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Clive Murphy: Inflatable Sculptures Plus

inflatable art installation, contemporary art, collabcubedinflatable art installation, contemporary art, collabcubedinflatable art installation, contemporary art, collabcubedClick images to enlarge

Irish artist Clive Murphy creates installations and sculptures that deal with – in his words — site and surface. From his site specific inflatable installations – made from duct-taped black garbage bags filled with air by electric fans – to his DIWIF (Demonic Intervention With Ikea Furniture) series and smaller sculptures, Murphy tends to work in a lo-fi manner embracing low-brow culture.

I am especially a fan of his DIWIF (Demonic Intervention With Ikea Furniture) sculpture. The monstrous-like work would make anyone smile who has attempted to put together the infamous flat-packed furniture. The sculpture comes complete with Murphy’s humorous diagrammed instructions on how to assemble.

From Murphy:
‘In my work I’m constantly interested in examining the peripheral, insignificant and sometimes seemingly ridiculous as a means of illustrating a sense of interconnectivity and also rebutting certain hierarchical value systems, so in this context building an architecturally orientated inflatable from plastic seems appropriate.’
From top to bottom: Almost Nothing, site specific inflatable structure at the Soap Factory, Minneapolis; MONO, site specific kinetic inflatable single tube sculpture, Pallas Contemporary Projects, Dublin; Inflatable Trash Bag Cube, MagnanMetz Gallery; Pneutopia, Inflatable Bouncy Castle, MagnanMetz Gallery; Inflatable Box Series x2; DIWIF (Demonic Intervention With Ikea Furniture) complete with instructions by the artist, MagnanMetz; Neon Toaster; Untitled (Ice Sculpture). Photos courtesy of Pallas Projects, the Soap Factory, and MagnanMetz Gallery.
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Cinnamon Lee: Rings

Jewelry, rings, design, silver, contemporary designJewelry, rings, design, silver, contemporary designLately, there’s been a lot of ring purchasing and wearing by the youngest member of our collabcubed. The bigger the better. The more the merrier the fingers. So, it’s not surprising that I would have focused more than usual when I came across Cinnamon Lee’s website.

An Australian artist who makes contemporary jewelry and lighting, Cinnamon Lee combines 3D computer modeling techniques with more traditional gold and silversmithing techniques to create subtle interactions between machine and handmade, as well as functional and emotional, and exterior vs. interior.

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Michael Taylor: Luminescence Photos

light painting photographs, lumen, artlight painting photographs, lumen, art, contemporary photographyClick to enlarge

Photographer Michael Taylor from Northern Ireland aims to “let light reveal itself.”

Using electroluminescent wire, Taylor explores luminescence. A current is passed through a copper wire causing the surrounding phosphor coating to emit light. The EL wire is wrapped around or within the costumes worn by the model and the movements are then recorded introducing a kinetic element. The result: some very cool photos.

via Saatchi Online

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Biblio

industrial design, typography, bookends, alphabetindustrial design, typography, bookends, alphabetGraphic design student Jack Curry, currently at Cal State University, found that he needed bookends and set out to design typographic ones. Using the classic off-the-shelf black metal bookends as a guide, Jack began calculating how each letter of the alphabet could be cut out, finding open ended letters such as A, H, and K to be the easiest and closed bottoms a bit trickier. He had a test batch cut from stainless steel and powder-coated in orange, spelling out “READ”.

Read more on Jack Curry’s site.

via typetoken

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The Architecture of Ruy Ohtake

Cool architecture, buildings, sao paolo, Brazilarchitecture, cool buildings, sao paolo, BrazilRuy Ohtake, a Brazilian architect and son of Japanese artist Tomie Ohtake, is known for his dynamic and unique building designs.

From top to bottom, left to right:
Unique Hotel, São Paulo; Berrini 500, São Paulo; FCC, São Paolo; Ohtake Cultural, São Paulo; Laboratório União Química, Brasilia; Conjunto Habitacional Heliópolis, São Paulo; Brasilia Shopping and Towers, Brasilia.

Equally spectacular inside as out, a visit to his website is well worth the time to see all the projects documented from the beautifully simple concept sketches through to completion.

