objects

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with objects

Design Photography

Dysfunctional Household Objects and Fabricated Flowers Cleverly Created by PUTPUT

Copenhagen-based studio PUTPUT (previously) creates visual puns and quirky tools in their juxtaposition-filled photographs. From salami sunglasses to a chair made of flaming birthday candles, PUTPUT has a “shared and deeply rooted fascination with metaphysical relationships connected to everyday objects”, according to an artist statement on their website. An ongoing series is the studio’s Fabricated Flowers, where plastic and fabric household supplies like garden gloves, shower loofahs, and dish scrubbers stand in for the color blossoms of potted plants. You can see more from PUTPUT on Instagram.

Animation

The Secret Lives of Objects Revealed in Juan Pablo Zaramella’s Trailer for Así son las cosas

Argentinian director Juan Pablo Zaramella (previously) has shared the trailer for a cute new stop-motion television series featuring typically inanimate objects living out funny scenarios. With a title that translates in English to “The Way Things Are,” each episode in the series is one minute long and appears to focus on a different subject, from an egg catching a carton bus, to a stick of dynamite visiting a psychologist who also happens to be a pair of scissors. The sound effects and voices add to the humor. Though you’d need to know Spanish to understand the exact words, Zaramella’s scenes are universally comprehensible: a toothpaste man protests a blushing toothbrush bride’s vows, while  a roll of toilet paper demands access to an occupied bathroom.

The project won Zaramella the Audience Award at the Big Cartoon Festival 2018 and took 2nd prize at the Cyber Sousa / Xiamen International Animation Festival. His previous TV series, The Tiniest Man in World, blended stop-motion animation with live-action and is currently only available to watch if you live in Argentina. There is no word yet on when or where audiences can see Así son las cosas in full, but the two-minute trailer above is a great sample of what’s to come. It also shows the amount of time and detail that went into capturing every frame in order to tell the silly short stories. You can watch more of Zaramella’s films on Vimeo.

Art Design

The Uncomfortable: A Series of Inconvenient Household Items Designed by Katerina Kamprani

The Uncomfortable is a series of impractical household objects by Athens-based architect Katerina Kamprani. The infuriating works play off of common dishware, cutlery, and watering cans, making the task each is typically assigned either impossible or extremely difficult. Every object is created from the material it would be constructed from normally, making siamese wine glasses and linked ceramic mugs all the more humorous.

Often before Kamprani creates the physical object, she will create a 3D model to test its shape. Two of my favorite hypothetical pieces are her toeless rainboots and concrete umbrella, neither of which have been physically produced.

To see more of her works from The Uncomfortable check out the architect’s Tumblr and Facebook.

Art Craft

Household Objects and Appliances Cross-Stitched by Ulla Stina Wikander

Swedish designer Ulla Stina Wikander uses household appliances and cooking tools as the base to her cross-stitched sculptures, bestowing outdated objects with a new life. Most of the items come from the 70s, yet the patterns she covers their bodies in are much older. The cross-stitch designs come from the 59-year-old artist’s vast collection, allowing Wikander to give a new context to each blowdryer, rolling pin, and typewriter she covers. You can see more of her sculptures, as well as a variety of designed accessories, on her website and Instagram. (via My Modern Met)

Art Photography

Things Come Apart, 50 Disassembled Objects in 21,959 Individual Parts by Todd McLellan

Bicycle, 1980s; Raleigh; Component count: 893. Photo reproduced with the permission of Thames & Hudson.

Bicycle, 1980s; Raleigh; Component count: 893. Photo reproduced with the permission of Thames & Hudson.

Chainsaw, 1990s; Homelite; Component count: 286. Photo reproduced with the permission of Thames & Hudson.

Laptop Computer, 2006; Apple; Component count: 639. Photo reproduced with the permission of Thames & Hudson.

Children’s Wagon, 2011; Schwinn; Component count: 296. Photo reproduced with the permission of Thames & Hudson.

Smartphone, 2007; BlackBerry; Component count: 120. Photo reproduced with the permission of Thames & Hudson.

Smartphone, 2007; BlackBerry; Component count: 120. Photo reproduced with the permission of Thames & Hudson.

Swiss Army Knife, 2000s; Victorinox; Component count: 38.

I’ll never forget the excitement I felt the first time I disassembled a telephone. I was eight years old, on our back porch with just an old screwdriver and a pair of pliers, but seeing what was inside this everyday object was a discovery akin to unearthing a dinosaur. The sudden knowledge that the speaker part was magnetic and contained a mile of thin copper wiring was practically miraculous. When the day was over, I was surrounded by pieces of am/fm radio, an old handheld video game, and a toy car, none of which would ever be assembled again, but that really wasn’t the point. Master disassembler Todd McLellan remarks on a similar childhood discovery in his latest book, Things Come Apart from Thames & Hudson, but for him, it wasn’t fleeting like it was with me. It was the beginning of his life-long career in documenting the technological methods of modern mass production in reverse.

In Things Come Apart, McLellan exposes the inner working of 50 objects and 21,959 individual components as he reflects on the permanence of vintage machines built several decades ago—sturdy gadgets meant to be broken and repaired—versus today’s manufacturing trend of limited use followed by quick obsolescence. Captured in his photography are myriad parts laid flat and organized by function, creating recontextualized images of wagons, chainsaws, computers, and phones. He also shoots high-speed photos of carefully orchestrated drops where pieces are shot in midair as they come crashing down, creating impressive visual explosions. Also appearing in the book is his pièce de résistance: a Zenith CH 650 aircraft photographed as individual components.

The book is officially published tomorrow, but you can order it now on Bookshop and Thames & Hudson. All images copyright Todd McLellan courtesy of the publisher.

Update: If you’re in Chicago, McLellan currently has an exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry through May 19th.