3.8 million dollar bag anyone?

Ok so I am a major bag lover, with my every day Oliver Bonas being my new favourite, but I already have my eyes on yet another brown Fiorelli that looks like every other bag I own. However I just saw March's issue of Time magazine where I was blown away by the latest over extravagant and completely useless accessory.

"1001 Nights Diamond Purse", valued at $3.8 million. This heart shaped bag has 4,500 diamonds, of which 105 are yellow, 56 are pink and 4,356 are colourless, the total weight is a whopping 381 carats. It was made by 10 artisans from the Dubai based designer, House of Mouawad which has been around since 1890. Now tell me something, this bag that apart from being bloody ugly would be impossible to actually use, not to mention a complete risk against your life. Please bring me something, leather smelling and big enough to fit like 200 objects of my everyday crap in and I am good.

Raiding the Past : Understanding the Present

Now normally 60s 70s fashion isn't my thing by I enjoyed Dominic Lutyens talk due to how much contextual knowledge he has to surround his areas of interest. He backed up the growing Eclectic culture by challenging it against modernism, in the same way the new black and gay rights movements were battling against the establishment in the early 1970s.

With the origin's of style established he threw the audience in to Kitsch culture, one of my true favour          words in describing the way some people choose bad taste. After looking in to it further I established the opposite of bad taste this sort of heightened beauty, and I found both in Tom Fruin's Glass sculpture.

Over the top, multicoloured shed, the best example of clashing ideologies I actually like.

This example also links on to Dominic's next area of interest the nostalgia of art deco, and the aspect of escapism it offers. I found plenty of graphic examples of art deco being revived as well as plenty of truly visionary work for it time.

I found a personal interest in the early Gay Pride movement as I have worked my local gay pride event in Brighton for years (as security but hay). The brake throughs represented in the fashions worn were something sensational, and lead to the creations of style icons such as David Bowie perfect example of Glam Rock, then Mick Jagger as a fine example for Androgyny.

It wasn't just music but design that was influenced by style, from boutiques such as Mr.Freedom and John and Molly Dove's famous lip t-shirts; to architectural mysteries by Robert Venturi. Celebrities working their ways in to aspects of social change better than any politician. Dominic had tens of examples of great works of culture. The 60s an 70s were a true turing point for a more independent and more adventurous wave of style.

Grayson Perry - The Walthamstow Tapestry

Grayson Perry originally specialised in controversial decorative ceramics but recently has moved on to create a giant 15m by 3m tapestry now displayed in the  Victoria Miro gallery in London.
It's a complex collection of a life journey from birth to death surrounded by brand imagery that literally effects every aspect of someones life.
The contrast between the traditional method of communicating a storyline through pictorial images, compared to the modern use of brands and technological content creates a ironic final appearance. The clash of colours and controversial nature of the representation of such a negative society today makes it difficult to except this work without dividing it up and looking at each section critically. The pure size and mass of content involves makes this tapestry a collage of clashing story lines and controversial effect. I personally can only see the beauty in it as a hole; as a complete collection, as if I look to closely I might loses track of the detail and craftsmanship and only focus on the harsh realities of its contents.

Linn Olofsdotter

Linn Olofsdotter is a women of many talents which she has applied, not just in her art but made them ready for commercial use in Levi designs, Gap t-shirt logos and CD covers to name a few. She has a very fresh style using bright neon colourssometimes juxtaposed with very dull backdrops, like in my selected group of pictures. The attributes of the figures stand out due to the inky green and brown backdrop that they are swimming through.

The contents of her work can seem very natural, she uses themes of nature and animal life but stuffs her designs full of patterns made up from similar materials, yet they explode of the page, quite literally. The first image is of a merwomen slouching somehow gracefully across a dim sky, her tail extending across the page nearly four times as long as her torso. Unlike other surreal work, Olofsdotter’s use the human body is not shocking in it manipulation but fanciful in its composition. The lack of faces, or just single features, draws similarities from early surreal work with distorted facial expressions and combinations of eyes or appendages.

I plan to keep a close eye on Olofdotters work, because as she becomes more commercial with applications of her artwork she loses a bit more of the unusual or uncanny theme, which makes surrealism surreal.  

OBEY THE GIANT

RICK POYNOR, OBEY THE GIANT - REVIEW COMING SOON

Rick Poynor Uncanny: Surrealism + Graphic Design

26.01.11 -  2:30 Huddersfield University

 Rick Poynor is a british writer and international speaker who studies graphic design, typography and  other visual cultures. At his lecture on Surrealism and Graphic Design, Rick described his commissioned exhibit in the Czech republic and all the research he undertook to complete it. Rick split this talk in to sections he thought were important in the surrealist movement:

permanent revelation
the exhibition
the polymorphous image
the surreal body
cabinet of wonders
the liberated letterform

Rick tracked the surrealist movement through the decades and all across europe, not just with local surrealist designers in Czech Republic but across Poland and in it's high in the art capital of Paris. Rick has a unique enthusiasm for a movement which has always been more shocking than pleasing. The Uncanny, not just the title of the lecture but the theme, the feeling of familiarity yet unknown at the same time and by bringing the subconscious thoughts forward you can get the raw ideas. Rick proved that surrealism has a rich history and is still influencing design today, coming all the way from the early works of Dali, all the way to Ed Fella's pictorial letters of the 90s.

Best Hotel Service. Fashion trunk. by The Berkeley, London

Yet another winner from Wallpaper* Design Awards 2011, this time for Best Hotel Services. From The Berkeley, London you can obtain a steamer trunk made by Norton MacCullough & Locke, which consists of 11 draws filled with vintage accessories and jewellery to borrow for the night to wear at your leisure or purchase if anything takes your fancy. The contents change according to the season, but the trunk itself is timeless, made from leather, metal and woodwork the level of craftsmanship is so exquisite that each piece is unique and exclusive in its attention to detail. I am not sure about the idea of a hotel hiring out a wardrobe but the vehicle in which it arrives is something I would except gladly.

The Berkeley itself is stunning, in fact all of the Maybourne Hotel Group chain are. I have a favourite room the Pavillion Conservatory Suite, for it's stunning view and it's furnishings finish the room completely with ever detail making the room more palatial and comfortable to move around in while staying relaxing and un hotel like. It may cost you several handmade trunks per night cost wise, but if you are wandering around Hyde Park take a turn down Wilton Place and spare it a glance.

Best Watch Design Awards 2011 Wallpaper* Magazine

J12 Retrograde Mysterieuse

For the tenth anniversary of channels J12 range, this new watch has the crown set on top of the dial as not to disturb the bezel. This may make the watch has a lovely circular edge but means when the minute hand reaches ten past it then spins backwards for the next ten minutes at double speed and reaches the twenty past. This may make the design too complex for the average use but the beautiful undisturbed finish is lovely. Chanel's previous J12 watches experimented with a variety of coloured jewel details as well as surrounds, but the Mysterieuse is unique in its exposure of the inner workings. 

When I backtracked to look at the complete J12 collection on the Chanel website I was struck by the fluidity of moving between products with rising and falling menus an images. I enjoyed spending several hours perusing the in's and outs of Chanel's latest collections. 

www.chanel.com