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City Leaks: Urban Spaces/Moments

Urban, installation, artUrban, installation, artCity Leaks, a group of artists/street artists that describe themselves as “An Urban Investigation of Inventive Dwelling.” Recently this Melbourne based group created PlayMo (top images) and Hotel Facebook,  (bottom 3 images) both collaborative projects, the second via Facebook photo uploads as “check in”.

They have a sort of manifesto on their facebook page and seem to stick by it.

On PlayMo:

PlayMo was born from the intention of inventing a space that turns into a place where people meet, spend time and play. Its name comes from “playmobil”, a Lego styled child’s creative play toy. Using milk crates was like playing with big Lego pieces.Milk crates are a fantastic material for many reasons; they are structural, light, modular and they have an iconic role in Melbourne’s cafe image and laneways. We believe that familiarity to a material plays an important role in engaging with it.PlayMo uses 3 different types of crates. Black = platforms, Grey= stairs, Green=moveable. The green crates provide the undefined random element; people rearrange their seats or even build small stairs themselves. There hasn’t been a single day where we found them in the same place.
Finally, PlayMo is designed to grow and adapt. People are encouraged to leave things behind and to add to the structure. We found artworks, plants, toys, pillows, new crates and received hundreds of letters. We even found that people had constructed a bin so that it could be kept clean.

 

via sub-studio

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Bike Racks

Industrial design, product design, cool bicycle racksIndustrial design, product design, cool bicycle racksMaybe it’s because I was recently given a bike by my lovely daughters, but I’ve been more aware of bicycle design as well as the accessories lately. Or maybe I would have noticed anyway, the way I tend to notice design that I like.

In any case, I liked these bike racks. When grouped together, they look like grass or a flower bed. I don’t have any info on the designer or where they can be purchased, or anything else for that matter, but I just thought they were smart and nice-looking.

via Juxtapose

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Scaffoldage

Architecture, photography, tumblr, construction, buildingsArchitecture, photography, tumblr, construction, buildingsBeing related to a structural engineer, we probably notice scaffolding more than most. We even have the occasional vacation photo that includes a close-up of some unique type of scaffolding, though we’d have to confess to some eye-rolling on our part.

That said, I was so surprised at how much I loved the site Scaffoldage.com maintained by Shaun Usher. Fantastic! All the images are amazing and interesting for different reasons. Some for the sheer beauty of the photo; others for the incredible feat of the workers actually positioning themselves on the precarious structures; and still others for the unique abstract designs and patterns they create. Such an original idea and a bit addictive.

Check it out here.

via My Modern Met

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Vacation

We’re on vacation till the end of next week, so postings will be a little sporadic. In the meantime, feel free to peruse older posts by clicking on the various photos in the sidebar or, maybe, you prefer by category from the sidebar dropdown menu. Or, leave it to chance by clicking on the “Random Post” icon for, well, random posts.

If you really want to go crazy, “like” us on our Facebook page by clicking here or on the facebook icon at the top right of the page. You can also subscribe via the RSS feed or by email at the bottom of this page. SO many options!

Enjoy and thanks for reading.

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15 Alice Lane Towers: Paragon Architects

Architecture, South Africa, Paragon Architects, cool buildingsArchitecture, South Africa, Design, cool buildings, collabcubedArchitecture, South Africa, Paragon Architects, cool buildingsClick to enlarge.

Paragon Architects in Johannesburg, South Africa, have dramatically changed the skyline of the Sandton section of town with the new 15 Alice Lane Towers. The 17-story (hard to believe it’s not taller) corporate offices for a major law firm is incredibly striking with its curved facades and its neon-lit silhouette in the dark. The two towers are linked by a narrow, vertical atrium which houses walkways and bridges that spiral upwards and allow skylights to fill the space with light. The towers are clad with glass and aluminum, the latter used as an energy-saving measure to reduce direct sunlight, as well as add the sculptural element.

The abstract surfaces create changing effects throughout the day, depending on the light. Paragon Architects not only pushed the boundaries in the visual aspect of the towers, but in the environmental aspect as well, in their selection of materials and positioning of the building.

Paragon has definitely “raised the bar” in South African commercial architecture, as their website proudly touts.

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PostlerFerguson: Brotzeit

Concept, design, airline food, industrial design, cateringConcept, design, airline food, industrial design, cateringClick to enlarge

PostlerFerguson, a multidisciplinary design consultancy studio in London, explores issues of technology, culture and economics through design strategies.

