Grey Grasshopper is the brainchild of Nicola Murray. Her products are not yet for sale on the retail market. Her first collection of cushion covers and bags have their premiere on these pages. Check it out!
Each Grey Grasshoppercushion cover is screen printed by hand on organic linen.
This bag is from the Muse collection
This is a design from the Grey Matter collection.
kOOii'sSign of Design will keep following Nicola and her work so watch out for future entries
For those who are too young to know, the Memphis group comprised of Italian designers and architects who created a series of highly influential products in the 1980's. Prepared to mix 20th century styles, colours and materials, it positioned itself as a fashion rather than an academic movement, and brought a sense of humour to the serious world of design. The leading figure was the grandee of italian design at the time Ettore Sottsass.
Picture: Tahiti, lamp designed by the memphis Design Group in the 1980s
Memphis was as much loved as it was loathed. But like much of the 1980s stykle, Memphis seems to be making a come back. Its influence on contemporary design can be spotted in the work of Marcel Wanders, Jamie Hayon and Karen Ryan.
Picture: Table and chair by Karen Ryan
Picture : Sideboard by Jamie Hayon has an unmistaken memphis identity
So you see the 1980 was not all about bad hairstyles and strange silhouettes. The design was pretty bad too. Or was it brilliant?
When talking stylish homes, I often wonder how many more Arne Jacobsen egg chairs and a Eames lounge chairs we can take on? The design interiors of the tasteful and the modish around the globe are often more alike than your average twin sister. That's why I like these images by photographer Menika Vanderpoorten that show us just how the other half lives (make that 95%). These interiors in her native Sri Lanka transport us to a time and place where a home is a personal space rather than a design display.
Look at these amazing paintings by Sri Lankan artist Dumith Kulasekara. Some people find them disturbing, or not to hang over the sofa. I think they have so many layers, they never get boring.
In yesterdays post I listed the beautiful palace made of felt that was part of the past exhibition in the Hewitt-Cooper in NYC.
Felt is a non woven cloth that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing wool. While some types of felt are very soft, some are tough enough to form construction materials. Felt can be of any color, and made into any shape or size. Nomadic tribes around the world from Siberian reindeer herders and Mongolian horse breeders to Turk men shepherds and Tibetan yak drivers use felt for clothes and dwellings.
Felt lends itself for many interior design purposes: from furniture upholstery, carpets, bags and other gadgets.
I have selected a few favorites:
From South African DesignerRonel Jordaan, come these cushions covered in pebbles.
Keep checking his website for a new series of Rock Cushions to be launched soon.
Italian designer Paola Lentiuses plain or decorated felts in pure new wool for carpets and cushions. The almost tailor like production of each piece, the variety of colors, dimensions and patterns create unique and one-of a kind rugs.
The coolest stuff however is by Berkeley, California based designed Josh Jakus,who really used industrial waste as material for his design. check out his website where he sells his cool stuff online.
Here is a preview: All items are made from factory excess grey industrial wool felt. Jakus' sculptural tabletop piece (top with apples) folds flat for storage and then unfurls to hold coins, keys, fruit, and other small treasures. Individual units can be joined laterally to form a landscape. The UM bags, when unzipped lay completely flat for dry cleaning or storage.
Ellen Lupton's new book, Design Your Life: The Pleasures and Perils of Everyday Things is co-authored with her twin sister Julia. Design Your Life takes an irreverent and realistic look at everything from toasters, bras, and pillows to housekeeping and procrastination. Speaking to readers who are both design-conscious and consumer-wary, Design Your Life taps into the popular interest in design as well as peoples desire to make their own way through a mass-produced world. watch her 35 min video here
A Palace Yurt Installation in the Museum Cooper-Hewitt in NYC on display this summer. Designed by Janice Arnold (American, b. 1953) and entirely made of versatile felt. Watch the video here
This time the best of Bollywood is coming from Colombo Sri Lanka where Mahen Chanmugampaints the most delicious images of the Lord Ganesh. The artist studied the postures and the iconography of the deity for more than 15 years and gave it a contemporary twist. The picture above is a painting of the Vinâyakî, which is a feminine form of Lord Ganesh; she has an elephant head and the body of a female. See more of this beautifulMahen work on his website. A book about his work is for sale for 15 US$ Mahen takes commissions and sells smaller versions of his work for smaller budgets.
Finally I have found a platform where I can make public my secret love affair with the Little Peopleby London based artist SLINKACHU. I know nothing about this artists but the romantic little worlds he creates with his little people is made up of dreams and fantasy. I am not sure about what exactly but I feel transported to atime when I was little and everything seemed to hold a secret and there was a longing about living the life of a grown up. Something like that... I wish I could be one of Slinkachu's a little people. It probably has a lot to do with not being noticed. Many of us feel we are not being noticed, as much as we are not noticing many.
The street can be your museum as these image prove. Street art is free art and often of the more interesting. kOOii spotted this beautiful artwork (top) at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.
These posters were spotted in the Metro: and these at La Bonne Marche on the Left Bank:
kOOii celebrates the arts and design with a view on building a community to share concerns for sustainability and the survival of our planet. On this blog you will find street art, funky design, interiors, graphic art and everything else contemporary
Grey Grasshopper is the brainchild of Nicola Murray. Her products are not yet for sale on the retail market. Her first collection of cushion covers and bags have their premiere on these pages. Check it out!
Each Grey Grasshopper cushion cover is screen printed by hand on organic linen.
This bag is from the Muse collection
This is a design from the Grey Matter collection.
Picture: Tahiti, lamp designed by the memphis Design Group in the 1980s
Picture: Table and chair by Karen Ryan
Picture : Sideboard by Jamie Hayon has an unmistaken memphis identity
Keep checking his website for a new series of Rock Cushions to be launched soon.
The coolest stuff however is by Berkeley, California based designed Josh Jakus, who really used industrial waste as material for his design. check out his website where he sells his cool stuff online.
All items are made from factory excess grey industrial wool felt. Jakus' sculptural tabletop piece (top with apples) folds flat for storage and then unfurls to hold coins, keys, fruit, and other small treasures. Individual units can be joined laterally to form a landscape. The UM bags, when unzipped lay completely flat for dry cleaning or storage.
Mahen takes commissions and sells smaller versions of his work for smaller budgets.
and these at La Bonne Marche on the Left Bank:
