Design Pier capture the preciousness of time and the fragility of a moment
Design Pier returns for Designart Tokyo 2020, compiling a selection of high-end design objects that capture the preciousness of time and the fragility of a moment and compels them to experience life to its fullest. The selection includes unique and precious pieces that challenge commercially made objects' homogeneity and brings a refreshing perspective, creating an emotional attachment between products and users.
Design Pier returns for Designart Tokyo 2020, compiling a selection of high-end design objects that capture the preciousness of time and the fragility of a moment and compels them to experience life to its fullest. The selection includes unique and precious pieces that challenge commercially made objects' homogeneity and brings a refreshing perspective, creating an emotional attachment between products and users.
DAZINGFEELSGOOD (DFG) is a Singapore based design practice founded by Kiat Ng and Karen Chiam in 2015. Guided by design fundamentals, the practice reflects on rational and reduction approaches to explore, design, collaborate and create works that span across furniture, graphic and spatial design disciplines.
The practice has led DFG to produce works that are represented at international art and design platforms including Art Stage (Singapore), Maison&Objet (Paris), SaloneSatellite (Milan), and received recognition from A’ Design Award (Italy), Asia Design Prize (Korea) and Bolia Design Award (Denmark).
Objet is a series of modular planes in the expressions of geometric shapes connected in a methodical arrangement to create assemblages that function as lighting.
Title: Objet
Year: 2020
Dimensions: 500 x 500 x 500mm each (A series of 3 artworks)
Material: Acrylic with dichroic film
In my work I try to find a good balance between what is made and what is found. I want to submit to the nature of fired-clay, and keep certain evidence of my existence. That is my pride as a maker. I like boundaries and rules. Craftsmanship is very important to me.
I make vessels sometimes. Sometimes, I create an object with the intention of creating a vessel. When I take various kinds of minerals, clay, and different parts of Earth, arrange them in a specific way then heat them in my kiln and I feel like I am making a new type of rock in a very short time. The actual rock cycle in nature goes on for millions of years. In my lifetime I hope I can illustrate the process through my practice and bring it into the domestic settings and environments for people to experience.
Pim Sudhikam (1973/ Thailand): Pim holds a Bachelor of Industrial Design from Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, and a Master of Fine Arts from HDK Gothenburg University, Sweden. Since 1998 Pim has been working with clay as her primary medium, investigating pottery as material, process and content. Her works include collections of objects, sculptures, and large-scale, site-specific installations. The works explore a balance between what happened and what being made while she tries to bring natural phenomena into the domestic context in the form of vessels. Pim has taken part in exhibitions, symposia, and residencies in Thailand and abroad. She has received “Awards of Excellence in Arts and Crafts” from the Ministry of Culture, “National Invention Award” from the National Research Council of Thailand, and an Honourable Mention from the 39th Ceramic Competition Gualdo Tadino, Italy. Pim is a board member of the Thai Ceramic Society and elected Council Member of The International Academy of Ceramics (IAC). Her studio is built among trees and gardens in the middle of Bangkok.
The Slim table, available in different sizes and heights, was designed by Matthias Demacker for Sovet. The designer sought the perfect balance between elegance and minimalism to create a model that can surprise the lines' lightness. Offering a selection of finishes that can fit any environment, Sovet's expertise in using materials added value to the model.
About Sovet: Sovet blends the Italian glass art tradition and the contemporary design inspiration to create furniture that speaks an original, elegant and versatile language. The company provides innovative material inspirations, combining elegance, sustainability and minimal design, focusing on the quality of the materials and the craftsmanship, the versatility of the project and the sustainability of the production process. Sovet is a new culture of living for home & contract spaces.
StudioEJ is a Seoul based design studio focusing on furniture and interior design.
“We try to make scenes of space that are created through unique relationships among objects and space.”
Printed Light 2020 is a shelf containing poetic moments drawn with natural light found in interior spaces. The light which is common in everyday life-light coming through the curtains in the morning, red light coming through the blind in the late afternoon and always nice rainbow (prism effect) on the wall-are applied to the spaces of different sizes to induce a warm light experience.