Brotzeit is a concept that PostlerFerguson came up with in rethinking Economy Class airline food. Their solution incorporates beautiful, clean design with interesting tastes, textures and smells, making the whole journey a memorable one based on the food experience. Brotzeit is aimed to inspire airline industries to rethink their approach to meals and combine the eating experience with the brand itself.

I know I would enjoy this, though I can imagine that some might take issue with the proposed portion sizes…

Read more about it on PostlerFerguson’s site.

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OK Go + Pilobolus: All Is Not Lost

In the new video by OK Go (always a clever crowd-pleaser), “All Is Not Lost”, they teamed up with the modern dance troupe Pilobolus. There’s something for everyone: cool dance; kaleidoscopic effects; human typography…what’s not to like! If you’re a Chrome user, you can view the interactive HTML5 version here and type in your own message…which is, apparently, “way cooler.”

via Wired

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JR in NYC and his Inside Out Project

JR in NYC, Houston Street Mural, Street ArtJR in NYC, Houston Street Mural, Street ArtJR in NYC, Soho street art.JR in NYC, Soho Street ArtJR, street art, NYC, Inside Out ProjectFrench street artist JR has hit the streets of New York City in full force this summer. With several murals up in downtown Manhattan and a series of smaller posters up in the Bronx, the closely cropped expressive faces and eyes are a fun surprise to see as you round the corners of NYC.

JR’s wish? To use art to turn the world inside out. His Inside Out Project is a “large-scale participatory art project that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work.” The three of us participated in this ongoing event, with the help of our buddy Rence, and set out to post our poster under one of JR‘s massive Soho murals. As you can see above, our poster is a mere speck on the wall by comparison (click to enlarge for better view) and clearly no JR but, regardless, we had a blast putting it up and it’s great fun to be a part of this international well-meaning project.

If you’d like to take part in JR’s worldwide project, just upload a photo to the site and you’ll be contacted to make a donation before receiving your poster.

All images are linked to their respective flickr photostream. Those that don’t, were taken by us.
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Silhouette Chair

furniture design, industrial design, Evie Group, Sydneyfurniture design, industrial design, modular seating, Evie GroupSydney based design studio The Evie Group creates housewares, lighting and furniture with its own unique personality.

The Silhouette Chair, made with birch ply and black rubber lining, is a modular seating system that, closed up, is a chair for one, but when opened can form a curvaceous bench for two or a decorative art piece; all left to the user’s discretion. So many possibilities!

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For Use: Packing Tape Installations

Cool packing tape installations, art, numen, Austria, Croatia Cool packing tape installations, art, numen, Austria, Croatia Cool packing tape installations, art, numen, Austria, Croatia Numen/For Use was formed by Sven Jonke, Christoph Katzler, and Nikola Radeljkovic, with offices in Vienna and Zagreb. Among their many projects, For Use has several impressive packing tape installations; elevated tubes created by winding tape around columns and extending it to create passageways strong enough for people to enter and interact with the structures. In some views they look like monster cobwebs.

The top installation was created for a 20-artist exhibit at the Schirn Kunsthalle Gallery in Frankfurt. The installation was completed in approximately 200 hours using 50km of transparent packing tape.

The second structure above was createdas part of the International Design Festival DMY in Berlin, at the Tempelhof Airport, out of 700 rolls of tape (38km) in 240 hours (4 days).

The last project above, represented the Vienna Design Week at the Mikser Design Expo, Belgrade.

via Juxtapoz

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Hakone Open Air Museum Pavilion

Hakone Open Air Museum, architecture, wood constructionHakone,Tetsuka, architecture, wood construction, cool playgroundClick to enlarge.

The Timber Pavilion, or Woods of Net, at the Hakone Open Air Museum was designed by Tezuka Architects in Tokyo. Composed entirely of wooden beams without any metal parts, the structure is built with 589 pieces of timber using ancient temple construction techniques to build this, ironically, futuristic form. The total floor area measures 528 square meters. Dramatically hanging from the interior is a huge colorful climbing net reminiscent of Ernesto Neto’s art installations, designed by artist Toshiko Horiuchi Macadam.

Inside and out, a very cool structure.

via Spot Cool Stuff.