Recycled bottle lamp

Don’t get me started on recycling – it is a huge can of worms which is hard to keep to a short, single weblog post. But this is a way to recycle which I can get behind. Soon to graduate, Shelley Spicuzza, has designed a system which allows you to use your old drink bottles to good effect. The image above shows green bottles, such as Sprite or Mountain Dew but you could use red or other colour to create other effects by mixing them up.

Seems like a bit of a recurrent theme recently lights, I’ll be looking farther afield to find different stuff for you all next one. Promise.

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Just shred yesterday.

Everyone has a bad day occasionally, but sometimes you wish you could just shred its existence. We stumbled upon this yesterday whilst looking for something else (like all the best internet finds) and thought it was worth sharing.

Designed by Susanna Hertrich the principal is obvious but effective. Advancing with time, the shredded remains of yesterday are left to fall to the floor like a huge bundle of string. It could be used as great metaphors for the passing of time, the intertwining of memories and the jumbling up of history. The truth is that it is just cool, and looks good too. We want one, but I know that I would be spending too much time resetting the date so I could just see how long the shredded remains get.

You could also add a huge fan to make a great streamer effect that would really upset your colleagues.

Click the image for more information and other great works by this talented designer.

The Fragile Lab

One of our favourite cities is Antwerp. Dunno why but the place rocks. The atmosphere there is a great one and there is a real sense of style it feels French but isn’t that far away.

Architecturally there is a great deal going on too, old and new mix with ease and shops pop up in old bank buildings and the such like. The shops exude a great deal of style too with upper class boutiques and (my favourite shop) the grungy, down-to-earth-skater-hang-out, ‘Fish ‘n’ Chips’, which is well worth a look if you are trying desperately to be down with the kids… I still am, I just like the place.

Anyway, this recently caught my eye and you are bound to see why. Nestled in between the standard buildings is a glass fronted piece which has multiple usages – shop, office, apartment and storage space. It’s designed by the Import/Export Architectural practice and we like it lots of plenty. The building is in the trendy part of town and deserves to be. It’s full of angles which are not quite 90º and seems to be very fragile (hence the name) but is just as strong and sturdy as any of the buildings around it.

It’s not hard to see why this building works in Antwerp, it has a great feeling which could only be bettered if it overlooked the river. I’d think about relocating the business to this building if I could live there too. As usual, click the picture above to get more images from the ‘OWI // Office for Word and Image’ website. Nice.

Images © Dujardin Filip

Pol Sofa

Some of my favourite stuff is designed by the Bouroullec brothers from France, so I was happy when, the other day, whilst looking for a new sofa the other day I came across a new one that the French pair designed for Kartell in Italy. It’s called Pol and is stunning. They intended to reduce the number of bits that are attached to a traditional sofa, like armrests, cushions (!) and stuff like that to drive the cost of production down.

Consisting of two similar shaped foam blocks wrapped in a fabric tube (sounds crap but it really isn’t!) and closed at each end without overstitching. The whole thing is supported by a light metal structure to help maintain shape and position. One of the selling points here is the ability to put a couple of the pieces together to create a mattress.

I’ve never been really bothered about a nice sofa, I do actually like to sit and lay on the floor at home when I watch TV and stuff, but this is one I would actually sit on should I buy one… might even sleep on it occasionally… well if they say you can I am gonna, cos you know it is not gonna be cheap.

Everybody says, nice one French furniture geezers.

Filthy Luker

An artist which came to my attention recently goes by the name of Filthy Luker (great handle, youth!) and produces some of the most intriguing things I’ve seen in a long time. It took me back to the late 1980’s when, in the UK at least, there was a fashion of taking inflatable things to football matches and that grew to specific inflatables at specific clubs. You could that tell you were in Hull by the inflatable Cod each and everyone carried to the match (Canaries in Norwich, Sheep in Cardiff etc.)… erm, enough of the memory lane stuff – people are looking at me funny.