Happy Pixel intends more active and dramatic conversations with objects, which is interaction by applying a mirror to the lenticular as a pixel. If you apply a mirror to the naturalized pixelated image and reflect it on the mirror which is a part of the pixel, you will find a moment assimilated with the natural image.
With several years of working experience for architectural firms, she started her practice focusing on experimental and conceptual projects in a wide range of fields from small objects to space design. Her approach to design is to create a special and unique experience taking a fresh perspective on the mundane.
“Not what it seems to be”
Our memory is molded by daily social interaction with environment. We store the experience in our memory and we shape our own belief and faith.
We tend to judge and make decisions based on what we know. But more often things are “Not what it seems to be”.
“Not what it seems to be”, the massive and masculine objects lead us to believe that they are made out of Heavy Black Iron, yet in contrary all the objects are made of light weight Recycled Carton. Once interacting with the objects, you would find out that they are not merely objects, but an instrumental pair of Maracas filled with natural seeds creating sound inside. Deceiving our expectations, they challenge our sense of perspective and question our own memory and faith while planting a New Memory through interacting with the pieces. Reminding us that Memory is Re-Created every day yet it is a Fragile, Mortal, and Fallible “Object” veiled by a thin layer of Rusting Faith.
THE DESIGNER
Wataru Sakuma is a Philippine-based Japanese designer with a strong background in fine arts. Famous for his creativity and ingenuity, Wataru uses even the most basic of materials, like paper, to create functional yet artistic pieces for urban living. His respect for nature and his ability to see something beautiful in discarded or overlooked materials gives his work conscience.
For more information, please visit: www.designpier.co or http://designart.jp/designarttokyo2020/en/exhibitor/design-pier/
Exhibition dates:Oct 27th – Nov 3rd, 2020
Hours:11:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Omotesando Hills Main Building B3F, Space O
Address:4-12-10 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
About Omotesando Hills
Omotesando Hills is a unique cultural/commercial complex, emerging as the new face of Omotesando, which has transmitted various trends as the hub of Japanese fashion and culture.
The six-level atrium (three stories above ground and three underground stories) at the heart of the main building is complemented by the 700m “Spiral Slope” ramp (“the second Omotesando”) spiraling around the atrium space in an incline roughly equal to that of Omotesando. At the center of the atrium space is a grand stairway (from the first basement to the third basement), leading to a 548㎡ multi-purpose space, called “Space O”, in the third basement which serves as a base for imparting information.
The exterior wall holds a 250m long LED display called “Bright-Up Wall”, illuminating the nightscape of Omotesando.
These creative spaces are combined with “selective” stores mainly positioned along the Spiral Slope, “MEDIA SHIP.”, involved corporations, participating artists, and trend-conscious people who gather at Omotesando Hills combine together in order to evolve the complex into a new facility with unparalleled expressive ability. It is the venue for various events related to fashion and art and continues to generate the latest news.
British Art Installation “Please Be Seated” in Chinese Mainland
Swire Properties kicked off the highly anticipated tour of “Please Be Seated” in the Chinese mainland in collaboration with British design firm Paul Cocksedge Studio. From now till 1 November 2020, the large-scale installation will be open to the public at the Temple Plaza of Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li Chengdu, engaging the community through an interactive art experience.
Crossover collaboration with Paul Cocksedge Studio will present the studio’s first-ever touring public art installation across the Chinese mainland
Swire Properties kicked off the highly anticipated tour of “Please Be Seated” in the Chinese mainland in collaboration with British design firm Paul Cocksedge Studio. From now till 1 November 2020, the large-scale installation will be open to the public at the Temple Plaza of Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li Chengdu, engaging the community through an interactive art experience.
The debut of this significant art piece across its retail projects in the Chinese mainland resonates with Swire Properties’ commitment to offering world-class art and cultural experiences for local communities to enjoy. This is the first international showcase of the giant public art piece since its critically acclaimed debut at the London Design Festival in 2019. Following the Chengdu stop, “Please Be Seated” will travel across the country to Taikoo Hui in Guangzhou, Taikoo Li Qiantan in Shanghai, and Taikoo Li Sanlitun in Beijing, where it will become a permanent installation in the capital city.
