Student Projects in Porcelain. Manufactured by Bernardaud.

From the 18th to the 22nd this past April 2007, as part of the Milan Furniture Fair, the Fondation d’entreprise Bernardaud and the ECAL-Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne University of Art and Design Lausanne presented (at the Grand Hôtel et de Milan) projects in porcelain by students produced by the Bernardaud Factory.

These projects were selected following a workshop run by Alexis Georgacopoulos, head of the Industrial Design department of the ECAL, and Augustin Scott de Martinville, a professor at the ECAL.
 
“The idea initially was to look again at the traditional image of porcelain, which tends to be associated with tableware, by integrating it in different ways into the day-to-day environment,” explains Alexis Georgacopoulos. Students rose to the challenge by designing a range of varied and original objects: finely sculpted dominoes, a vase consisting of stacked plates, a chandelier with eight hundred small porcelain discs exploiting the material’s transparency, an enamelled cone in which to enjoy an ice-cream, four vases transformed into loudspeakers around an ingenious acoustic system… With humour, elegance, poetry and bravado, each piece questions lifestyles while subtly integrating the manufacturing constraints of porcelain.

The mission of the Fondation d’entreprise Bernardaud, set up in 2003 by Michel Bernardaud, is to renew the way porcelain is perceived. Based in Limoges, it invites designers of all nationalities from around the globe to re-invent this material, to generate bold interactions, to explore new territory and ultimately to find new uses for this material. “We have been delighted with this collaboration which combines innovation and know-how and greatly appreciated the fact that the ECAL, one of the most prestigious design schools, wished to conduct a study of this still largely unappreciated material…” explains Hélène Huret, the Fondation’s director.











“Carte Blanche”
Private viewing was Tuesday 17 April 2007 from 7pm “Au Grand Hôtel et de Milan”,
Sala Verdi, (1st floor), via Manzoni 29, 20121 Milan.
Exhibition ran from 18 to 22 April 2007 (11am to 8pm).

This exhibition is supported by the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland (HES-SO) and the Economic Development unit of the Vaud Canton
High-definition images available from the sites www.ecal.ch or www.bernardaud.fr, and on CD-ROM on request.

Information:
Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne
4, avenue de l’Elysée
CH-1006 Lausanne
Tel +41 (0)21 316 99 33
Fax +41 (0)21 616 39 91
E-mail pierre.keller@ecal.ch
www.ecal.ch

Fondation d’entreprise Bernardaud
11, rue Royale
F-75008 Paris
Tel +33(0)1 43 12 52 06
Fax +33 (0) 1 43 12 52 01
Press e-mail: sdufresne@bernardaud.fr
www.bernardaud.fr

Sony Bravia's Bunnies- A Rip Off? You Tell Me.

So, like many bloggers this morning, I came across this wonderful ad and was going to post it as follows:

Fabulous new stop-motion animation with Clay Bunnies for Sony's Bravia tv:


Credits
Title: Play-Doh
Client: Sony Bravia
Ad agency: Fallon, London
Creative director: Juan Cabral
Executive creative director: Richard Flintham
Agency producer: Nicky Barnes
Account director: Ben Cyzer
Director: Frank Budgen
Production company: Gorgeous Enterprises
Producer: Rupert Smythe
Song: Rolling Stones, She's Like A Rainbow

And, of course, the making of:


And then the controversy began.
At first I thought that the post on Gizmodo was an overreaction.

Given that I'm an Advertising Creative/Art Director (yes, that's my "real" job) I was ready to defend creatives in the business for often using artists as their source of "inspiration". Something that has been happening in all art forms for centuries. After all, Kozyndan's work is clearly inspired by Hokusai, so why can't Fallon London be inspired by Kozyndan?


Above: Kozyndan's Bunny Tsunami


Above: Hokusai's Wave

Given that this is not Sony Bravia's first spot to use lots of colorful animation as a metaphor for a good color television, and that Kozyndan works in a static medium and this is tv, I thought maybe they initially intended to use Kozyndan as the actual animator (which, perhaps is why they requested samples of his work).

After all, I could see the process happening as such. But then decided that "illustration' wasn't a good metaphor for high def tv, so they decided to go with stop motion animation.

This is all a guess from having sat through hundreds of pre-production meetings.

But then the ugly comments began to appear. And frankly, I'm not sure how I feel now.

Do you think the spot should have credited Kozydan? Do you think it should say "Inspired by Kozydan? but then should it really say "Inspired by Kozydan, who was inspired By Hokusai"?

