Since Motion Is All // Dainius Bendikas

photo (c) Einar Smárason / Courtesy of Dainius Bendikas

Young costume designer Dainius Bendikas is a gifted storyteller by way of his whimsical collections. Each piece is exquisitely handcrafted, bringing a very “sculpted” look to Bendikas’ aesthetic… and they are certainly original.
Bendikas studied costume design in Lithuania at the Vilnius Art Academy where he presented various collections on an international stage by way of festivals and fashion competitions, as well as a few personal exhibitions. In January of 2010 Bendikas traveled to Iceland to participate in a student exchange program. While in Reykjavik, Bendikas completed an internship with Israeli designer Sruli Recht.

photo (c) Einar Smárason / Courtesy of Dainius Bendikas

His time spent in Reykjavik proved to bring great inspiration. In fact, it was the environment of Iceland itself that brought about the concept for his most recent menswear collection “Since Motion is All.” The young designer’s creative process usually takes route in his surroundings, studying the affect they have on his emotions, and from there he creates; “Experience and influence of nature around Iceland face the feeling, which later converted to abstract emotion, which lead to costumes.”

photo (c) Einar Smárason / Courtesy of Dainius Bendikas

Bendikas creates a story behind each collection and in this case the men who would wear his pieces are meant to evoke the feeling of “a motley crew composed of elements of diverse or varied characters” in a forever changing world. His designs bring the words resourceful or ‘functional” to mind, each piece an intricately crafted part of a larger story.

photo (c) Einar Smárason / Courtesy of Dainius Bendikas

The true joy, according to Bendikas, is in the process of creating his collections. He gets caught up in the whimsy and fantasy of the characters and stories that become the framework for each design. “I’ve always seen costume as a shield guarding the inner world –we all have it, we all treasure it. Then there’s the part where emotion comes to reality process of making and it’s the most important part, because when you make it whole particular emotions are flowing in the air and you feel like you are there, in that fiction.”

photo (c) Einar Smárason / Courtesy of Dainius Bendikas

Bendikas is only in his early twenties, which means there are many more collections to come. His fresh perspective and original style is one to keep on your radar and we look forward to many more of his fantasy-meets-science-fiction costume collections. That is, right after he completes his final year of his BA studies.

photo (c) Einar Smárason / Courtesy of Dainius Bendikas

photo (c) Einar Smárason / Courtesy of Dainius Bendikas

photo (c) Einar Smárason / Courtesy of Dainius Bendikas

photo (c) Einar Smárason / Courtesy of Dainius Bendikas

photo (c) Einar Smárason / Courtesy of Dainius Bendikas

photo (c) Einar Smárason / Courtesy of Dainius Bendikas

sources:

Dainius Bendikas

Düsseldorf // Container Architecture

photo © NRW-Forum Düsseldorf

In recent years the big LEGO-like boxed containers are not only limited to being seen at sea ports; architects have brought them to mainland and adapted for them a variety of uses ranging from high-rise apartment blocks in Melbourne and student housing in Canberra to the Guzman Penthouse addition in Manhattan.
 

photo © NRW-Forum Düsseldorf

photo © NRW-Forum Düsseldorf

Berlin – June 2011, the NRW-Forum Düsseldorf, invited renowned architects, designers, and artists from around the world to submit designs for container architecture.  With an overwhelming response, and with new and already existing designs, the models were reconstructed on a scale of 1:5 for the Container Architecture Exhibition.  More than 100 designs were submitted for consideration and every one of them will be included in a frieze of pictures running around the walls of the exhibition space; 24 were reconstructed, the tallest scaled model pierces the museum’s ceiling.
 

photo © NRW-Forum Düsseldorf

But what triggered the creation of this exhibition; why containers?  In the globalization era containers are seen as a symbol to forecast the whereabouts of the economy; empty container ships indicate a downturn; fully loaded container ships—or orders for new, even bigger ships—are euphoriant symbols of better times.  However, the Container Architecture Exhibition honors the significance of the empty container which offers diverse possibilities.  According to exhibition organizer Werner Lippert, ‘containers are a symbol of the way we live and dwell in our globalized, mobile, nomadic age,’ and also quoted ethnologist Hartmut Böhme, who described the container as a ‘fetish of the modern age’ that stands for cataclysm, mobility, and change.’  However, a container is more than that; it is the building type of the future; the addition, the new urban object of modern architecture.

photo © NRW-Forum Düsseldorf

photo © NRW-Forum Düsseldorf

Originally used nearly 60 years ago in ships as a method of standardized shipping, containers remain a hugely popular means of transporting goods around the globe.  The container itself, which is 2.44 meters wide, 2.59 meters high, and either 6.06 or 12.192 meters long, has been the globally standardized transportation unit since 1956.Thirty million of them can be found on the seas and oceans of the world. Today, the container is also a foundation of allure for numerous architects as they create entire student residences, prize-winning homes, and cruise terminals. They are perched as penthouses on New York rooftops or as parasitic architectural works on the roofscape of San Francisco. Piled on top of each other to create residential buildings in London or high-rise apartment blocks in Melbourne; designers are transforming them into mobile homes or stunning holiday homes.  As a micro-house, as a building that can provide accommodation at short notice when homes are in short supply or during catastrophes, as a temporary building, as a travelling brand store.  Such as Puma City which has travelled around the world.  Furthermore, they are used in art as a walk-in sculpture that doubles as a bridge over a river. 

photo © NRW-Forum Düsseldorf

Identical, robust, stackable, inexpensive and available all over the world containers are easy to erect and dismantle, sustainable and much more…  The Düsseldorf exhibit leaves no doubt that, with some imaginative effort, an empty shipping container can be much more than a symbol of a struggling or a prolific economy.  The Container Architecture exhibit, highlights the creative potential of the container and its unique ability to serve eclectic contemporary lifestyles.  It is no wonder, therefore, that architects, designers, and artists in all four corners of the globe are excited by what containers have to offer.  The ‘Container Architecture’ exhibition at the NRW-Forum Düsseldorf aims to offer a fascinating overview of what is possible.  … In short, the container is an idea with a promising future.  To coincide with the exhibition, the Chamber of Architects in NRW will be organizing a series of lectures on containers and architecture by renowned experts. 

The exhibition is supported by the Ministry of Economics, Energy, Building, Housing, and Transport of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and by the Initiative Stadtbaukultur (Urban Building Culture Initiative).

 

photo © NRW-Forum Düsseldorf

June 8, 2011 – September 4, 2011
NRW-Forum Kultur und Wirtschaft
Ehrenhof 2, 40479 Düsseldorf

photo © NRW-Forum Düsseldorf

photo © NRW-Forum Düsseldorf

photo © NRW-Forum Düsseldorf

photo © NRW-Forum Düsseldorf

photo © NRW-Forum Düsseldorf

The Geometry of God // Striking Kaleidoscopic Patterns of European Cathedral Ceilings

Photographer David Stephenson captures architectural triumphs at the intersection of art and mathematics.

If you’ve ever set foot in one of Europe’s Gothic or Romanesque cathedrals and looked up, you likely found yourself spellbound by the striking vaulted ceilings. If you haven’t, photographer David Stephenson allows you to do so vicariously with his Heavenly Vaultsproject — a series of magnificent kaleidoscopic photos that capture the singular blend of ethereal magic and patterned precision in these architectural triumphs at the intersection of art and mathematics, flattening the vaulted ceilings and distilling them to their essential shapes, recurring fractal-like patterns, and intricate detailing.

Many of these structures, particularly the Gothic cathedrals, were constructed in an era actively occupied with ordering the heavens and expressed in their mathematical nature was a microcosm model of the universe — perhaps a paradoxical proposition that rationality and logic could explain or convey the might of God to which these temples of worship aimed to attest.

Heavenly Vaults is a follow-up to Stephenson’s 2005 book, Visions of Heaven: The Dome in European Architecture

Sources: Maria Popova, David Stephenson

In Japan, Even the Barcodes Are Well Designed

BY CLIFF KUANG | 11-09-2009 | 5:14 PM

D-barcode specializes in turning barcodes into something fun and memorable.

Barcodes grace almost every product for sale. Given how much package real estate they command, why shouldn’t they look cool?

Since 2005, D-Barcode has been creating custom barcodes for a mostly Japanese clientele. They’ve even begun selling their wares to anyone who wants to license them, starting at $1,500 for the design, and $200 a year for licensing. A custom or exclusive use code will run upwards of $4,000–but given that companies spend millions on designing a single package, why don’t we see more detailed thinking like this? Middle managers spend weeks arguing about kerning–it’d be better if they spent more time rethinking every inch of such highly prized real estate.

[Via The Dieline, which has a selection of recent designs; another gallery here]

MECHANISCHER KÖRPERFÄCHER // Rebecca Horn

MECHANISCHER KÖRPERFÄCHER (BODY FAN 2) – REBECCA HORN

HOWL // Allen Ginsberg

gins berg’s “howl”

ANATOMY OF CHANGE // Yatzer

Anatomy of Change

published in: Fashion, Graphics on Yatzer By Stefania Vourazeri

 

photo by Mariano Vivanco, styling Nicola Formichetti, photo retouch by Chris Roome of Happy Finish // Courtesy of MUGLER

photo by Mariano Vivanco, styling Nicola Formichetti, photo retouch by Chris Roome of Happy Finish // Courtesy of MUGLER

photo by Mariano Vivanco, styling Nicola Formichetti, photo retouch by Chris Roome of Happy Finish // Courtesy of MUGLER

Being a tattoo lover or a zombie fan? It doesn’t matter anymore since skeletal body painting and macabre tattoos are back to fashion thanks to the premier MUGLER‘s collection -men’s ready-to-wear F/W 2011-12- ‘Anatomy of Change’.

photo by Mariano Vivanco, styling Nicola Formichetti, photo retouch by Chris Roome of Happy Finish // Courtesy of MUGLER

Rick Genest, the Canadian born ”Zombie boy” as he is most commonly known, is the new face of MUGLER‘s premier men’s collection and the Muse of creative director Nicola Formichetti.  Chris Roome from London based creative company Happy Finish has retouched these black and white images by top fashion photographer Mariano Vivanco, which are running as part of a larger campaign that include an online video launch featuring an exclusive new track fromLady Gaga’s new Album ‘Born this Way’. The new MUGLER campaign images are the brainchild of Nicola Formichettiwho is also the stylist of Lady Gaga.