"Please Be Seated" was designed by Paul Cocksedge Studio to respond to urban life's dynamic nature, reinvigorating how local audiences interact with space and the community. The 15.2 meter-long installation features' waves' of wood rising up to form arches for people to walk through and curves under to create space for people to sit, lie and relax. Echoing Swire Properties' intense focus on sustainable development, the piece is fabricated from 1,440 planks of sustainably sourced timber.
“We’re delighted to partner with Paul Cocksedge Studio to bring this ambitious art piece to four of our retail centers in the Chinese mainland,” said Tim Blackburn, Chief Executive Officer, Chinese mainland, Swire Properties. “This installation, which merges innovation, sustainability, and art, is a wonderful showcase of our commitment to creative placemaking in our communities. With this piece, we invite the public to explore and engage with the artwork on their own terms, interacting with it so that they become an integral part of the piece themselves. We feel this sends a powerful message of the personal relationships we form with art and speaks to our vision of curating exceptional art and cultural experiences within our developments.”
“Please Be Seated” was an instinctive response to public space and the rhythm of people moving through it. We are excited to work with Swire Properties again to create a piece of work that engages with the public and puts them at the center of the design,” said Cocksedge. Paul Cocksedge Studio has a longstanding creative partnership with Swire Properties and has created ambitious pieces of work, including “Gust of Wind” at HKRI Taikoo Hui in Shanghai and “Spectrum” the Swire Properties VIP lounge at Art Basel Hong Kong 2019.
About Paul Cocksedge Studio
Paul Cocksedge is an internationally acclaimed British designer, who has spent the last decade building a reputation for innovative design, underpinned by research into the limits of technology and materials. His catalog of work spans design products, architectural projects, installations, and sculptures, all infused with the sense of simplicity, joy, and wonder that has come to characterize his work. In 2018, Cocksedge designed a light installation for COS’s Coal Drops Yard retail space, and in 2019 created a VIP Lounge for Swire Properties at Art Basel Hong Kong. Current projects include the studio’s first bridge, and first project in South Africa, as well as Slump, an exhibition with Carpenters Workshop Gallery. Cocksedge's Here Comes The Sun – a socially distanced picnic blanket - is also featured in V&A Dundee's Now Accepting Contactless show.
Visit the studio's website at www.paulcocksedgestudio.com
About Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li Chengdu
Located in the city center of Chengdu, Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li Chengdu is a mixed-use development jointly developed by Swire Properties and Sino-Ocean Group. Opened in 2015, the development comprises an open-plan, low-rise and lane-driven shopping mall, and The Temple House - an understated luxury urban hotel with 100 Rooms and 42 Residences.
About Swire Properties
Swire Properties develops and manages commercial, retail, hotel, and residential properties, with a particular focus on mixed-use developments in prime locations at major mass transportation intersections. Swire Properties is listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and its investment portfolio in Hong Kong comprises Taikoo Place, Cityplaza, and Pacific Place. In addition to Hong Kong, the Company has investments in the Chinese mainland, the United States, Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
Japanese Artist Ryotaro Muramatsu / NAKED launches a Global Scale Artwork Connecting the World's Prayers for Peace
Ryotaro Muramatsu / NAKED: the artist and founder of the Tokyo based creative company NAKED, INC., has launched a new art initiative Breath/Bless Project. The Project aims to install his digitally augmented artwork Dandelion in multiple locations around the globe to create an interactive artwork that connects people’s prayers for world peace. Although Muramatsu is known for his many works incorporating interaction and communication in projection mapping spectacles and immersive art exhibitions as creative director of NAKED, INC., this is the first time for him to present an artwork that connects internationally in real time.
Ryotaro Muramatsu / NAKED: the artist and founder of the Tokyo based creative company NAKED, INC., has launched a new art initiative Breath/Bless Project. The Project aims to install his digitally augmented artwork Dandelion in multiple locations around the globe to create an interactive artwork that connects people’s prayers for world peace. Although Muramatsu is known for his many works incorporating interaction and communication in projection mapping spectacles and immersive art exhibitions as creative director of NAKED, INC., this is the first time for him to present an artwork that connects internationally in real time.