First from Gizmodo:
Sony Bastards Ripped Off the Bunny Tsunami Ad

What the Hell. When I saw this morning's post on the awesome Sony Bravia Bunny Ad, featuring multi-hued rabbits climbing through a cityscape transforming into a tidalwave, I assumed it was the work of my favorite artists, the LA-based kozyndan. By my front door, I have a framed print of one of their limited edition NYC bunny panoramics, which I've put below. Aside from this, they're probably best known for reworking of Hokusai's "Great Wave off Kana gawa" with bunnies inserted in the place of the white wash, which was featured on a Giant Robot magazine cover. I was only half right about kozyndan's involvement with this Sony project, unfortunately. They were robbed: For pretty damning proof, watch the video, and read on.

Apparently, the Passion Pictures animation studio ripped off kozyndan's after requesting samples of their work and never called them back. Dan just wrote me an email about it to confirm that this is pretty much the story, at least from their side.

I hear this happens often in advertising, but that doesn't make it fucking right. I guess it's not Sony's fault, but they should at least get their money back or get Passion Pictures to give a fair chunk to the artists. I'm pissed and not sure what I, or anyone else can do about it. Thoughts? [Passion Pictures vs KozyNDan]

Then from Core77:

Will the Real Bunnies Please Stand Up?

Posted by: Michael Doyle on Friday, October 05 2007

Why does that new Bravia ad look so familiar? Oh, right... KozyNDan did it years ago.

Here's what they say:
Its hard to think that people at Passion Pictures did not have this early panoramic of ours in mind when they created this new spot for the SONY Bravia line.

To add insult to injury, someone from Passion Pictures contacted us almost two years ago asking to see samples of our work (including this panoramic) as they were interested in working with us. We sent them samples and then heard nothing from them ever again. (It should be noted though, that the more likely culprit is the ad firm who hired Passion Pictures, Fallon.)

Still, its a clever ad.

Related: the original Bunny Tsunami for Giant Robot

It's not like KozyNDan are so outside of mainstream media that nobody would eventually notice. I still love the ad, but this certainly takes some of the magic away. I've seen it happen so many times at big agencies - there is little regard for the line between inspiration and flat-out plagiarism, and often a complete lack of conscience or even understanding why it's wrong. (Some people call it "business", but psychiatrists call this kind of behavior "psychopathy".)

And comments from Kozyndan

So, what do you think?

'Gina Ads Are All The Rage. Or: How Coochies Sell Cosmetics

Because of the suggestive nature of the visuals and videos in this post, it cannot be viewed here because it is in violation of Google's Ad Sense policies.

To see this post in full, please visit it here on out Tumblr site.

Better Flock To David Tomb's Next Art Show: Birds Of The Sierra Madre

David Tomb
February 22 - March 22, 2008
Opening Reception: Friday, February 22, 6-8pm
Electric Works of San Francisco

David Tomb, the SF/Bay Area artist critically acclaimed for his figurative painting, has a new show at the Electric Works Gallery of San Francisco next spring and the subject matter is.... birds.

Now given all the bird "crap" out there, this may come as no surprise. But what IS surprising is that these are a wonderful departure from most of the 'cutesy cartoon' or 'Victorian' style bird art and crafts that proliferate galleries, the internet's indie art sites, and even retail home decor stores these days.

Using the same interesting style he often employs in his figure paintings, Tomb (rhymes with bomb) mixes detail with innuendo and energetic strokes with precious attention. His birds, colored in an almost Audubon-like veracity sit again half rendered backdrops which both show off the birds and create space that seems boundless, like that of a real birds' habitat.

Suffice it to say, I just love them. And they're nice and BIG. (you really need to see them in person for their detail)
Clearly I'm not the only since many have sold and the show doesn't actually open for 5 months!

Below are the images listed on the gallery's site. The names and descriptions are taken from there as well.


Mob Scene: Steak-backed Oriole, Blue Mockingbird, Yellow Grosbeak, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl,
2007
Gouache, colored pencil, graphite on paper
Overall Dimensions: 30 x 44"


Blue-crowned Motmot, El Triunfo, 2007
Gouache, colored pencil, graphite on paper
Overall Dimensions: 44 x 30"
Sold


Black-throated Magpie-Jay, 2007
Gouache, colored pencil, graphite on paper
Overall Dimensions: 44 x 30"


Ringed Kingfisher, 2007
Gouache, colored pencil, graphite on paper
Overall Dimensions: 44 x 30"



Bat Falcons, 2007
Gouache, colored pencil, graphite on paper
Overall Dimensions: 44 x 30"
Sold


Resplendent Quetzal, Chiapas, 2007
Gouache, colored pencil, graphite on paper
Overall Dimensions: 44 x 30"
Sold


David Tomb
Birds of the Sierra Madre
February 22 - March 22, 2008
Opening Reception: Friday, February 22, 6-8pm
Electric Works of San Francisco



So, if you're anywhere in the SF/Bay Area in February, be sure to stop by and see the show .
Attend the opening reception and tell David Laura Sweet sent you!

Better yet, snap up one of his paintings before the show has sold out! See more of David Tomb's work by clicking here.