Nagi Noda was a creative visionary genius! These are her sculptural animal inspired hairpieces; shown in such a way as to provoke a delightful sense of shock and awe.
Forming a contrast to the hair hats the models are dressed very femininely in beautifully long flowing flouncy dresses. They pose with innate expressions that are similar to the animal’s temperament to emphasise the individual hair hats that they each adorn. Though not overplayed, creating a very striking composition as a whole.
The drama also plays out using colour psychology that ranges from pure whites and pastels colours to vivid yellows, purples and turquoise. The more vivid the colour and tonally the wilder the hair styling and animal sculpture hair hat is. However, this is not always consistently true, as the lion hair hat model is wearing a white dress, and the brown bear hair hat model is in lemon. This mix up adds to the shocking unpredictably of the creations that are so perfectly sculptured out of real hair. This illustrates an interesting point in design… it teaches you to be formulaic, but also to know when to break out of the boundaries. I really like the visual dialogue between the group of models and the hair hairs they adorn, they are barely even noticing each other.
Street artist Joshua Allen Harris inspired by Marilyn Monroe’s most famous pose as The Girl in The Seven Year Itch (1955). Where she stands over a subway grating and her skirt blows up, as the trains filled with people passing below. The skirt flutters about to the joy of many photographers and New Yorkers standing by. In 2008 Harris created the Air Bear made out of white plastic shopping bags and attaches it to the same grills where it dances gleefully, the white plastic shimmering is transformed into a little Polar Bear.
.
It literally became an overnight sensation due to the speed of Viral Media. This, in turn, motivated Harris to get going with creating a whole series of Zoo York style creations, like mythical creatures out of both white plastic shopping bags and black trash bags as they are larger in size. Testing the possible limitations of his art. As trains pass below the vents hot air is forced out filling the figures temporarily. They animate as large as 15 feet very ingeniously! There seems to be something very magical about seeing something that appears to be as lifeless as a discarded trash bag transforming itself into a sculptural creature, such as Nessie, Giraffe, Centaurian figure and the little Polar Bear. Periodically inflating and animating giddily and deflating gradually as the air runs out, but temporarily until the next train arrives. In some photos, the creatures almost look as if they are interacting with the passerby; it is quite surreal! Though it’s not very well documented the best video is Nessie it’s amusing seeing the cyclists, roller skaters and the passing traffic stop looking ahead in astonishment.
From the launching of Air Bear as a viral video, the project has grown—as so has the concept of the original idea. Becoming the most famous and resonant of Joshua Allen Harris’s creations so far. The idea has been developed into a short environmental film titled Polar Bears. NY Magazine notes, “Several different sites have commented upon how sad it is to watch it die over and over again. The parallels to the issues of climate change are striking as one watches the figure of a polar bear melting out of its element.” Seeing the animation in this context—it becomes very poignant indeed! The ending of the video concludes with the words—“Help save the planet. Ride, don’t drive.” With a link directing viewers to www.fightglobalwarming.com.
This project is very encouraging proving that a clever idea, inspired by the movies, can be created with the aid of feedback from blogs, Facebook and Twitter. Such a message so resonant can influence and reshape the direction of our lives.
This edited short film observes a row of plastic bags floating in mid-air; affected by the subway trains below passing through the tunnels in and out of the station. People are walking in and out of frame obliviously. As the lighting decreases, they reflect the colours from nearby lit building cars and neon signs and warmly glow.
Love this little project by Christoph Niemann. I think it’s witty and entertaining in the most playful way… It questions the basic concepts of design and recognition, by simplifying an idea abstractly; and making sense of it by clever visual arrangements, now it all seems so simple! He explains:
During the cold and dark Berlin winter days, I spend a lot of time with my boys in their room. And as I look at the toys scattered on the floor, my mind inevitably wanders back to New York.
Though you wouldn’t think it to look at her, today Barbie is 52 years old. Here are some pretty adorable (even if you're not into Barbie you will love them) Polaroid photographs by David Levinthal featured in an exhibition at GERING & LóPEZ GALLERY 730 Fifth Avenue New York, NY. They were created to celebrate Barbie’s 50th birthday. I think they're the best to date is much more subtle and more stylised than how she's typically portrayed. The press release quotes:
A familiar and often polarizing image, the Barbie doll has served as a figure of the idealized female form and the quintessence of glamour as well as a taboo symbol of the oppressive currents in society that have affected generations of American youths.
These dolls showcase the height of post-war fashion from 1959 to the early 1970s. “Couched in the style of early high fashion photographers such as Irving Penn and Richard Avedon.” Posed in front of solid vibrant coloured backgrounds to eliminate a sense of scale and comparison to other objects, compositionally they are perfectly framed. The lighting is evocative of fashion portraits of that era, creating a more polished Breakfast at Tiffany’s styling—suggestive of being a high-climbing socialite. Fashion photographs of that time showed the same sense of stiffness when striking a pose; seeing Barbie photographed as a model rather than a doll makes her seem a little more real. “The subjects of these photographs are not toys, but rather representations of popular culture.” Using iconic figures like Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn David Levinthal’s photographs embrace a sense of sexuality and glamour.
David Levinthal (Polaroid Polacolor ER Land Film, 24 x 20 inches)
Photographs from the exhibition online at GERING & LóPEZ GALLERY
In January 2009, but still notable, Saks Fifth Avenue hired Shepard Fairey and Cleon Peterson to design the spring marketing campaign. The campaign posters are inspired by Russian Constructivism, which began in 1919 onwards. “What we do every day, really, is propaganda,” said Terron E. Schaefer (the senior vice-president for marketing at Saks). Shepard Fairey states: “I thought it was a fun campaign for Saks with a lot of provocative irony.” Mitchell Markson says:
Consumers who once believed ‘bigger was better’ and ‘more was more’ are now downsizing expectations and resizing their needs—less may actually be the new more and social purpose the new social status for both brands and consumers.
I agree that now we are choosing to shop for less, selecting fashion designs that are socially and environmentally responsible.
Some might say that Fairey is selling out by doing such commissions. However, he states: “I took on the Saks job to support the people in my studio.” Others are critical of Shepard Fairey’s style by saying that it's not very original. I disagree… my only qualm is that I would have preferred seeing some small evidence of text on the posters that embraces the consumer’s social purpose, but hey maybe that’s written on the fashion labels. Interestingly his style is very apt for the American audience! (Link below) quotes:
America and Russia are very similar, especially in their understanding and conception of space. Both countries are huge countries with huge horizons and huge skies. And, both countries have long cultivated an interest in cosmic space and not only by scientists and inventors, but also by poets and painters.
One thing for sure about Fairey’s stuff is that it's not going to be ignored! The design isn’t just about style. There’s something very clever and current about adopting a style and developing fresh content, as a way of responding to today’s needs.
References:
Mitchell Markson - Social purpose becomes the new social status in Business. link
Cosmos y vanguardia rusa en la Fundación Botín en Santander. link (translations in English)
