Simple playful furniture that reminds me of the chairs I used to sit on in primary school (in a good way of course) from Spanish born London based designer Tomás Alonso. This quote from Tomás's web site really sums up his work for me:
"The very simple aesthetic qualities of his objects reveal the expressive potential of each specific material, which is also his main source of inspiration, conveying an expressive immediacy which makes his products universal and transgenerational.
New series of prints from Cork based creative duo Feel Good Lost aka Brendan Canty and Conal Thomson. Feel Good Lost make layered short films and visuals for the like of Mmoths, Young Wonder, Slow Skies, Funeral Suits and a good few more and they're all there to see on Vimeo. These beautiful prints are on sale on their site or in…
Sayaka Ganz, the producer of these magnificent reclaimed creations believes that “the best way for artists to help reduce waste is to show how beautiful these materials can be, and what can be done with these mundane objects and materials. When we think of these things as beautiful, we value them. If we value our resources we will waste less.” This is an excellent way to perceive our world and the resources within it, as it is easily visible and can be a pivotal point to change our behavior. If we do form an attachment or a positive belief in regards to an object we would be less likely to throw it away and most people do not tend to see this, as they cannot break through the negative belief and label they have given to a used objects. There is more to an object after it is used and people need to be educated in regards to this to show them that they can be used as a material it self, to create another new and wonderful product like Ganz has done inspirationally.
Ganz explains –
“I only select objects that have been used and discarded. My goal is for each object to transcend its origin by being integrated into an animal/ organic forms that are alive and in motion. This process of reclamation and regeneration is liberating to me as an artist. Building these sculptures helps me understand the situations that surround me. It reminds me that even if there is a conflict right now, there is also a solution in which all the pieces can coexist peacefully. Though there are wide gaps in some areas and small holes in others, when seen from the distance there is great beauty and harmony in our community. Through my sculptures I transmit a message of hope.”
Sayaka Ganz also expresses how her Japanese Shinto beliefs were ingrained in her childhood. She was taught that all objects and organisms have spirits and that objects that were thrown away before they had reached the end of their usefulness would “weep at night inside the trash bin”. Upon developing her artistic side, using her Japanese Shinto beliefs, she started using discarded household items for her beautiful sculptures.
Could you imagine if this belief was integrated into every child’s development and the effects this could have for our future…
Upfragmented is one of my greatest achievements created at university. We worked alongside a great company called Co-oproduct as part of an upcycling project, which encouraged us to venture out into the world to collect used items and create a new product out of them.
This whole experience was a great eye opener as it allowed us to take part in various experimental procedures in order to find the right material to make a new product. I absolutely loved trying out new methods with items I would never have thought to use before…like putting polystyrene cups into the oven, or disfiguring an entire milk bottle in the oven due to the high heat. It was such an amazing thing to witness and document on as it just shows that these materials still have life in them…although the product inside them has completely finished, the packaging hasn’t.
Through the process of experimenting I found that I was deeply drawn to using glass due to its aesthetics and how dangerous it was. Having never worked with glass before I was determined to learn and produce something out of this amazing material.
Upfragmented is made out of reclaimed furniture and used wine bottles shards that were dipped and set into bio-resin.
Upfragmented can now be found on the Co-oproduct website, which also fully explains how I made this stool.
http://www.co-oproduct.org/component/mtree/glass/upfragmented
http://www.co-oproduct.org/component/mtree/glass/upfragmented
