The combination of a sublime skill set and a playful imagination is one that has won so many of us previously by the likes of Dali, Warhol and in more recent times Damien Hirst. The art of surrealism reminds us all that the impossible is plausible which is why this playful set of sculptures from Japanese artist Hirotoshi Ito brought such a smile to my face earlier when I discovered his work. Just by taking such a core material as stone and dressing this as an everyday object we wouldn’t expect it to be, Hiroshi throws reality on it’s head in a rather captivating manner.

Although we’re open to the idea of experimentation when it comes to creating clothes, I’m not sure his stone pullover will take off in the near future. It does however highlight Hirotoshi’s ability to delicately carve such an unforgiving material into the most refined of shapes, he really has perfected the form of that collar down to a tee, if you pardon the pun. My favourite piece has to be the mouth in the final image however, as it combines that extra bit of imagination that pulls Hirotoshi’s work into the surrealism bracket.

On the topic of stones we are currently offering a fantastic Lars Muller publication on this very topic in our online shop which I can really recommend. Fellow artist Klaus Merkel has put together 160 page inspiration book which explores the parallels found in both natural and manmade stone constructions. What we have here is perhaps a little more lighthearted but I’m sure if you appreciate this post you will enjoy the book also.

I’ve come across some marvellous sculptors in my time but I think Hirotoshi’s work will stay with me as one of the most memorable artists I’ve seen. Just due to his sheer individual approach, I’ve never seen anything like this before which gives his work a real lasting impact. I hope you all enjoy Hirotoshi Ito’s work as much as I have, if you’d like to learn more about his creations you can do so through his webpage linked just below.

www.jiyuseki.com

You probably already know this but I’m a massive fan of Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto, his works never fail to inspire and impress me. Also, every time I research the man I come across new information that I’ve never seen/heard before, the Alvar Aalto architecture file is a particularly great resource to use. A website that has fantastic explanations on every build that he’s ever designed from all over the world, they’re quite in-depth as well.

This specific build was inspired by a recent video that I discovered on Vimeo by Leopoldo Llorente Avanzini, who seems to work on a lot of projects that revolve around CGI mixed with architecture. He must mock these up on the computer, and although some of the proportions are not quite right I originally thought this was real (that’s how good it is!). Whatever way I think it gives you a fantastic view of the interior of building and what it’s actually like inside, the photos here that compliment are also brilliant. These specific ones showcased today were snapped by photographer Francesco Di Capua who lives in Napoli, I would recommend watching a short film that he produced which looks inside and around the building as well, if you’re really interested in this project.

Moving onto the actual building itself, this church and parish centre is situated in the small mountain village of Riola di Vergato and was originally designed by Alvar Aalto himself. The Bishop of Bologna, Cardinal Giacomo Lercaro, asked Alvar if he would design a small church, he agreed and in 1966 completed the plan which showed the church and parish centre in its final form. Aalto wanted to create an enclosed piazza in front of the church which would enable thousands of people to congregate for major religious festivals, he also came up with the idea of dividing up the church with gigantic sliding walls, these are hidden and are only used when needed. Pretty genius if you ask me.

On a personal note one thing that struck me was the use of light. A lot of people say that light makes a world of difference in a building and this is definitely the case here. You must get some incredible shadows bouncing around those white walls thanks to the oddly shaped supports that run across and along the ceiling, such a stunning form both inside and outside. I also love the use of wood and greenery inside, it makes for a clean setting that’s both quirky and that has character, overall a stunning piece of architecture that would be delightful to view in person. Since I’ve not viewed it myself in person I’m stuck with these photographs and the video, which you can view below, if you’re feeling adventurous I’d definitely recommend heading out to Italy to explore this place and the surrounding villages.

www.alvaraalto.fi

I felt it was about time we brought across some architecture that was more recently constructed, yet just as considered as those we’ve been highlighting from the past. My search landed me in Portugal where architect Nuno Merino Rocha has undertaken this functional, understated build which looks to blend into it’s environment and offer its owner a less is more approach to living amongst nature.

Through the use of a flush shutter system Nuno has implemented a design which neatly seals all light off from the property, adding complete privacy for its owner when needed. The aim of the project was to integrate the dwelling with those already existing on the site at a low cost, whilst maintaining total absence of the unnecessary.