The point being this artist produces great things with inflatables (and many other media) that remind me of my younger days. His work could be slightly (heavily?) inspired by Banksy, who has done some great things in London and, indeed, most cities around the world now, both political and not. I think that the thing that appeals to me is that this work is somewhere between Graffiti (something also close to my arty heart) and installation art.

Click the picture above to go to his Deviant art page for a bunch of pictures of his work. The pieces to look out for are the AMAZING tentacles that he places in buildings extruding from the windows and doors and an awesome piece called ‘Urban Regeneration’ in which a giant inflatable seedling makes its way through the trampled soil. Brilliant.

Good work ‘Filthy Luker’, I reckon this is the most inspired I’ve been all week.

Dandilight – like a dandilion but lighter.

One of the up and coming designers currently doing the rounds is a guy called Benjamin Hubert. He graduated Loughborough University in 2006 and has steadily been picking up awards and much acclaim since then.

He designed the wonderful light, shown above, called Dandilight whose inspiration comes from those little Dandilion seedheads that litter the final weeks of springs, and looks incredible. It is also worth noting that the lamp looks equally as good when it is switched off, being a cast white resin.

The light is available in two formats, floor standing and hanging, in two sizes (300mm and 450mm dia.) and is available to commission, no details of price other than that.

This piece really does go to show that inspiration is all around us, be it industrial, static, or as in this case, organic and is there for the taking. We must all suck up the inspiration, be it first hand as in Benjamin’s case or second hand, in the case of anyone who sees the lamp Benjamin has created.

Everybody loves these lamps and wants to have a few installed in the new office when we get in there, maybe even have a few on slightly flexible stands near a fan so they sway in the breeze… Mmmmm. Thanks Benjamin, we love this, we just hope if doesn’t give us huge hayfever!

Corking wine carafe

OK, I’m not into wine that much, but I have to say this is something I would put on the dinner table full of a nice red. It is a sculpture and a Carafe all in one, which brings a wonderful centrepiece to your table. They are made by a French artist/sculptor called Etienne Meneau, who sells these wonderful pieces via the internet, you can click the image above to go to the web blog where they are based to see many many more of them.

The idea that someone has questioned why the traditional Carafe is the way it is, is inspiring to us. It might not be the most usable, might not be the most aesthetically pleasing to everyone, but it is a great example of what can be achieve if you ask the simple one work question… “why?”

The rest of the works on the website remind us of the work of Thomas Heatherwick (see this post SIT OOT for more of his work). Great company to be in.

Everybody says good work Etienne.

Julia Galdo

Once in a while a photographer comes along with a portfolio which inspires us. This is one of those cases, Julia Galdo is an American photographer, born in Florida and working for a broad range of clients, her work is beautiful. Stunning portraits and lighting to melt you, used by fashion magazines and other fashionable clients. Have a look at her website to get a glimpse of a true artist. Very inspiring work which evokes thoughts of the American Artist/photographer Gregory Crewdson through the detail and story told in each image.

Everybody says well done Julia.

Gormley in Rotterdam

One of the new additions to the Rotterdam Skyline (amongst the many new buildings) are the solemn figures popping up around the Kunsthal. They are works by the British artist Anthony Gormley, who has for years been using these figures in thought provoking places around the globe.

At least one of the sculptures has produced more than a couple of phone calls to the authorities due to it’s position on top of the Erasmus Hospital. From it’s lofty position looking east over the Kunsthal towards Kralingen, it’s silhouette has caused many people to believe it to be a jumper readying themselves to take the plunge from the edge. (Insert your own comment here regarding art’s effect on the public and their lack of understanding thereof)

Anyway, the wonderful, and somewhat haunting, figures are currently on show right now, until the 14th of September. I would really recommend you get down to the Kunsthal to see them in person.

J-Peg… a peg that is a “J”. Literally.

It’s just a short one this time. Here at Everybody we love a pun as much as the next man, and here is a great example of taking an everyday, accepted term and transforming it using it’s literal meaning.

The designer Jack Crossing has produced this great idea. He called them J-PEGS. Everybody can see why. Great job. Nuff Said.