Our world has changed in so many ways since the beginning of 2020, and difficult times continue. People all over the globe, from every background, wish fervently for a better world. It is my hope that our shared adversity will not divide us but will, instead, bring us closer together.
This artwork is alive.
As more Dandelion installations are set up around the world and more people participate, their many prayers will connect within this large and ever-expanding artwork.
Ryotaro Muramatsu / NAKED
A Public Art that Connects Cities and Creates a Network of Unity
Breath/Bless Project aims to install Ryotaro Muramatsu’s Dandelion in locations around the world. Dandelion is an interactive artwork that evokes the feeling one gets from making a wish on a dandelion. When the viewer blows a breath on the Dandelion installation, the fluff floats away, eventually landing on the ground and producing a new flower. Breath / Bless Project will not only install Dandelion artworks in real locations but will also have a platform online. This way, Dandelion can be accessed by anyone from anywhere in the world. People’s prayers for peace will connect both physically through the installations, as well as virtually on the online platform. For example, when someone in Paris blows their breath on an online Dandelion, the fluff will float to Tokyo and produce a new, beautiful flower at a real Dandelion installation in Tokyo. As more installations are set up around the world and more people participate, their many prayers will connect within this large and ever-expanding artwork. Real locations and the virtual world synchronize, as the network itself, which connects the many prayers, becomes the artwork.
The Journey begins in Tokyo and Singapore
In early November 2020, Breath / Bless Project will reveal its first series of Dandelion installations at multiple locations in and outside of Japan. Planned locations are Tokyo Tower, Shibuya Station area, Moomin Valley Park in Saitama, and Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay. In accordance with protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19, this particular series of installations will replace the interactive “blowing” element with a sensor that responds to physical gestures. The project will be offering special content such as virtual tours through Gardens by the Bay, for participants who support the project through its fundraising campaign.
Breath / Bless Project Fundraising Campaign: https://camp-fire.jp/en/projects/view/314807
The Inspiration Behind Breath / Bless Project
After the Paris Attacks in 2015, Ryotaro Muramatsu developed the concept of Breath / Bless Project, which calls for the placement of Dandelion installations at monuments of peace around the world. He believed that even sites which remind us of a tragic history could be connected with the world’s prayers for peace and bring out smiles and hope for the future.
This year, as the world becomes ever more divided in many different ways, is the perfect time to deliver the fundamental message of peace. “I believe that this artwork can bring out the kindness in people, as it reminds us of the pure, simple childhood feeling we all remember and can relate to beyond the constraints of race, nationality, or belief”, says Muramatsu.
“In past years, I have created works that integrate virtual and real, digital and analog; what I wish to offer the world today is an artwork that transcends barriers to unite people’s hearts. Flowers need no words. They are completely impartial. Their seeds fly to new places and bloom there. Through this art, I hope to spread this spirit, to plant flowers of peace throughout the world.”
How to be a Part of Breath Bless / Project
Find out more about how to enjoy this artwork from your own city and how you can support this global scale art project through Ryotaro Muramatsu / NAKED and NAKED, INC.’s official platforms.
-Official project website: https://breathbless.com/
-Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/breathbless.project/
-Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/breathbless.project
-Fundraising platform: https://camp-fire.jp/en/projects/view/314807
-NAKED, INC. official website: https://naked.co.jp
Helsinki Design Week celebrates design in September 2020
One of the largest design festivals in the Nordic countries with children and families, The 16th annual Helsinki Design Week is held from now until 13 September 2020. The festival events will again spread throughout the city: from museums to markets, from seminar halls to secret shops, from studios to showrooms and from offline to online events and encounters.
One of the largest design festival in the Nordic countries with children and families
The 16th annual Helsinki Design Week is held from now until 13 September 2020. The festival events will again spread throughout the city: from museums to markets, from seminar halls to secret shops, from studios to showrooms and from offline to online events and encounters.
Helsinki Design Week is a series of responsibly organized events of varying sizes. It is not a festival at one single venue holding thousands of visitors. With regards to possible restrictions on venues or visitors due to the international health crisis, the festival has the means and opportunity to multiply into smaller events or use new digital methods of exhibiting content.