Considering all these elements I’m guessing that this will be used as an overflow building for when guests come to stay, I have to say though this is a great example of living no greater than your needs – it could certainly be used on a more frequent basis. I’ve no doubt that this place would be ideal for young designers/creatives looking to leave the family nest and get busy with their own projects. I know the minimal aesthetic isn’t for everyone but personally I’m a big fan of the idea of owning a little more quality and having less clutter around the home. Having white walls puts more emphasis on the textures and colour of the other surfaces, particularly the wood elements like that fantastic beam that can be seen in the second and sixth images.

Another element that I was really impressed with was the left hand window that runs parallel with the kitchen top in second image, it’s quite a subtle detail but it really adds character to the home in my opinion. The thought of cooking in the evening while the sun is setting would certainly go a long way in selling me this home, it’s projects like these that really inspire me to design my own house one day.

For now this is just a dream, but perhaps Nuno’s creation has struck a chord with you too. For more information on the architect and the work he’s involved in head across to his webpage that I’ve linked to just below.

www.nunomerinorocha.com

Finn Juhl, a man we’ve discussed many times before, captured my attention yesterday after I had a quick browse of their website. It was a pleasant surprise to see a new catalogue released this year which not only features some classic Finn Juhl furniture but also some nice text to accompany it, a few paragraphs written by Christian Homlsted Olesen, the curator at the Design Museum in Denmark, who sledded some light on Finn’s life and attitude. I never knew that his Danish colleagues saw him as a “weather vane” who blindly followed the winds of fashion, from his finished pieces I would have never of fathomed this. But I guess maybe they were jealous that Finn didn’t follow “tradition” as such, a lot of the time he went against the grain by using teak and other dark woods in his furniture, where as most of the Danish modern movement were using a lighter colour like oak.

What I find most enticing about Mr Juhl is his amazing amount of knowledge in the art and design fields, he originally wanted to be an art historian so this makes sense that a lot of artists styles fell into his industrial type design method. For example he was a big fan of different sculptors such as Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Jean Arp, they intrigued him and this played a part in the movement of his furniture. He wanted to create fluidity in his forms. Another interesting aspect of his work was the idea of making people look like they were floating when seated, using the famous corbel method he was able to separate the carried and carrying elements, it made for quite a striking but unobtrusive finished piece.

Finn Juhl was a stickler for craftsmanship and quality, at that current time the USA were looking back to more human and organic shapes after the war, this meant Finn was most probably the first Danish furniture designer to really showcase Danish work in this country. I liked this final quote from Christian Homlsted Olesen who said:

“He was a Danish designer, who communicated the sensory qualities of wood and his love of finding inspiration in nature and history to the rest of the world. Contrary to most Danish design, his furniture is not pragmatic and sensible but saturated with a grand and exclusive zest for life. It speaks of an originality, individualism and freedom, which most of the world can appreciate today.”

I think this is a fantastic quote to finish on as it summarises his works beautifully, check out the selection of imagery below. More can be seen on the Finn Juhl brochure page by clicking the link below.

www.finnjuhl.com

First up I have to thank the creative duo over at Baron Wells, Dominick Volini and Mads Madsen, for putting us on to this fantastic creative film that their friends at Part and Parcel have put together, it’s barely been touched but I have to credit them for the find nevertheless. For those interested we are actually running a short promotion in the online shop on all items Baron Wells this week, so pop in before Sunday to grab a bargain.

Back on topic here and I’ve no doubt this will become a huge hit over on Vimeo as it has all the ingredients to get shared around fast, it’s inventive, imaginative and lighthearted, it reminds me a little of the Eames projects back in their hay-day too. This project has actually been put together for Fort Standard who make these stone sized balancing blocks to build structures “focusing on height, speed or style”.

These come in sets of ten all of which are made from salvaged hardwood and finished with non toxic paints. I love the fact that Fort Standard have combined creativity and sensibility in equal measure – the vintage patina isn’t half bad in my humble opinion either. The film has been put together using a playful stop-motion style aided with the use of character voices to give these little blocks a dash of personality. It’s not too childish either, the team have made sure there’s enough captivating geometrics for the serious adults amongst us, so all round I think everyone will enjoy this project for one reason or another – even your nan.

