Japanese artist Haroshi creates three-dimensional sculptures out of used wooden skateboard decks. An avid skateboarder, he began collecting broken skateboard parts in hopes of making them into art. Over the years he has developed a technique where he carves stacks of old skateboard decks and cuts them into wooden mosaics. He then assembles the mosaics into the chosen form in which the exposed layers reveal various patterns.
Maison & Objet’s designers of the year 2012 are Humberto and Fernando Campana, originally from Brazil, Hubert le Gall from France and Tokujin Yoshioka of Japan.
To celebrate, each designer was given the opportunity to create an installation for the show. It was the Campana Brothers’ installation that really caught my eye.
One of the stand-out pieces at Maison & Objet for me was Doreen Westphal’s concrete lace curtain. Not only visually stunning, it plays with our conception of gravity, delicately suspending something we perceive to be very heavy in mid-air.
Chloe Scadding is a young designer that creates high-end textiles used for fashion and interiors. Her combined use of contemporary and traditional techniques, along with her creative use of materials, makes her work innovative and original. She pushes the boundaries of what textiles normally are and what they can be — truly unique. Her latest work consists of printed and laser cut wood and fabric that was exhibited at Designersblock London in September 2011.
Cold Comfort Quilt
Based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, artist Ted Larsen focuses on making abstract sculptures with the use of found “non-art materials.” He chooses to stay away from one particular theme in his work and instead pursues many directions in which he continues to experiment with contexts, hybrids, and scale. I love how he uses a variety of salvaged materials including metal, wood, and wax to create such a diverse body of work.
Here is another great Kickstarter project and it comes from the Norwegian twins, Kine and Einy Paulsen. Their company Ingri:Dahl created a line of designer 3D glasses that puts the free theater-issued glasses to shame.
Colorado-based Pard Morrison is a modern day geometric abstractionist with work that is a cross between painting and sculpture. His large-scale work features blocks of color configured in a way that gives each piece an illusion of greater dimensionality. The box-like forms are created by the pieces extending from the wall by 3-1/4″ giving each piece a sculptural feel.
Osaka, Japan-based Nobuhiro Nakanishi’s mesmerizing body of work entitled Layered Drawings is truly breathtaking. He photographs a scene or object repeatedly over time, then laser prints each shot and mounts them onto acrylic. Change is captured in each frame, and once layered, they become sculpture installations. The overall effect shows movement and the subtle passage of time.
Dutch designer Dennis Parren created the CMYK Lamp for his graduation show from Design Academy Eindhoven. The innovative design uses LED technology to project cyan, magenta, and yellow onto the ceiling and walls. The lamp is shaped like a graphic outline and casts 3D shadows which he discovered only by accident. The experimental lamp sets out to display the mystery of light and what it can be.
Haldane Martin of Cape Town, South Africa designed this complex three-dimensional Polyhedra Modular Coffee Table. The design was inspired by the images of human bones that are seen by electron microscopes, as well as the Weaire-Phelan structure, which depicts foam bubbles that are equal in size. Each shape is connected with built-in magnets so the table can be reconfigured making it what they describe as “LEGO for grown-ups.”
Thanks, Marike!