Helsinki Design Week’s statement for 2020 is Commitment Matters – a theme that raises questions regarding the meaning and value of designing. The phrase is a stimulus for thought, and the theme is meant to be used as a tool for everyone taking part in the festival: the event organizers, the exhibitors, the seminar speakers and the visitors. The leading partner of the festival, the City of Helsinki, is supporting the safe and responsible organization of the festival.
The festival visuals celebrate the legendary Helsinki Olympic Stadium, combining its functionalistic architecture with vivid and energetic colours from the athletic world. Historic photos from the 1940s will highlight the design and history of the restored monument.
The main venue: the Olympic Stadium
The main venue of Helsinki Design Week will be the Olympic Stadium. With its large and airy spaces, it is a perfect spot for safe encounters. The stadium is open on 11–13 September for guided tours and for Children’s Design Weekend.
The Stadium is also home to the main exhibition, a series of installations on design, architecture and fashion, presenting interesting design from unique pieces to large scale setups. A review of top young designers is not to be missed. The Olympic Stadium will also host an event that may well become the biggest PechaKucha Night ever held. The evening of September 12 is reserved for 10 presentations, each less than 7 minutes long. The idea of PechaKucha, Japanese for “chit chat”, is simple: 20 slides and 20 seconds of commentary on a theme chosen by the presenter.
Helsinki Design Week’s programme for children develops an understanding of architecture and design.
Helsinki Design Week continues the festival tradition of a dedicated programme for children and families for the seventh consecutive year. A sports-themed Children’s Design Weekend 12–13 September takes place at the renovated and modernized Helsinki Olympic Stadium. Children’s Design Week at Annantalo 7–13 September focuses on design workshops. Schools familiarize learners with design through PechaKucha presentations with a toolkit produced by Helsinki Design Week.
“Our programme for children offers such activities for the whole family that makes architecture and design familiar to citizens from childhood onwards. Thus we guide them to observe their built environment with a critical eye,” says Helsinki Design Week Programme Director Anni Korkman.
Helsinki Design Week (HDW) produces the children’s programme, as well as all other programme content, in partnership with external event organizers. All children’s events are free of charge.
Children are guests of honour at Olympic Stadium.
A part of Helsinki Design Week’s in-house production, HDW Children’s Design Weekend is held at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium on 12–13 September. The weekend features a route designed for children and built on the famous green of the Olympic Stadium. The route’s five playful sports sites combine sports and art, making design visible at the same time. Parents can join their children’s sports performances with instructions stored in QR codes. At the end of the route, children make their trophies and pose with them on the podium. The trophy materials are available on the Helsinki Design Week website so that the programme can be duplicated at home.
As a part of Helsinki Design Week’s COVID-19 safety guidelines, registration is required to attend this free event.
Workshops at Annantalo
Annantalo, the City of Helsinki arts centre for children, young people and families, celebrates Children’s Design Week 7–13 September with nature- and future-themed programme.
Workshops on the themes are held at Annantalo for groups from schools and daycare centres. For example, 5th graders can create art with soil materials at the Annantalo yard in a workshop that combines mythology, architecture, art and biosciences.
A forest installation has been erected at the Annantalo yard: trunks of trees from thinning forest operations have been used to create a playful space resembling a forest. Three exhibitions on display inside the arts centre focus on ecology, the environment and the bond between a mother and her baby.
Most of the workshops are held outdoors. Safety is ensured indoors with sufficient distances maintained between occupants. Some of the workshops require registration.
Children’s Design Week at Annantalo
PechaKucha at schools
Learners at Helsinki comprehensive schools follow a Culture Path from one grade to the next. The path includes suggestions for cultural contents for each grade, and every learner should make at least one cultural visit in a year.
“Culture Path ensures that every learner has an opportunity to be familiarized with various cultural contents and cultural operators during their basic education,” says Pedagogical Specialist Panu Hatanpää of the City of Helsinki Education Division.
“Familiarizing learners with culture through Culture Path visits is part of new creative learning at Helsinki schools, and it is closely linked to familiarizing learners with design and design thinking,” Hatanpää emphasizes and points out that design is included in Culture Path contents.