 

 

The ”Zombie boy” is covered head to foot in anatomical tattoos featuring bones and muscle structures. In the black and white images, he looks like a Zombie Prince in a tuxedo and in leather pants. Shocking and bizarre these images are meant to revolutionize fashion photography.  Enjoy them!

photo by Mariano Vivanco, styling Nicola Formichetti, photo retouch by Chris Roome of Happy Finish // Courtesy of MUGLER

photo by Mariano Vivanco, styling Nicola Formichetti, photo retouch by Chris Roome of Happy Finish // Courtesy of MUGLER

photo by Mariano Vivanco, styling Nicola Formichetti, photo retouch by Chris Roome of Happy Finish // Courtesy of MUGLER

photo by Mariano Vivanco, styling Nicola Formichetti, photo retouch by Chris Roome of Happy Finish // Courtesy of MUGLER

photo by Mariano Vivanco, styling Nicola Formichetti, photo retouch by Chris Roome of Happy Finish // Courtesy of MUGLER

photo by Mariano Vivanco, styling Nicola Formichetti, photo retouch by Chris Roome of Happy Finish // Courtesy of MUGLER

sources:

HAPPY FINISH

TYPOMANIAC // Erik Spiekermann

„Berlin ist ein dickbäuchiger Typ in meinem Alter“
Nina Apin hat mich inter­viewt für das Mon­tagsin­ter­view in der TAZ:
„Ohne Erik Spiek­er­mann sähe Berlin anders aus. Die Busse wären nicht gelb, das Berlin-Logo kein Bran­den­burger Tor aus blau-roten Balken. Er sagt: Berlin braucht weniger Kam­pag­nen und mehr Wegeleitsystem …“
Weit­er­lesen auf taz.de. Das Foto ist von Detlev Schilke.

NEUE HAS GROTESK

OUTERLAND // Allison Davies ➜

landscape photographs and ambiguous self-portraits of haunting beauty. ➜

 

V.O.W N°11 // The Joy of Living by Max Fraser

By Stefania Vourazeri via Yatzer

Courtesy of ”Joy of Living”

V.O.W N°11 (Video Of the Week, 14 – 20 March 2011)

Sharing design and spurring hope at the same time is more than just an impressive thing to do. And that’s exactly what over 100 leading UK designers are doing! In an effort to galvanize support for Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centers design author Max Fraser, who lost his mother to cancer a few years ago, invited new and established UK designers to participate at the charity project Joy of Living and produce a unique art work. All the pieces of the participating designers will be exhibited at Somerset House in London from 15-21 March 2011 and will be sold at a fix price of £250 each. The profits will then go to Maggie’s charity, which helps people to build a life beyond cancer, helping to manage the impact of a diagnosis of cancer and to live with hope and determination.

http://static.crane.tv/player/flowplayer.commercial-3.2.5.swf?0.2654293088708073

The project invited designers to produce an artwork that expresses the Joy of Living-all starting from a simple sheet of A4 graph paper. The on-off works will be sold to people without knowing in advance the name of the designer who produced each work. In this way, people will “buy a piece to which they have a true emotional response”, Max Fraser explains. This noble cause aims to raise £50,000 for Maggie’s. Designers such as Tom Dixon, Terence Conran and Barber Osgerbyare participating and contributing one work each.

Courtesy of ”Joy of Living”

Courtesy of ”Joy of Living”

Courtesy of ”Joy of Living”

sources:

Joy of Living

HOW SOON IS NOW // Bas Jan Ader

Dutch/Californian artist Bas Jan Ader was last seen in 1975 when he took off in what would have been the smallest sailboat ever to cross the Atlantic. 
He left behind a small oeuvre, often using gravity as a medium, which more than 30 years after his disappearance at sea is more influential than ever before.

Bas Jan Ader Here Is Somewhere Else

Bas Jan Ader Here Is Somewhere Else

COLLISION // Pattern People

Inspired by parquetry, natural textures and fibers are inlaid within geometric compositions creating intricate, layered imagery in Pattern People‘s recent artwork designed for the exhibit, Collision. Opposites attract as soft knits gain structure, while marble and wood take on a quilt-like effect.

patternpeople collision 102

patternpeople collision 521