Banksy. Ballerina. Delightful.

That is all.

—Via Colossal

Czech lighting designer and manufacturer Lasvit collaborated with Japanese design studio Nendo on a collection of lamps exhibited at the Salone del Mobile called “Still and Sparkling.” These, the Press Lamps, are our favorite:

Nendo is about “giving people a small ” ! ” moment.”

Lasvit’s company vision is about preserving and building on “the thousand-year-old Bohemian tradition of glassmaking using procedures and handicraft skills passed down through generations to fulfill our vision of introducing glass as a medium of design and illumination.”

Spanish company OneMoment has re-thought the shoe to invent fully biodegradable shoes that cost 10 Euro per pair.

According to OneMoment, both “the product and its production processes have been designed in a sustainable manner.”

The packaging for the shoes is also biodegradable, and OneMoment claims that 30 pairs of their shoes and packaging take up the same volume as one pair of traditional shoes and packaging. The packaging and shoe raw material comes from “vegetal origin polymers, fossil organic matter, natural fibre and recycled cardboard.”

One Moment claims that even the colorants, producing black, white, and four other vibrant colors, are biodegradable.

OneMoment also claims to have developed “extremely innovative production techniques, brought from other fields not related to the shoe industry.” They say the polymer injection process of molding the shoes is “carbo-compensated,” allowing them to reduce carbon dioxide emissions during production.

Though the inspiration for the design comes from indigenous inhabitants of the Amazon rain forest, who “painted their feet soles with natural latex,” obtained from Hevea trees, the Spanish company does make the shoes in Spain. Check out OneMoment to learn more.

—Via Co.Exist

Italian designer Enrico Bevere has conjured this alphabet using Processing with the “combination of various math functions.”

Bevere calls it SMKR, and says the glyphs are “inspired by the sinuous movement of smoke in the air.”

People are doing all sorts of gorgeous (and some not-so-gorgeous) things with Processing. Check out the Flickr pool.

—Via Typography Served

As Potter describes it, she became “very interested in the potential to use alternative materials and technologies in the construction, not just decoration, of shoes.”

Solid wood blocks were shaped using 3-axis CNC milling machines. Potter used a scanned 3D model of a last to inform the inner structure of the shoes.

Potter has explored a variety of outer forms, from ones that feel more traditional (Look No.8) to some that are quite blocky and architectural (Look No.2). She describes the outside profiles as “diffusing” the inner last profiles.

Potter’s range of formal exploration was facilitated by the unique construction materials and production techniques—she was not “restricted by traditional shoe components like insole boards, shanks or toe and heel puffs.”

We’d love to know how comfortable they are. And we look forward to seeing more ideas from Cat Potter in the future. See the whole collection here.

Kusama created an entirely white “large domestic environment” as a palette for the museum’s young visitors, who were given thousands of dot stickers to put wherever they wanted over the course two weeks. Kusama calls the installation “The Obliteration Room,” (which is a fascinating story in itself… read on).


Kusama’s original clean white palette:



And as the kids start to work their magic:

Here at Super Nrmal, we know how kids can be with stickers. The phrase “unadulterated enthusiasm” comes to mind. We find Kusama’s installation to be visually stunning, conceptually beautiful, and overall, a joyous expression of the human spirit. Therefore, the name “The Obliteration Room” struck us as a bit incongruous.

However, it may help to understand that Kasuma claims that she suffered severe physical abuse at the hands of her mother as a young child, and furthermore that she started hallucinating “vast fields” of polka dots, which she termed “infinity nests.” Her art was a way to deal with these hallucinations. Here is a quote from Kasuma about her 1954 painting titled Flower (D.S.P.S),

One day I was looking at the red flower patterns of the tablecloth on a table, and when I looked up I saw the same pattern covering the ceiling, the windows and the walls, and finally all over the room, my body and the universe. I felt as if I had begun to self-obliterate, to revolve in the infinity of endless time and the absoluteness of space, and be reduced to nothingness.

(Emphasis mine.)

Throughout her career, Kasuma has exhibited work with Claes Oldenburg, Andy Warhol, and Jasper Johns. In the 1970s, she voluntarily committed herself to a mental hospital in Tokyo. Now in her 80s, she continues to work at her studio, a short distance away.



—Via Colossal
—Biographical info via Wikipedia.

It’s described by &Then as a “simple, honest and charming leaning cabinet collection.”

The angled frames are solid ash. The colorful shelf units are lacquered MDF and available in orange, blue, magenta, yellow, lime green, black, grey and white.

The collection is hand-made in Britain. The side table is available for £150, the console for £225, and the shelves for £250.



—Via Design Milk