For those enticed by these blocks your first designation should be the Fort Standard website, which along with the link to the Part & Parcel page I will place just below. In the meantime stop reading and start watching below – Enjoy!

www.fortstandard.com
www.partparcelny.com

It seems like I’ve been unleashed into a furniture frenzy lately so when I came across these sculptures by the great artist that is Erik Thommesen I had to fit them into the schedule somewhere. Although I’m not technically an “art” sort of guy I do get drawn in to different forms mixed with a variety of materials, I’m always interested in the shapes and the structure of an object. This is probably why I’m inspired by the likes of Alexander Calder.

Erik Thommesen is quite an interesting character though, he’s actually a self-taught artist who originally studied zoology but began drawing and painting in 1936. Throughout 1937 he experimented with clay and other materials but fell in love with wood carving the following year and that became his preferred medium. Although this young Dane at the time had his roots in quite a clean and minimal style he tried to mix this with inspirations from African sculpture and Egyptian art (I can personally see these influences myself!). Although maybe hard to believe at first glance, his final pieces are always based on the human form/figure, it’s not meant to be an exact representation but it’s meant to showcase only the most essential elements, usually the trunk or main stem of the body.

This process, as you can imagine, is slow and quite demanding and can only be described as “meditative”, he looks to carve out the sections with fluidity and motion. To be honest it strikes me as impossible to get some of these final forms, the way they wrap around and curve, it’s one of the first times that I’ve actually seen wood have rhythm outside of furniture production. Great stuff. Personally I struggled to find out a great deal about this man but a book I have in my mini library served me well on this subject, I’d recommend checking the Holstebro Museum website via the link below for more information and pictures. Enjoy.

www.holstebrokunstmuseum.dk

As many of you may already know I’m quite a big fan of the filming style of Mark and Angela Walley, I’m just glad they’re equally adept at sourcing out some really innovative artists like Yasuaki Onishi who features in this film of theirs that I’m sharing today. I’ve not come across Yasuaki before but I was taken aback by his installation in Houston’s Rice Gallery which explores the idea of gravity in a visual form, I just wish this was being shown in London as I would of loved to have seen it up close and personal.

Reverse of Volume, the title of the exhibition, has been running since yesterday and will conclude on the 24th of June so if you’re in the Houston area I’d recommend taking a visit across to the Rice Gallery. Artists typically use inexpensive materials to create stunning works of art at the gallery and Yasuaki’s work is no different, combining simple plastic sheeting and hot black glue to create his mountainous like form.

As you will soon see in the film below the artist stacks boxes at different levels which forms an impression in the sheeting once they are removed, leaving behind a negative space or void which can be walked underneath and around by the viewer. At the beginning of the film I must admit I didn’t expect the final impact of the installation to be so significant, once the boxes are stripped away and just the free hanging creation remains it’s really quite the spectacle.

This piece was the fourth short documentary that the Walley’s have completed for the Rice Gallery so hopefully we will see more interactive type art cropping up on their own website in the near future. If you’d like to read more on the Japanese artist his own website is perhaps the best place to start, so along with the Walley’s page I’ll link this just below.

www.walleyfilms.com
www.onys.net

Unfortunately the greatest creative minds can’t live on forever but one of the refreshing things about the digital age is our new found ability to capture an essence of what a person was all about and share this with future generations. American Architect Gene Summers dubbed by many as Mies van der Rohe’s right hand man unfortunately passed away last year, but we can however take a moment to appreciate the work he undertook in his lifetime through this tribute piece that references all the key moments in his career.

Gene worked as a architect, developer, teacher and artist in his lifetime and will be remembered by many for his work on the iconic Seagram building where he assisted two legends in their own rights, Philip Johnson and his own master Mies Van Der Rohe. Later on in his career through his own firm he would design the McCormick Place convention centre in Chicago which is still to this day the largest convention centre in the United States.

Having worked on so many of Mies’ iconic builds in his sixteen years at his studio Gene is perhaps a rather underrated entity, he’s certainly someone I’ve developed a new found appreciation for today. When his teacher passed away in 1969 he decided that alongside Phyllis Lambert they would start developing through their own company Ridgway Ltd. Gene felt it was a little risky to start a fresh given his success thus far with Mies however they took the chance and never looked back.

