic development of the object."
The objects can take several weeks to grow, a tangible representation of the luxury of time.

Read all about it here on Isaac Monté's website.

Merdacotta / Cow dung clay

photograph via Materia

The idea for Merdacotta was born when a farmer in northern Italy called Gianantonio Locatelli realised that his 2,500 cows were producing 100,000 kilograms (220,462 pounds) of manure. In collaboration with architect and designer Luca Cipelletti, he wanted to do something productive with the poo and started the Merdacotta project.

Read more about this not-so-smelly material at Materia

Mariko Kusumoto

Loving this work by Japanese / American fine artist Mariko Kusumoto.
Her colorful fabric discoveries are like corals growing on dry land.
Read more about the artist and her projects on Mariko Kusumoto's website.

photographs via Mariko Kusumoto.com

Voie lights by Sabine Marcelis

This lighting installation by New Zealand born designer Sabine Marcelis reminds me of a lunar eclipse, without the darkness, of course. The designer studied at the Design Academy and has been working and living in Rotterdam since her graduation in 2011.

photograph courtesy of Sabine Marcelis

Edoardo Tresoldi - wire

Larger than life mesh art piece by Edoardo Tresoldi - read all about it here on Designboom or visit the artists' website.

Dip coloring by Raw Edges

Dip-coloring experiments by design duo Raw Edges.
Loving the layered colors, but also the extremely nice set-up turning the experimentation into an art project.

Read more on Designboom

all photographs via Designboom / 5vie / Raw edges

Trolley

This Drinks trolley was designed in the 1930's.
I would have believed you if you told me it had just come out.

Get it here.

photographs via 1stdips

Chimera / Shai Langen

An ongoing research of the future body.

Read more on Fontanel, Dezeen and Shai Langens' website.

all photographs courtesy of Shai Langen

Olafur's new bike

Olafur Eliasson, Your New Bike, 2009 // Torstrasse, Berlin, 2010
photograph courtesy of Oliafur Eliasson - spotted here.

Gem of a video by Bioquest Studios

Slow Life from BioQuest Studios on Vimeo.

What i see when i run - plant portraits // another one of those Tumblrs

All beautiful botanical portraits in this post come from Tumblr-page 'What i see when i run' by Singaporian Francis Ooi. 

It's so worth your time to get lost on this beautiful Tumblr and keep scrolling down.

 

Although the name might suggest something different altogether, What i see when i run revolves entirely around botanical portraits. 

(also, photographer Francis Ooi doesn't actually run that often, but rather walks, according to his website)

What started out as a hobby, trying to catch the beauty of Singapore nature, turned into a business, and prints of these amazing photographs can be found on the What i see when i run website (linked to the Tumblr-page).

All photographs courtesy of What i see when i run / Francis Ooi

Post Natural History | Vincent Fournier

These animals don't exist.
They might, someday.
              Or not really...
But imagine they would.
Artist/Photographer Vincent Fournier created an encyclopaedia with imaginary 'Post Natural' engineered (improved) animals.
For much more, check out Vincent Fourniers' website, or postnaturalhistory.com.

All images courtesy of Vincent Fournier.

Aaron S Moran | reclaimed wood treasures

image courtesy of Aaron S Moran

It could have been a google-search for scrapwood, that made me come across these trash-to-treasure structures by artist Aaron S Moran.

Looking at these makes me want to play and build stuff from trash.
Plenty more to be seen on Aaron S Morans' website.

Image courtesy of Aaron S Moran

Image courtesy of Aaron S Moran

Found on design squish

Biodegradable vases by ett la benn

Image courtesy of ett la ben

I really like the look of these biodegradable hand-made 'Kami' vases by German design Studio ett la ben (no capitals, apparently).
They're made from 100% biodegradable cellulose coming from wood pulp and cotton.

Looking at the photographs, the vases and pots appear sturdy and heavy, but being made from cellulose, the products should be pretty light-weight.
I suspect my perception of these designs would shift when seeing (and touching) them for real, but regardless, they got me interested.

Image courtesy of ett la ben

Spotted on Yatzer, read the original article for more about the Kami series.

Of course Studio ett la ben has a website, but that's in German and i didn't find a lot about this project (truthfully: nothing, but maybe i got distracted trying to decipher the texts and wasn't looking well enough), what i did find, was a lot of interior design for restaurants that is worth checking out.

Avifauna | Maarten Kolk & Guus Kusters

Avifauna, large, Heron | Maarten Kolk & Guus Kusters, 2009
25 x 22 x 60 cm | cotton, wood, bird carcass, linen, pins
photograph from Thomas Eyck

Laura Daza - Colour Provenance project

photograph from Laura Daza

Neon lights by Pieke Bergmans

Neon lights by Pieke Bergmans // pic by me

Last year at the Dutch Design Week i was pretty busy, but i took one day off and that day i spotted this beautiful project by Pieke Bergmans at the Kazerne. I took this pic with the camera on my phone.

Luckily i found better photographs taken by Mirjam Bleeker in this article about the project by Dezeen.

Neon lights by Pieke Bergmans // photograph by Mirjam Bleeker

Neon Lights by Pieke Bergmans // photograph by Mirjam Bleeker

Algae growing patterns and cleansing the body | Vivian Hartung

Pattern dyeing with Algae, by Vivian Hartung
photograph courtesy of Vivian Hartung

Love this project by recent Artez design graduate Vivian Hartung.
Here's what she wrote about it on her website:

"A research into the possibility of growing graphic patterns on textile materials using algae. By manipulation light or adding pressure point it's possible to control the algae growth and create patterns."

Find more photographs on Vivian Hartungs website,. there you can also find more information about her algae-inspired graduation project My Atomic Body.

My Atomic Body / Algae diet by Vivian Hartung
Photograph courtesy of Vivian Hartung

El Anatsui | gravity and grace and other works

Gravity and Grace, El Anatsui 2010 // Aluminum, copper wire
photograph by Andrew McAllister for the Akron Art Museum

Quite by chance i stumbled upon these beautiful masterpieces by Ghanaian artist El Anatsui (1944).
Apparently there was an overview exhhibition at the Brooklyn museum some years ago. Not living anywhere near Brooklyn (or the US, for that matter), it's no surprise i missed it. Glad i found out about him eventually though.

Last year El Anatsui was awarded with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale to "acknowledge not just his recent successes internationally, but also his artistic influence amongst two generations of artists working in West Africa" (source: Wikipedia)

El Anatsui is represented by Jack Shainman Gallery in New York - check out their website for more information about the artist. Also, check out this article on the Huffington Post and this piece on Africanah. 

Earth's Skin, El Anatsui 2007 // Aluminum, copper wire

Structural Skin | Jorge Penadés

Structural Skin by Jorge Penadés
photograph by Brenda Germade

Structural skin is a project by Spanish designer Jorge Penades.
He devised a new production method that uses the waste from leather factories, into an innovative and sustainable new material.
Check out this website for the whole story, more photographs and a lovely short video of the process.

Structural Skin by Jorge Penades
photograph by Brenda Germade

Spotted on Trendtablet.