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Art Photography

Perception-Twisting Miniatures by Artist Frank Kunert Transform the Mundane into the Surreal

Frank Kunert (previously) is a Germany-based photographer and modelmaker who creates mind-stretching scenes that, from afar, appear like everyday urban environments with the same beige color palette and concrete walls that are common across the world. On closer inspection, though, Kunert’s work reveals itself to be a series of surreal scenarios—he takes viewers on a fantastical journey in which mundane objects are transformed and merged into unusual architectural scenes that explore the “absurdity of life.”

In one work, a cot is sandwiched in the middle of a desk and bookcases, while in another, two old stools sitting on a small carpet face a large window that resides high in the sky, with two minuscule glasses of rosy wine positioned beside them. Each piece of Kunert’s tiny, perception-twisting models takes him weeks to months to create, and afterward, he photographs them with a large-format, analog camera.

Kunert turns common objects into pieces of admiration, giving viewers the chance to reflect on redesigning old collectibles or waste items for new uses. Throughout this period, social distancing has influenced Kunert’s work and many of his designs reflect a new normal. For example, he redesigned an old wooden table, which he divided into individual booths for diners. 

You can view more of the artist’s projects on Instagram and in his book, Frank Kunert: Lifestyle, which is available on Bookshop.

 

Design

LEGO Releases 864-Piece International Space Station Set That’s Out of This World

On February 1, LEGO launched a new Expert Creator that’s on a mission to explore outer space. Comprised of 864 pieces, the International Space Station set is equipped with a robotic arm for satellite deployment, a miniature dock, and two astronauts ready to traverse the built-in spacewalk. It also has eight movable solar panels, three cargo spacecrafts, and booklet detailing the history of the design. Fully built, the realistic model stands more than 7 inches high, 12 inches long, and 19 inches wide.

Christoph Ruge designed the kit as part of a proposal for the 10th anniversary of the iconic brand’s ideas program, which has released a variety of sets with themes like dinosaur fossils and The Flintstones. Get your own miniature spacecraft on LEGO’s site, and see if you can put it together in the 92 minutes it takes the real model to orbit the earth. (via designboom)

Art

Found Domestic Furniture Transformed Into Raw Architectural Models by Ted Lott

Sculptor Ted Lott builds wooden artworks based on one of human beings’ most fundamental requirements, exploring the different ways in which we’ve devised shelter as a product of the industrial revolution. Lott examines modern architecture at its core by building tiny scale models without the decorative designs imposed by exterior siding and paint. He then combines these bare yet elegant structures with domestic furniture, fusing the basic necessities of home with the comforts provided from within.

To build his works, Lott uses a bandsaw as a scaled sawmill to generate miniature pieces of wood and other proportioned raw materials. Found and vintage furniture provide the base of his structures which are then lit from within as if someone is home.

“Like us, these structures are regular, nevertheless they strive to be unique, transforming their everyday bones into something beyond the banalities of basic needs,” Lott explains in his artist statement. “To me, this is the reason for making objects, to take the ordinary and make it extraordinary. Through this process we point to the complex interaction of necessity, artistry, economy, function and beauty present in the original objects, while highlighting the possibilities of transformation and growth that are a requirement for the continuation and evolution of life.”

Lott received his BFA from the Maine College of Art and an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. You can see more of the artist’s hybrid wooden works on his website and Instagram.

 

 

 

Craft Design

Scenes From Award-Winning Literature Crafted With Hand-Cut Paper by Zim & Zou

Paper artists and collaborators Zim & Zou (previously) were invited to create miniature worlds inspired by previous Nobel Prize winners in Literature. The tolerance-themed traveling exhibition Sharing Worlds was organized by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation. The French duo built pieces based on Kristin Lavransdatter written by Sigrid Undset (published in 1920), and One Hundred Years of Solitude written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (published in 1967). Using their own classic style, the pair created colorful scenes packed with geometric details. Their interpretation of Kristin Lavransdatter was created as an ode to 14th-century Norway with a technicolor city set between a pair of deep burgundy mountains. The other work, One Hundred Years of Solitude, features a verdant home nearly hidden from the world by a lush pink and green garden.

The exhibition closed last month, but you can take a virtual tour of it on the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation website. You can follow more of Zim & Zou’s recent work on their Instagram and Behance.

Art

Miniature Architectural Interiors and Collections of Tiny Symbolic Objects Carved into White Stone

Copenhagen-based artist Matthew Simmonds (previously) carves miniature architectural interiors, angular shapes, and tiny windows filled with symbolic objects, trinkets, and animals. His ghostly white sculptural forms are cut from and presented within raw stone, which allows for a striking contrast between his designs and the medium’s natural surface. 

Although Simmonds mainly focuses on sacred architecture, particularly from the Medieval era, he is drawn to how cultures overlap and influence each other. His work often references a variety of architectural styles in one piece, and sometimes presents abstract forms. “I get inspired by real architectural spaces, but the works are not reproductions of actual buildings in miniature, with the exception of the Elevation series,” Simmonds tells Colossal.

His sculptures take a minimum of three weeks to complete, however they can span several months depending on the complexity and size. “The longest I’ve ever worked on a single piece of stone was when I made Windows in 2017,” explains Simmonds. “There was around 180 days, or nine months, of carving time with more time spent on research and design.” 

This particular piece was one of his most complex to date. Rows of carved openings collectively served as a curio cabinet, with each window filled with a range of creations, from a miniature iguana and array of small fruits to even tinier models of buildings and structures. Here Simmonds showcases the world in miniature, seen through the visual symbols of a variety of cultures. In the piece are also several references to San Francisco, as it was specifically created for a show in the Bay Area. To view more of the artist’s recent stone carvings, visit his website.

Design Illustration

Illustrations Transform Nike Air Maxes Into Concepts That Pay Homage to Their History

London-based creative agency Rosie Lee took the original design inspirations for iconic sneakers and turned them into conceptual sculptures that architects and sneakerheads will especially appreciate. Paying homage to the Centre Pompidou, the museum in Paris that inspired legendary Nike designer Tinker Hatfield to create the Nike Air Max 1 in the late-1980s, the team at Rosie Lee transformed the iconic shoe into a 3D model of its Parisian inspiration. The illustration closely resembles the inside-out architectural elements that Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers, and Gianfranco Franchini used when designing and building the complex in the 1970s.

The creative team also created 3D illustrations for two other Air Max models: the Nike Air Max 90 and the Nike Air Max 95. The Air Max 90 concept is built entirely out of speakers and rigging as a nod to the culture of record crate diggers (“early adopters” of the sneaker model, according to Rosie Lee), while the Air Max 95 illustration was made to resemble the anatomy of a human foot since that’s where the sneaker’s designer, Sergio Lozano, found inspiration over 23 years ago.

Rosie Lee works on interdisciplinary retail design, branding, and digital projects. You can find more of their latest work on Behance and Instagram, and view their full portfolio on the Rosie Lee website.