Design Debate

Eva Jospin working on Promenade(s) for Maison Ruinart. Image from Ignant . Well, this one really is cardboard! (Unlike my last blog post .) I am mesmerised by the work of French sculptor Eva Jospin. She takes something so ordinary and transforms it, layer by layer, into dense forests, crumbling architecture, caves and imaginary landscapes that feel ancient, mysterious and slightly unreal. Up close, the corrugated edges become bark, stone and tangled undergrowth. Step back and the material almost disappears completely. I love that contradiction: cardboard is everyday and disposable, but Jospin somehow makes it feel monumental. Forests, ruins and imaginary landscapes Forests and architecture appear again and again in Jospin's work, sometimes so entwined that it becomes difficult to tell where one finishes and the other begins. ...

I love colour. That's an understatement. I am really drawn to surprising combinations, delicate hues rubbing shoulders with emboldened primaries. In art especially these are the pieces I tend to gravitate towards, whether they are portraits or landscapes, literal or impressions. Today I thought we could indulge a little in some abstraction with the work of Imi Knoebel.  Knoebel is German, born in 1940, he creates abstract paintings and sculptures that speak to modernist ideas and the Bauhaus movement. His work has been displayed all over the world and are sought after at auctions. Here a few pieces I particularly love.  Imi Knoebel, Anima Mundi 58-4 ED , 2012 Imi Knoebel, Anima Mundi 12-3 ED , 2010/2016 Imi Knoebel, Face 43 , 2003 Imi Knoebel, Fishing Yellow II E , 2007/09 Imi Knoebel, Anima Mundi 2019-4 ED , 2018/2021 Imi Knoebel, Anima Mundi 2020-15 ED. 1 , 2020/21 Imi Knoebel, Anima Mundi 31-5 , 2023 Imi Knoebel, Anima Mundi 91-3 , 2010 Imi Knoebel, Anima Mundi 16-5 , 2020 ...

Shannon Goff, a native to Detroit, created this brilliant cardboard car - by hand. Miles to Empty explores the car as a metaphor for American life.  The sculpture is of her Grandad's car, the 1979 Lincoln Continental Mark V, Goff recalls how riding in it felt like gliding on a cloud.  For her, this project was about demonstrating the high level of skill and ingenuity that was once at the core of the manufactory process, before 'the production line eradicated first the hand, then the whole individual'.  Originally found at The Jealous Curator .  

When it comes to room dividers I would normally favour the traditional screen. Perhaps adorned with elegant botanical forms, lacquered like the Chinese or a Seventies twirly wicker triptych. When it comes to modern designs I hadn't really explored what's out there. This morning I found a divider that looks pleasing to unfold - and it tidies away to the thickness of a book. This space-saver is ' Softwall ' by Molo, freestanding and flexible using honeycomb geometry. Perfect for privacy and a really pleasing backdrop - the wall becomes a piece of sculpture wherever it unfolds. Alongside Softwall Molo have created Softseating, magnetically connecting seating that is surprisingly strong. I love the golden brown colour. Although there is a real feel of the Scandi about it, Molo are actually based in Vancouver, Canada and are headed up by Stephanie Forsythe and Todd MacAllen. 

Today is the first official day of Spring, and I can just about believe it. Yes we had snow only yesterday but today despite the cold breeze there is a real optimism in the air. The sun is vibrant and the birds are in fine voice. As such I thought I would bring some elements of Spring to Design Debate today, to get us in the mood. Above: Spring Vista, a poster for the   Long Bay Youth Symphony Orchestra , Valentino Spring/Summer 2018 Couture , Chanel Spring 2015 Couture - Animated 3D Paper Garden , Giambattista Valli Spring 2018 Couture . Above: Spring garden Alphabet by Sarah Walsh , Spring 2016 Haute Couture Ralph & Russo ,   Spring 1904 Russian Avant Garde artist Kazimir Malevitch , The Awakening of Spring a travel poster by A A Moore, 1926. Above: A refreshing way to display flowers , Vintage Japanese travel poster , The Arrival of Spring a blown glass sculpture by Peter Layton .

In graphic design, my field of choice, you work within limits. Be that timescales, budgets, client briefs or self imposed boundaries. I like limits because I feel that is where creativity comes into its own. You can push against them, stretch them, come at them from a different angle, or fully comply (though that one is a rarity!)  John Bisbee is an artist who has limited his artworks by material - but not by creativity. He only works with nails. It was 30 years ago that he stumbled across a bucket with old nails rusting away into a solid chunk of metal. It sparked a curiosity with the humble nail, and to this day Bisbee creates installations and sculptures that stick to the motto "only nails, always different". Bisbee sees the nail to be as versatile as the line on the page, the limit is his imagination. From neat and tidy snaking piles to twisted writhing sculptures testing the form and shape of his chosen object - Bisbee explores it all...