Robots Reborn. Upcycled Illuminated Robot Sculptures by +Brauer

Bruno Lefevre-Brauer, known as + Brauer, is a graphic designer living in Paris. Over the past 20 years he has designed numerous album covers for French and international artists and pursued his personal artistic expression through painting, photography and sculpture.



An artist who regularly exhibits in Paris, these charming illuminated metal upcycled robots are from his series "Viva la Roboluciòn!"









More than their technological features, he tries to reveal the original, almost primitive, form of the robots he creates. +Brauer carefully chooses vintage objects that have an industrial past, that are marked by time and whose patina has been moulded by years of manual use. He admires the beauty, sometimes hidden, of these discarded industrial parts, alters their appearance, sculpts them, and incorporates light sources into their structure before assembling the parts together to create a unique and poetic piece.





The beauty of the materials and the venerable patinas express their beauty in the light of day, while at night, it is the turn of the strange, evocative light fittings to reveal their magic. Right from conception, the element of light is an integral part of the artwork: each robot is designed to interact with it’s environment in a different way whether it is turned on or off.




Abandoned or forgotten in workshops and garages, the industrial parts are reborn in unique works of art that embrace us with their kind presence, imposing personality, and amazing humanity.


images and info courtesy of the artist

Each piece is a statement of poetic resistance to mass-consumption.

See more and other works by +Brauer here

A Case Of Bass. Vintage Suitcases and Train Cases Turned Into One of A Kind Speakers.

In March of this year, the Cimino-Hurt brothers decided to launch A Case Of Bass, combining two greats: vintage electronics and vintage luggage, to make super sweet boomboxes. While not the first to do this (I blogged about a similar company named BoomCases years ago), these are significantly more affordable.


above: The Cimino-Hurt brothers combine 'tude and talent

The Portland-based company, A Case of Bass, creates portable sound systems hand-built to ensure quality and craftsmanship. Each "Case of Bass" is created after scouring the world for the finest unique vintage suitcases (train cases, brief cases and make-up cases, too) and then pairing them with a selection of speakers that guarantee the best combination of sound and aesthetic.

The Burlap Banger:

The Champ:

The Starflight:

Bunny:

Nicky29:


The cases incorporate - to your specifications - the types of accessories that will make your case unique to you. These include input types, amplifier sizes, power supplies and batteries, and finally any personal detailing you might desire.

Cecille:

Sam:

Marcelle:


In partnership with local Portland businesses, artists, and craftsmen they create these one of a kind portable parties.

Up-cycled and Sustainable
Sustainability, for those at A Case of Bass, means taking materials and designs, into which great amounts of energy have already been committed, and re-purposing them to extend that investment. It’s not recycling, where objects are stripped into the basic materials and then smelted back into something else. It’s up-cycling, where things are given new life and expected to be passed on or designed to be completely usable for something else without the need of deteriorating initial energy investment.

Staxx:

Candy:

Scooter:


Because the brothers want to give universal access, they do things like sell their products at an affordable price and make an eighth inch input standard on all of the cases. They use some new electronics, but only when they can’t find a reliable substitute from their rescued electronics. When providing things that have great environmental and economic impact implicit in their construction, like batteries, they strive for low impact, long life, and of course, rechargeable systems. At present they offer lithium ion rechargeable packs that are lightweight, high capacity, and high efficiency.

Midas:

Ruby the Riveter:


Finally, to demonstrate the overall sustainability of each case, they give a percent by mass of up-cycled material for each case. This is a process and they don’t profess to have all the answers but are working to continuously improve the quality of each case as an environmentally and socially responsible piece of electronics.

A Case of Bass
Online store
Local Portland retailers:
Hellion Gallery
Tender Loving Empire
Hollywood Babylon

Ramon Coronado Repurposes Shopping Carts In His Mercado Negro Furniture

RAMÓN CORONADO, a self described "cross-media visual designer" is a recent Graphic Design graduate from Pasadena's Art Center College of Design. He has an array of unusual designs and concepts to his credit, but I found this particular one both inspired and inspirational.



In the designer's own words:
Mercado Negro is a Spanish word for Black Market. This 12 week project deals with reclaiming an ordinary, everyday object and transforming it into something with a completely different purpose.



I also wanted to create a project that commented on the shortage of parks and recreational functions in Los Angeles.

Moving to Los Angeles four years ago from the small population of Cathedral City was a major eye opener. Los Angeles felt like an entirely new world separate from everything that I had known or experienced before. With little knowledge of LA and it's neighborhoods, I ended up living across the street from MacArthur Park, a dangerous lower income area, overpopulated with homeless, and trash, but with a heavy Hispanic influence. Spending a year in this area exposed me to the lack of recreational areas for kids in Los Angeles.

The irony being that I lived across from MacArthur park, but because of it’s dangerous reputation, no children would ever go there to play and often resorted to playing on the streets running in and out of traffic. This area is filled with trash on the sidewalks, people sleeping everywhere, and an abundance of shopping carts.

Shopping carts exist everywhere and anywhere throughout the city of LA and include themselves as part of LA's landscape. A shopping cart says a lot about a city. Seeing one on every block adds attention to the poverty and that there is no control of private property.

I took it upon myself to take a shopping cart and make a statement with it. I reclaimed LA's iconic shopping cart and created furniture for kids to enjoy in these urban Los Angeles areas. The project is a criticism of the scarcity of recreational functions for kids growing up in a dense city like Los Angeles.





Ramon at work on the project:

See more of Ramon's inspired work at his site here.

The RIOT Lamp From Freedom Of Creation

“Riot” is the first light in Freedom Of Creation's Collection which benefits not only from several waste-reduction initiatives, but is the first FOC product which only works with Megaman CFL energy saving bulbs. A statement against global warming, the lamp serves to remind us of the waste all around us - all while saving energy.



Designed by Janne Kyttänen (above), the finnish designer who is the founder of Freedom Of Creation, the shade is made from laser sintered polyamide (dirt protected) and other parts from the light also originate from recycled items, such as metal parts, switches and cables.


above: close-up of wall lamp

“Riot” is sold as a limited edition in three styles (table, floor and wall lamps) until the global warming problem has been solved- so they say.

The Table Lamp:



The Floor Lamp:



The Wall Lamp:




Buy it as a table lamp, floor lamp or wall lamp here.