Davide Oppizzi Designs Futuristic Bathroom Series for Graff - The Ametis Collection.

GRAFF collaborated with Swiss designer Davide Oppizzi of DCube to design their new AMETIS collection (so new, it's not yet on their website) as well as their trade show booth for the unveiling at the Cersaie show.

The decision to use DCube design, a Geneva‐based company that primarily specializes in the luxury watch industry and in lighting for prestigious fashion brands, was determined by GRAFF’s aim to combine the luxury world with the bathroom sector.


above: Designer Davide Oppizzi of DCube

Thanks to the close partnership with Davide Oppizzi it was possible for GRAFF and DCube to develop the collection AMETIS, a series which distinguishes itself for its elegance and unique shape. In this collection the light becomes part of the product; by changing the faucet into an architectural element and the light into an interior design component (the LED lights change based on the water's temperature)..

The introduction of GRAFF's new collections aims to go beyond the interior design borders in order to face new technological challenges with products that widen the functions and designs offered to the consumer.

The Ametis Collection:








Ametis: a symbol of the fusion between the universe above and the oceans below, is a futuristic ode to high design in the bathroom. Drawing inspiration from experiences that combine the density of water and its colors, the movement of waves, and the experience of exquisite Japanese writing, produced with only a brush gesture – this new collection designed by Davide Oppizzi for GRAFF transforms water, such a precious matter, into a hymn to purity, one that enables you to move closer to the expression of the soul. Every object of the Ametis collection derives from the idea that life is a cycle. Water coming out of the faucet is an inexorable source, by flowing down it becomes inexorably intimate and goes beyond any obstacle.







Ametis is a simple object; at the same time sought‐after – the continuous line of the shower column never stops, the lighting system lightens the faucet features, the solid shapes and dynamic elements melt together harmonically. Made from a hollowed brass bar, which ensures durability, AMETIS is equipped with an electronic system with a coloured ring which changes from red to blue and vice versa depending on changes in the water temperatures.



The shower column in particular, containing many high‐tech engineering features, integrates a chromo therapy system with RGB LED lighting within the ring, that gives a completely new dimension to the column, thanks to the indirect lighting – still a little used concept in bathroom design.



“Fluid and sensuous, AMETIS guides the water through the gentle curves of the faucet, providing a visual representation of the idea that life is a cycle” says Davide. I love the faucet design for it’s sculptural quality and the very appropriate use of highly polished chrome that emphasizes the faucet’s shadow play.


The Graff Booth at Cersaie:
GRAFF's booth at Cersaie was just over 200 square meters (or over 2k square feet), and was the result of a collaboration between GRAFF and DCube Design. DCube Design's creativity emphasized the aesthetic and innovative contents of this American company whose brand image is one of luxury and precise engineering in the field of luxury bath and kitchen fixtures.




Davide Oppizzi, the designer who founded DCube Design, described the booth project as follows: “We thought about a space having a strong visual impact, being rich in colors, lights and surrounded by a number of the luxury fixtures presented by GRAFF. The booth is a mixture of best‐selling products and new items, which, when seen from different angles – conveys intense emotions.” Oppizzi continued, “On the stage we have multimedia contents and an atmosphere dominated by indirect light: the new lighting concept which emphasizes the technological elements featured by GRAFF`s collections.”
images and info courtesy of GRAFF and Archiproducts

GRAFF

A Different Kind of Valentine. Pop Culture Heart Art Collages by Paris Artist Eric Liot.

Paris based artist Éric Liot combines items archetypal of our consumer based society with objects and fragments from pop culture. Pieces of film, advertisements, toys, comics and anime are assembled or collaged to ultimately represent a colorful, decadent society, delusional in its mad self-celebration. These hearts are only a small portion of the artist's work.

