Phillip K. Smith III - lucid stead

Lucid Stead (2013), the latest public art project from California-based artist Phillip K. Smith III, is simply stunning.

Comprised of mirrors set into the existing frame of a 70-year-old homesteader shack on Smith's property in Joshua Tree, California, Lucid Stead blends into the scenery by day, while LED and custom-built electronic equipment cause slowly shifting, geometric color fields to softly glow through the night. As Smith explains:

Lucid Stead is about tapping into the quiet and the pace of change of the desert. When you slow down and align yourself with the desert, the project begins to unfold before you. It reveals that it is about light and shadow, reflected light, projected light, and change.

You can read more about the work at Royale Projects.


(Via Colossal)

Tom Raffield

I've always been amazed with what can be created through the process of steam bending wood. When it's utilized in the contemporary design world, as with the work of Cornwall-based furniture and lighting designer Tom Raffield, the results are especially stunning. His work is "based on beauty, integrity and a desire to create unique, high-specification products that will be cherished by their owner." It's a tall order, but one that I think Raffield achieves quite nicely. See more on his website.


(Via This Is Paper)

yoy design studio

Although the Tokyo-based design studio YOY has only been around since 2011, founders Naoki Ono and Yuki Yamamoto clearly have something good going on. The above works are some examples of their fun takes on lighting, both of which illustrate what YOY is best at: combining the clever with the practical to create some really wonderful design solutions. The first, Peel, is a light that looks as if a corner of a wall were peeling to reveal light behind it, while Swing is a pendant light that give the illusion of motion. Then, there's Canvas, below, which really blew my mind.

That's right, Canvas is an actual usable piece of furniture with the appearance of a two-dimensional drawing. It can be used by leaning the piece against a wall, but can just as easily be hung as an artwork/storage solution. Brilliant, no? See more of YOY's fantastic designs on their website.

(Photos by Yasuko Furukawa)

if I had a million dollars

I would buy...{the night light edition}

One of Happy Owl's glass sloth night lights.

This White Rabbit Night Light from My Sweet Muffin.

The Acme World Dog Kute Light, from Smoochie Baby.

An I Love You Night Light, available at ReForm School.

And a J Schatz Star Egg Nightlight.

kobe luminarie

Can you believe these incredible lights? They're part of the annual spectacular known as the Kobe Luminarie, held for two weeks each December in Kobe, Japan. 

Not only is the Luminarie a sight to behold, but it has an interesting history to it as well. In 1995, the city of Kobe was hit with one of the most devastating earthquakes in Japan's history. With Kobe left in darkness, the first Luminarie was designed to light up the city, pay tribute to the thousands who lost their lives and to give hope to the surviving citizens. The lights, each of which are individually hand painted, were donated by the Italian government, with the installation produced by Italian designer Valerio Festi and Kobe native Hirokazu Imaoka. It wasn't meant to be an annual event, but due to its popularity - over 3 million people attend each year - the Luminarie became an annual tradition that lasts to this day.

(Via My Modern Met)

Kristine Five Melvær - bloom

Don't you just love the way that a good lamp can completely change the feel of a room? I can image any one Norwegian designer Kristine Five Melvær's Bloom lamps, or even all three, as the perfect accent to a kid's bedroom, an office, or even a living room.

Unfortunately, these don't seem to have been commercially produced, but I think that their welded steel and printed canvas construction are an absolutely lovely concept.

Bloom is a series of three table lamps inspired by forms from the nature. Like big drops, the shades may be associated with buds, fruits or water, while the seams in the construction are reminiscent of fibers. The steel structures have different heights, which contribute to the association of organic bodies.

Check out more of Melvær's beautiful product design work on her website.


(Via sfgirlbybay)

Barry Underwood

Orange, 2007.

There is something both magical and mysterious about artist Barry Underwood's work. While it's true that he creates colorful, surreal light installations within natural landscapes, that's really just the beginning. It's the photographs that Underwood then takes of these installations, which he approaches with a cinematic eye for detail and effect, that are the true works of art.

 Ferns (for Francesca), 2012.

Rodeo Beach, 2009.

Parade Field, 2009.

Trace (Yellow), 2008.

As Underwood explains in his artist's statement:

These images are documentations of full-scale installations that are built on-site in the landscape. Using illusion, imagination, and narrative, my photographs explore the potential of the ordinary. I approach my photographic work with a theatrical sensibility, much like a cinematographer or set designer would. By reading the landscape and altering the vista through lights and photographic effects, I transform everyday scenes into unique images. Light and color alter the perception of space, while defamiliarizing common objects. Space collapses, while the lights that I install appear as intrusions and interventions. This combination renders the forms in the landscape abstract. Inspired by cinema, land art, and contemporary painting, the resulting photographs are both surreal and familiar. They suggest a larger narrative, and yet that narrative remains elusive and mystifying. 

See much more of Underwood's incredible art on his website, right here.

(Via designboom)

if I had a million dollars

I would buy...{the lighting edition: lamps}

This mid century gooseneck desk lamp with globe, from twentytimesi.

Organic Modernism's Trilight lamp.

The Cord Table Lamp, by Form Us With Love, available at The Future Perfect.

Schoolhouse Electric's Mulberry Tripod Floor Lamp.

And an Arco Floor Lamp, available at Design Within Reach.

log stack home

Armin Blasbichler’s home in the South Tyrol region of Italy is about the greatest combination of quirky and cool as humanly possible, which is why it's probably no surprise to anyone that I absolutely adore it. 

Built to blend into the landscape by looking like the log stacks that sit in the fields in the area, from the exterior on out, this house has so many fun design elements that it's hard to know where to even begin. Besides the logs, which give the home an amazing appearance, there's also all of the great light throughout, as well as a pretty awesome door theme: doors covered in color panels, doors used as overhead lighting fixtures, even doors-within-doors. You can see more of this unbelievable home over at Design*Sponge.

grain & gram

While Grain & Gram is "The New Gentleman's Journal" and I'm clearly not a guy, I still think there's a whole lot to love about this online magazine. Their features include wonderfully in-depth interviews and photographs (current profiles are of woodworker Blair Sligar, printmaker Nick Sambrato and musician Greg Perkins), but they also do a fun column called Five Questions With A Craftsman, the latest of which features custom furniture and lighting maker Sean Woolsey.

A gentleman I am not, but I am very impressed with Grain & Gram, and am excited to see what interesting maker they're going to share next.

liquid light

The Future Perfect is one of my favorite shops to visit when I'm looking for some good design inspiration, and these Liquid Light installations, by Tanya Clarke, were some recent favorites. I love the mix of industrial parts and hand sculpted glass.