Thursday, July 26, 2012

nouveau reframed

Update: Project was just suckerpunched - be sure to check it out.

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bonsoir-paris-logoOur conventions in architecture are to always work within the frame, the box, the cube. I suppose artists are the same in many ways – their work is so often defined by an edge or frame. Bonsoir Paris released a series of frames which begin to negotiate form within the construct of the frame itself, in a way reorganizing the frame to suit the aesthetic.
From the website:
DURAMEN is a series of handmade wooden sculptures. Born of a simple impulse, the one to break with conventional ways of exhibiting, Bonsoir Paris and its team have imagined a series of frames so strongly mistreated that they have become unrecognizable. Their wish is to break the properties of the compound, a form of compromise as minimal and it is efficient. They found a subtle twist while remaining faithful to a primitive form of revolt, without getting lost in vain styles effects. The choice of noble materials (Oak, Fir, Wenge, Pear, Linden) and the quest for finesse, enables them – with the DURAMEN series – to position themselves on the razor’s edge between two opposites, that of the deformed and that of the elegant, instinctive and thoughtful.
[website]
In terms of craft, no computation was used: hand-carved, sketched, hand-carved, sketched, done. Not sure if the distinction matters though – the end product is still pretty affective.
Also note the background: the formal paneling in clean white. Working in contrast, each index supports the other: the raw, fluid wood aesthetically reinforces not only the frame (being “melted”), but also the frame engaged with the wall beyond. It allows some motion to occur in the raw wood frame that would be lost in another setting.
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Wasmuth Portfolio

Ausgeführte Bauten und Entwürfe von Frank Lloyd Wright

Following the release of the Wasmuth Portfoliob Le Corbusier, van der Rohe, and Gropius, all working for Behrens in Berlin, purportedly stopped work the day the portfolio was released. I don’t know which is more incredible: those three designers all working in the same shop or that they (supposedly) stopped work, apparently in review of the monograph.

In any case, the portfolio (both volumes) is hosted in all its entirety online for anyone to check out. If you like hand rendering or Wright’s work, it’s a great find.

link: lib.utah.edu

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