There are no visits by school groups to Helsinki Design Week events this year. Visits are replaced by a toolkit produced by Helsinki Design Week for organizing PechaKucha presentations, one of the Design Week’s essential programme items. PechaKucha is a form of storytelling, in which the presenter talks about a topic with 20 images, 20 seconds about each.
“PechaKucha is a good method for learners to practice making a presentation in front of an audience and to talk about topics of importance to them. For the audience, PechaKucha is a good method to practice listening,” Hatanpää says.
Helsinki Design Week’s PechaKucha toolkit is freely available to all. (Please note that the toolkit content is in Finnish only).
Design education in Helsinki
Design education is also in focus at Design Museum: A&DO Learning Centre for Architecture and Design organizes DesignLab: Mini Jam at the museum and online on 11 September. Talks by specialists and design-themed jamming shed light on future architecture and design learning and on the tone that public participation brings to urban design. The City of Helsinki supports the event.
“Helsinki has been a pioneer in architecture and design education for many years,” says Chief Design Officer Hanna Harris of the City of Helsinki. “We have several teachers and schools in Helsinki dedicated to the theme.”
For example, the Arabia Comprehensive School teaches design as part of creative problem solving that crosses subject boundaries, and the methods of design education are used in all subjects on grades 1–9. The Kruununhaka Comprehensive School for grades 7–9 offers a design track for local students.
“The City of Helsinki has joined forces with design organizations and projects to develop contents for architecture and design education for use by teachers, and we have participated in varied design collaborations. Our next step is to develop long-ranging activities within the City organization,” Harris asserts.“ I consider the following to be of very high importance: architecture and design education provides children and young people with means for creative problem solving and for the development of their identity. They learn to comprehend their neighbourhoods, to understand planning and various materials, and they obtain tools to participate in building our joint future.”
For more information, please visit: https://www.helsinkidesignweek.com/festival/
1% for Art EXHIBITION curated by Design Pier (I)
Design Pier proudly partners with Designart Tokyo to curate and organize the Design Week’s main event joining the 1% for Art program and presenting a driver array of highly creative design objects by design studios from the Asia continent.
Design Pier proudly partners with Designart Tokyo to curate and organize the Design Week’s main event joining the 1% for Art program and presenting a diverse array of highly creative design objects by design studios from the Asia continent.
The exhibition proposes a dialogue that reflects on the changes in international design, provoked by an alternative design thinking originating in Asia. While design in Asia used to be conservative and risk-averse, the new generation has a hunger for reinventing, rediscovering, and imposing its own unique design thinking.
New Asia designers proudly embrace their traditions and boldly transform it into objects. Their works show strong marks in their respective cultures. At the same time, Western designers go beyond simple imitation, and they genuinely integrate the philosophy and the attitude of different design trends in Asia or influence a new design thinking while collaborating with Asian designers.
About the 1% for Art Exhibition, 19 artists and studios from different countries across asia will showcasing their art and design pieces, they are A SPACE, ALVIN T, APICAL REFORM, APIWAT CHITAPANYA, BINGQI LEE, COALESCE, GABRIEL TAN, H220430, HANS TAN, JARROD LIM, JATRA, KARINA SUKAR, NISSA KINZHALINA, RYAN L. FOOTE, SHIGEKI YAMAMOTO, STUDIO JUJU, TEERAPOJ TEEROPAS, TIFFANY LOY and VU HOANG ANH.
About 19 artists of their art and design
About A SPACE
ASPACE is a design & art studio based in Brooklyn NY, co-founded by Anna Aristova and Roza Gazarian in 2016. Our collaborative pieces are an attempt to bring in the timeless beauty of nature to contemporary lifestyle, whether it’s functional furniture or a decorative object. The essence of each of our creations is a sense of a vast open space, where ideas, thoughts or feelings spontaneously arise, evolve through experimentation and ultimately manifest as a functional art piece. Each object is a one-of-a-kind creation that beckons to look beyond mere form and material, and to connect to the primordial nature of the elements. Our work is a constant balance of opposites -- improvisation and thoughtful planning, intuition and knowledge, organic and geometric, timelessness and impermanence
About Collection: KOGE.