Los Angles Biltmore hotel came up for sale so the pair purchased and developed the establishment into one of the city’s most sought after destination points with the help of artist Jim Dine’s work in each of the rooms. I loved the idea they had of using the colours of the rainbow throughout the hotel, this could of ended up a little garish but the duos eye for detail insured a clean and contemporary look remained. If you’ve got an interest in modernism I think you’re really going to cherish this piece, I certainly enjoyed seeing the path Gene Summers took throughout his career and I hope you do too. Watch below and enjoy!

www.karencarter.tv

One of my favourite blogs and shops at the moment is Mondo Cane, they always have an interesting selection of modernist items, whether it be furniture or sculptures, and the owner Patrick Parrish has a stunning eye for all things design. We can really see this through his blog at Mondo Blogo, worth bookmarking if you’ve got a chance.

Today I thought I’d bring across some photography from an upcoming exhibit that’s a collaboration between Partners & Spade and Mondo Cane in New York. They will be showcasing a collection of children’s chairs under the title “Kids Chairs!”, and it will hold at least 50 examples spanning from the years 1890-1990. This exhibition actually came about as a response to the Museum of Modern Art’s “Century of Child” which examines individual and collective visions for the material world of children. Quite an interesting subject if you think about it, how toys express society at that current time, even how political conflicts and wars can affect how designers produce things for the younger generation. This could also be an exciting exhibition to see in the summer that would coincide nicely with the Partners & Spade one opening May 17th to June 10th, 2012.

The photography above and below was snapped by the fine people at Mondo Cane and is pretty exceptional if you ask me. Each image in this post comes with a caption which references the exact chair and the maker, the ones that got me particularly excited include the Alvar Aalto chair (of course) and a bent plywood chair interestingly made out of one continuous piece of plywood, you can see this placed above. Love the form and the overall shape, it’s quite playful with the circle in the back as well, a piece that obviously serves its purpose well since it’s designed specifically for kids kids. I hope you enjoy this imagery, for more information regarding the exhibition head towards the links below.

www.mondocane.com
www.partnersandspade.com

After a long week it’s great to finish on such an icon as Isamu Noguchi. He really is an amazing talent and I was lucky enough to talk to The Noguchi Museum who gave me access to some imagery of Noguchi at work. This felt like an interesting and inspiring subject to talk about since Isamu is a man of many talents, he was mainly known for his sculpture and public works but he also dabbled in architecture, set design, ceramics, lighting design, and even landscaping gardens.

This specific article mainly revolves around his sculpture but I’m hoping to touch on his life also. It’s quite gratifying seeing an individual at work, particularly someone who has such passion and freedom. I know from reading up previously on Isamu many people say that his life was a “journey without borders”, he really was a true artist and creative who, much like the Eames duo, even worked with larger companies on more mass produced products but still kept his integrity intact. He always made sure he had complete freedom.

Although you may think Isamu got a lucky break, actually he suffered major rejection throughout his life and even came from quite a troublesome background. His main strength was persistence, no matter how many times he got told he wouldn’t be a sculptor he kept going and his dreams became reality. Over the years he came across and collaborated with many now famous individuals, for example Buckminster Fuller with whom he collaborated with on several projects, including the modelling of the Dymaxion car. Isamu created plaster wind tunnel models which factored into the shape of the car. Other famous individuals that he mixed with included painter Jules Pascin and also Alexander Calder, who we’ve wrote about previously. It must have been an amazing experience mixing with all of these inspiring individuals, I can’t even imagine the effect it must of had on him. Great stuff.

In my eyes one of the major attributes to his work is the travel that he took throughout his life, he frequently moved around the world hopping all around Europe, specifically Paris and London, back to Japan on regular occasions, and he was also a big fan of India. On his travels he studied brush painting for six months in China, he then moved onto Kyoto where he studied pottery with Uno Jinmatsu and paid particular attention to the tranquil gardens in Japan. He also worked with marble in Italy and discovered the impact of large-scale public works in Mexico. This just shows how willing he was to learn all aspects of art and craft, ultimately all of these mediums played a part in his work and career.

Today I hope that I’ve introduced you to a creative that will inspire you to create over the weekend, he’s made me want to out of my office right now. These photographs will definitely add to that urge as well, enjoy them above and below. For more information regarding Isamu Noguchi I would highly recommend visiting The Noguchi Museum where they have lots of imagery and research on his life.