Three Women and A Man, 2011:

Catch Me, 2011:


Pink Lady, 2011:


Cupidon Is A Killer, 2010:


Le piège, 2010:

Liot initially mills out the forms he needs, like wooden puzzle pieces, then he pastes poster fragments onto them, creating from them actual objects in ready-made style or just painting them with acrylic colors. The results are Liot's characteristic collages, which, while somewhat critical of consumerism, first and foremost seduce the observer with their charm and amalgamation of interesting contemporary pictures. (source: Galerie Raphael 12)

A large heart-shaped piece for the December 2010 show at Laurent Strouk in progress:


Completed piece:


And as shown at Gallerie Laurent Strouk:




Artist's Bio :

above photo by Marie Laborde for Galerie Laurent Strouk

Éric Liot was born the 25th of April 1964 in Caen (France). After school, he begins to study architecture, first in the Normandy, then in Paris, at the "Université de la Villette". But he soon realizes that he feels no call at being an architect or even a student. He is weighed down by the narrowness of the academic education as well as by the cold and total anonymity of the Parisian big city jungle. He feels attracted by the faraway and undertakes important travels to Latin America, East and Central Africa as well as Asia. Each time when he comes back to Paris, the decision to be an artist seems clearer. He gives up university and works as a free lance designing posters and furniture. Little by little he realizes that his objects are more and more aesthetical and original, but less functional. The interiorization of this coincides with the real beginning of Liot?s artistic career. First exhibitions soon follow and so the public success. Many solo exhibitions, fair participations, catalogs and articles relate Liot's quick upcoming. Now he has won fame on the Parisian art scene and begins to make a name of himself also abroad, out of the French metropolis. (courtesy of Galerie Raphael 12)

Video of Liot in his studio by Director/ Cameraman Victor Lazaro



Buy Eric Liot Books and catalogues here

At present Liot is showing his work at the Fabien Castanier Gallery through March 4th, 2012 in Drill Baby Drill, a show with Michael Kalish.

Happy Valentine's Day

How The World's Best Selling Valentine's Day Candy, Conversation Hearts, Are Made.

Note: This is a partial reprint of a post from two years ago.

It's that time of year again. Valentine's Day. When happy shiny couples give one another cute warm fuzzies while the rest of the world either remains hopeful or bitterly dejected. Either way, one can't get away from the classic "Sweethearts" by Necco come mid-February. From the candy to Keds, iPhone apps to fragrances, talking hearts abound.

First, some Necco history of the candy:


Today's best-selling Valentine candy -- Sweethearts Conversation Hearts--the pastel sugar hearts with the quirky sayings, were as much a part of your childhood as they are for today's kids. New England Confectionery Company manufactures over 8 billion hearts each year to keep up with demand for this American icon.



Still it's hard to believe that the concept behind today's Conversation Hearts got its start when Abraham Lincoln was still President. Mottoes seemed to have come into prominence with cockles, a small crisp candy made of sugar and flour formed in the shape of a cockle or scallop shell. The early cockles contained mottoes, which were printed on thin colored paper and rolled up inside.

In the 1860's, when Daniel Chase, the brother of New England Confectionery Company's founder, Oliver Chase, began printing sayings on the candy. He experimented first with hand tools, and then devised a machine in which the cloth was replaced with a felt roller pad, moistened with vegetable coloring, usually red, which pressed against the die. The die printed the words on the lozenge paste and the double purpose machine cut the lozenges.

Below are images of the process today:





above: the making, baking and packaging process today

Grown-ups were entertained and passed the hearts around at parties. For weddings, there were wedding-day lozenges with humorously foreboding prophecies such as: "Married in satin, Love will not be lasting" "Married in Pink, He will take to drink" and "Married in white, You have chosen right."

The present day Sweethearts® Conversation Heart dates back to 1902. Back then, besides hearts, they also produced various shapes such as postcards, baseballs, horseshoes and watches.


above: Richard Krause, the President and CEO at the New England Confectionery Company, 2009 (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

In the early 1990's, New England Confectionery Company's Vice President Walter Marshall decided to update the sayings each year and retire some. His first --Fax Me--created a lot of attention from Sweetheart fans. As a result, each year we receive hundreds of suggestions from romantics, candy lovers and school kids for new sayings. From old tech, "Call Me" to new tech, "E-mail Me," Sweethearts® keep the pulse on the heartbeat of the nation.



Conversation Hearts have been used in various ingenious ways over the years-- to propose marriage, to teach children statistics and reading, to decorate cakes, and as borders for frames.


above: the anatomically correct human heart made of the candies by Lego brick artist Nathan Sawaya.

You can see many Conversation Heart inspired products, from iPhone covers to jewelry, at the following links.

Zazzle
Etsy
Red Bubble

Sweethearts and Conversation Hearts Candy and Items on Amazon