ASPACE series is inspired by Butoh dance. In KOGE series I am exploring the Butoh dancer from inside, and how the physical body, organs and blood veins, are built. Rather than particular shapes of organs, Anna Aristova and Roza Gazarian interested in the whole body system and how it’s functioning, and the connection between inner functioning and what people see in the dance performance.
The pieces are made with saturated pigmented clay mixed with stoneware. They are then partially painted with engobe and shino glazes, and then obtain natural flying ash glaze during the firing.
The sculptures were fired in a wood-firing anagama style smokeless kiln with inverted flame bouri box, called Sasukenei, which was built by master Masakazu Kusakabe in 2015.
About Collection: KOGE.
My series is inspired by Butoh dance.
In KOGE series I am exploring the Butoh dancer from inside, and how the physical body, organs and blood veins, are built. Rather than particular shapes of organs, I am interested in the whole body system and how it’s functioning, and the connection between inner functioning and what people see in the dance performance.
The pieces are made with saturated pigmented clay mixed with stoneware. They are then partially painted with engobe and shino glazes, and then obtain natural flying ash glaze during the firing.
The sculptures were fired in a wood-firing anagama style smokeless kiln with inverted flame bouri box, called Sasukenei, which was built by master Masakazu Kusakabe in 2015.
About Alvin T
AlvinT Studio is a multidisciplinary design firm led by founder Alvin Tjitrowirjo. With expertise in Product Design, Interior Design, and Art direction. Their design brand is dedicated to reviving the Indonesian design industry and communicate Indonesia’s distinctive design character and high-quality materials and craftsmanship to both locally the rest of the world. With Indonesia enriched with a unique culture in history and art, alvinT is inspired by the traditional techniques and how inimitable innovation can be formed in the modern approach.
Angan derives - Angan derives from the Indonesian word that means wishful, the design illustrates a state of mind where thereís a tension between the hope of progress and the fear of changing. A condition that is encaged many individuals in Indonesia at the moment. This sentiment is portrayed as a shelf, forming a cage like silhouette made out of natural rattan poles with brass shelves. The cage poles made out of natural were designed to be un-even creating different size of opening. There are three levels of brass shelves in matte finish to place small objects or accessories.
Lumping - Lumping is derived from ìkuda lumpingî (ìlumpingî horse, flat horse), a traditional dance originated from Java commonly made of rattan. It is believed that the dance illustrated historical war against the Dutch colonial forces. These historical references were transformed into a modern playful outdoor furniture drawing a light and dynamic silhouette. The graphical woven texture of the body injects a dose of local flair, providing a nice contrast to its solid black or white aluminum frame.
Lumping is suitable for both indoors and outdoors. Also available in natural rattan.
Mingle - Mingle is a bench for three people. The idea behind it is that in Indonesia we need furniture that communicates what a modern contemporary Indonesia design is. This is expressed by using a local identity wrapped in an international visual language and it has a meaning to provoke dialog between its users in order to start a conversation.
Apical Reform
Founded in 2011, Apical Reform is a collaborative design studio dedicated to creating immersive experiences led by art and innovation. Led by Owner and Creative Director Amrish Patel and Design Director Darshan Soni. Our latest installations can be found in the Dubai Design District such as the My Dubai City sign, Melt, and Sonuslexica, The year of Zayed artwork and The year of tolerance artwork. We are also privileged to be working with the Ithra Museum, Saudi Arabia. We have also Ventured into Kinectic artwork with ‘Stingray’ and ‘Tornado’ in collaboration with the MB&F MAD gallery.
Piranha - Retaining the external anatomical contours of the carnivore, its actuality is imagined as a bio-mechanical machine, transposed by a metaphorical system of gears, levers and linkages fabricated in thin sheets of mild steel. The intricate details, prominent in the layers of juxtaposed geometries, add multiple dimensions to the artwork as it reveals the hidden.
MASAYA
MASAYA is a brass furniture brand with the fundamentals of producing artistic and unique products. All our products are inspired by nature where each one of it has its own story. We pay attention to details, striving to deliver the best and most different products in the market.
