1. HOT TOOLS in Gallery Libby Sellers
ESCAL & University of Art and Design
The students had used glass blowing techniques of Matteo Gonet, and tested the effects of their creativity on the media. The final output was a sculpture with a very strong visual form. Interesting effects were achieved by moulding the glass using various objects and tools, for e.g. a movable wooden chamber was used to mold the molten blown glass into a unique form.
The interesting element that I noticed in this process was that the moulds used to make these fragile glass objects, were all hard, solid and rugged material that one would normally not associate with glass. The output of pairing the lustrous with the rugged creates a new perspective of viewing the final sculptors.
The sculptors had a new dimension to them and as a designer, I feel it is important to keep experimenting with unique material. You never know what you might stumble across.
2. DIGITAL CRYSTAL in London Design Museum
Swarovski with contemporary designers
Design Museum for the exhibition in collaboration with Swarovski, the rapid development of the digital age challenges designers to explore the future of memory. London Design Festival: Design Museum exhibited a series of "light painting".
Design of nowadays; no longer simply emphasize the sense of design as in the past. Crystal - always attract people's attention in the first time. In such a case, the Digital Cristal design series form a new picture via changing the light’s static and dynamic. By catching the eye contact, the image is constantly changing the sense of the vision form in people’s mind. Therefore, natural materials are integrated with hi-tech is the trends of the design.
Through this exhibition, I see the use of simple materials, distinctive innovation. The designers are also maintaining natural attributes of the product materials.
3.DESIGNERS IN RESIDENCE in London Design Museum
Nature has created the most extraordinary and useful materials. By designing sustainable products using Biotic materials such as wood and natural fibers, environment isn’t affected, and consumption is reduced.
Here we can see Designers and Artists who appreciate the gifts that nature gave us, and design functional products and beautiful pieces of art, just by using natural materials which are modified with the use of high technological methods which are now more than ever available.
After all, apart from being beautiful, design should respect nature which gave us the materials and the inspiration to create art, and design products. The combination of those two, gives us as a result, the best forms of design.