Hailing originally from Stockholm, Sweden, this design studio, although rooted in it’s Swedishness, is a celebration of nomadic travel, adventure and the convergence of cultures. Their designs capture simplicity combined with a passion for prints and patterns and are a demonstration of a craftsmanship within a global modernity. Oyyo is working with local communities around the world to create quality bold, enigmatic products such as the recently launched No.1 Cotton Dhurrie collection hand-woven by a community of craftspeople near India’s Blue City, Jodhpur made with machine-free techniques dating back centuries and vivid vegetable dyes derived from local plants. Drawing from a rich variety of inspiration from the Nordic textile arts and crafts heritage to the Bauhaus movement to Surrealist artist, Salvador Dali, the studio will release one or two products per year, working up a core collection of textiles, furniture and accessories.
Magical Contamination
Microbiologist Antoine Bridier-Nahmias brings us a hidden beauty found in his collection of experiments on his Tumblr account. A working collaboration with nature, these biological hap-hazards create stunning patterns and shapes that would envy any graphic designer. A textural palette of dusky pinks, blues and greens clouds over the clinical canvas of a plastic petri dish on a lab table. He describes his works as magical contaminations noting that there is no secret ingredient, just random reactions of mould, bacteria and yeasts and their varied characteristics. Under Antoine’s watchful eye, the process takes at least fifteen days to mature and develop. They are in fact, life forms documented at a precise moment in their existence through photography. This fusion of art and science celebrates human curiosity and wonder but also reveals a human desire to contain, refine and control the natural world and its processes.
Zack Seckler
Zack Seckler’s aerial images of Botswana wildlife exceed our expectation of the normal reportage in essence of ‘National Geographic’ terms. Salvadore Dali once said that his paintings are more of self-coloured photographs, here we see the opposite as the artist describes his experience: ‘Being above the ground at such low elevations, and having the ability to precisely manoeuvre, was like gliding over an enormous painting and being able to create brushstrokes at will.’
To tend towards a monochromatic palette, gives each piece a focus, but doesn’t limit our eye to drop and fix to a singular point. Each time we review it, our perspective changes, sometimes more on the animals, vegetations, or to gaze longingly on the ripples against these salt ponds. It questions you, as if it is a state of mind.