MASAYA’s products designs stem from our everyday fundamental shapes and enhancing those simple shapes into a product that fits in every home. Like our mother brand, Asia Collection, our products are majestic, with the combination of brass, stainlesssteel, marble, and one of a kind wood. We serve modernized furnitures that fit into anyone and everyone’s lifestyles.
Designart Tokyo 2019
Date: October 18th (Friday) - 27th (Mon)
Area: Omotesando- Gaienmae Harajuku/ Meiji-jngumae Shibuya - Ebisu Daikanyama-Nakameguro Roppongi-HIROO Shinjuku Ginza
For more information, please visit Designart Tokyo website: http://designart.jp/designarttokyo2019/
About the supporting organization
DesignSingapore Council’s (Dsg)
DesignSingapore Council’s (Dsg) vision is for Singapore to be an innovation-driven economy and a loveable city through design by 2025. As the national agency that promotes design, our mission is to develop the design sector, help Singapore use design for innovation and growth, and make life better in this UNESCO Creative City of Design. Dsg is a division of the Ministry of Communications and Information.
JAPAN’S FIRST CONCEPT STORE IN HARAJUKU - TIFFANY @ CAT STREET
JAPAN’S FIRST CONCEPT STORE IN HARAJUKU, ―TIFFANY @ CAT STREET
Breakfast at Tiffany’s anyone…?
Tiffany & Co. opened its first concept store in Japan ― Tiffany @ Cat Street – in Harajuku on Friday, April 19. More so than any of the existing Tiffany & Co. stores in Japan, the experiential design for Tiffany @ Cat Street showcases the wit, creativity and timelessness of the brand. From jewelry to Home & Accessories, the store offers a thematically curated selection and presentation of iconic designs.
Tiffany @ Cat Street will be a Tiffany & Co. experience unlike any other. Unique for its elevated informality and playfulness, this dynamic space reflects an unusual and exciting expression of our brand,” said Richard Moore, divisional vice president—Global Store Design & Creative Visual Merchandising, Tiffany & Co
The futuristic architecture of the building coupled with the Tiffany @ Cat Street logo on an iconic Tiffany Blue® background makes the store truly stand out. Each of the store’s six levels presents a different selection of items and services. The caselines are complemented by a wall inspired by the famous Tiffany Blue Box® with floor-to-ceiling shelves to display pieces from jewelry and Home & Accessories collections, creating a captivating atmosphere.
“By opening this new concept store in an area where creative people gather for fashion, art and culture, we will showcase the brand in an environment that encourages customers to discover and rediscover the magical world of Tiffany,”
said Daniel Perel, president of Tiffany & Co. Japan.
The top floor will host the first Tiffany cafe in Japan, aptly named ―The Tiffany Cafe @ Cat Street. The café serves a range of foods and drinks from croissants and coffee to other New York City temptations such as hot dogs and cheese pretzels, and sweet treats such as Tiffany @ Cat Street donuts and cookies.
The first highlighted collection for the opening will be Tiffany T, the latest icon of Tiffany that embodies the energy and creativity of New York City. Also featured will be a curated assortment of items displayed in a unique way, from other iconic collections such as Tiffany HardWear and Tiffany Paper Flowers™ to the brand new Tiffany T True pieces. In addition, to celebrate the opening, limited edition charms in sterling silver, as well as in 18K rose gold engraved with the Tiffany @ Cat Street store logo are offered exclusively, while new Tiffany T Smile mini color pendant and bracelet sets in pink sapphire, yellow sapphire, and blue topaz made its worldwide debut at this special location.
Tiffany @ Cat Street was opened on Friday, April 19, 2019. The store layout is intentionally flexible so that it can be adapted and changed throughout its lifespan, creating a blank canvas for a rotation of Tiffany collections.
For more information of Tiffany @ Cat Street:
Tiffany @ Cat Street
Address: 6-14-5 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Floor area: 469.77 m2
URL: https://www.tiffany.com/jewelry-stores/cat-street
Tel: 0120-488-712
Opening hours: 11:00-19:00 (Cafe: 11:30-18:30 Last Order 18:00)