07/07/2015

Daily Tips: Allan Kaprow’s Posters

Allan Kaprow (1927–2006) is considered to be the founding father of the Happening, of Environments and Activities: terms that he continued to redefine throughout his career. With a wide selection of images, this publication, designed by Coline Sunier and Charles Mazé, documents Kaprow’s posters, a lesser-known side of his work, produced between 1953 for his first show at the Hansa Gallery, New York and 1996 at Kunsthalle Palazzo, Liestal. Most of these posters were designed by Allan Kaprow and are characterized by their aesthetic quality, the earliest ones in particular a combination of hand-lettered text and drawings and the later ones of photographs and typographic text in a minimalist style. More than merely advertising Happenings or Activities, these posters act as scores/tools for the participants to the Happenings and as everyday objects that blur the boundaries between art and life.

The Blogazine 
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06/07/2015

Design Parade 10 at Villa Noailles

Set in a modernist villa, designed in the 1920s for Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles – an art-patron couple who put their Modernist residence at the disposal of avant-garde artists – Design Parade couldn’t be a more fitting place for nurturing young talent. Now in its 10th year, Design Parade has witnessed the ‘coming of age’ of a number of contemporary practitioners. Following a simple and straightforward concept – an open call for participation, from which a jury selects 10 candidates who are then invited to exhibit their work at the Villa – Design Parade usually constitutes the first arena where designers who are fresh out of school test their ideas and see them positioned in the wider context. Juxtaposed to solo exhibitions of previous years’ winners as well as influential contemporary practitioners, the work of 10 selected designers takes on a different, more nuanced note – at the same time more serious and concrete as well as pleasantly naïve.

The selection of ten designers also implies a curatorial choice from the jury – this year composed of Pierre Charpin, the famous French designer who is also at the centre of a solo exhibition at the Villa, Fabien Cappello, a young designer based in London, last year’s winner Laura Couto Rosado, Barbara Coutinho, Jean-Marc Drut, Philippe Jousse, Catherine Tsékénis and Nathalie Du Pasquier. The way selected works form a narrative, a dialogue between each other contributes to how they will be understood and appreciated. This year’s selection, though, doesn’t lack eclecticism. From modular furniture to a folding sled, from organic materials to hybrid electronic devices, from recycled objects to conceptual lighting, from re-invention of ornaments to hi-tech use of bamboo, from the form of music to experiments with electrolysis.

Formally impeccable, these projects nevertheless fit neatly within the canon of design practice today. But is this the role of Design Parade? Its close connection with industry – the winner is awarded a year-long scholarship at CIRVA (International Glass and Arts Research Centre) – gives this competition a no-nonsense flair. All exhibited projects could, potentially, be put into production, and explore issues that are far away from notions of critical design that are at the centre of design research today. While this does not reduce the value of exhibited projects, it does position them in a different strand, posing a necessary question – can Design Parade really serve as the barometer for design practice today?

AUTHOR 
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03/07/2015

Next Big Names: Paris Fashion Week

For the past month, wenswear fashion weeks have followed their established schedule, with quirky Paris following the sombre runways of Milan. In Paris, we spotted some great emerging talents, that we believe have what it takes to develop even more and possibly grow to become the next big menswear names.

Julian Zigerli was born in Switzerland and graduated from the University of Arts in 2010 before founding his eponymous label. He is now showing his work at Paris Men’s Fashion Week, having previously showin in Milan, and has been enjoying huge success both locally and internationally with his colourful and playful design that focuses on combining sport references with colour, cut and interesting structures. Those were also the key words to describe his Spring 2016 collection.

Umit Benan, Istanbul-raised designer, that dreamed of a Hollywood career before redirecting his focus to fashion. Since then, he has studied at the Marangoni Institute in Milan, taken styling courses at Central Saint Martins and studied pattern-making at Parsons The New School for Design in New York. For his Spring 2016 collection, Benan has refined his take on masculinity with tropical Cuba standing for inspiration. Cuban references did not end with clothes: he brought Havana clubs to Paris by staging his show in a Peruvian restaurant on the outskirts of the French capital. The military stood for another clear style influence, with desert boots and army green populating his collection.

Pigalle, a brand that shares the nomination for 2015 ANDAM awards with Umit, was founded by Paris-born Stephane Ashpool. The brand aims to combine streetwear with old Parisian fashion traditions. The brand’s fashion show was not like many others – staged at the Palais Garnier in Paris, Oko Ebombo sang before Pigalle sent their Spring 2016 collection down the marble stairs. The collection stood out among other collections with interesting pieces such as suits paired with long layered shirts and Cossack hats.

These three, very different brands show that Paris has developed a great menswear scene with both established names and upcoming designers that are pushing the limits of traditional menswear design. It is interesting to see the development that has taken place in the latest couple of years within the field: the brands mentioned above are all part of a great change.

Hanna Cronsjö 
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02/07/2015

Breaking the Mould: Thomas Heatherwick

From the UK pavilion at Shanghai Expo to the famous re-design of London’s double-decker buses, the work of Thomas Heatherwick breaches the boundaries of traditional design practice. A graduate of London’s Royal College of Art, Heatherwick established his design studio in 1994, shaping a highly inventive approach to everyday design challenges – he combines novel engineering with new materials and innovative technology to create unusual, often sculptural, building forms. A new exhibition at recently re-opened Cooper Hewitt museum in New York celebrates the designer’s work with an overview of his career titled “Provocations”.

“‘Provocations’ celebrates the inventive approach of the Heatherwick Studio and reveals the design process and concepts behind the firm’s incredible products and buildings, from the rotation-molded Spun chair—recently acquired into Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection—to large architectural projects like the Learning Hub in Singapore,” said Caroline Baumann, director of the museum. “Cooper Hewitt is committed to shaping how people think about design and this exhibition will have visitors marvelling at Heatherwick’s groundbreaking work.”

“Provocations” examines the astonishing range of Heatherwick Studio’s practice by focusing on the design concepts behind projects ranging in scale from small personal products to a number of current large public and private architectural works. “Provocations” is curated by Brooke Hodge and will focuses on the design process of 43 of Heatherwick Studio’s projects through the display of prototypes, presentation and sketch models, full-scale mockups, objects, photographs and film and video footage. Among Heatherwick Studio’s latest high-visibility designs that are on view as part of Cooper Hewitt’s presentation are the Learning Hub at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, the 2014 Bombay Sapphire Distillery in Laverstoke, England, the 2012 redesign of London’s double-decker buses, known as the New Routemaster, and the cauldron for the London 2012 Olympic Games torch.

The Blogazine – Images courtesy of the Cooper Hewitt 
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01/07/2015

DIY – Skaters and Subculture in Richard Gilligan’s Book

DIY can be described as a movement within skateboarding which operates outside civic and societal norms. Through the utilisation of skater-constructed spaces, which are ordinarily, an adaptation of existing, but often abandoned, terrain in both urban and rural settings, the modern skateboarder transcends the need to exist within a more conventional environment. Utilising found materials, these unauthorised and often illegal temporary constructions have fascinated photographer Richard Gilligan, who has spent the past four years tracking down these ephemeral spaces throughout Europe and the US. His pictures show how skaters and DIY builders free themselves from the constraints of societal rules, creating their own domain in which to practice this peripheral pursuit. Gilligan’s photographs were documented in a book, simply titled DIY, published by 19/80 Éditions.

The Blogazine – Images courtesy of 19/80 Éditions 
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