Yesterday marked the final day of Design Miami, the four-day global design festival, which runs alongside the infamous Art Basel off shot at Miami Beach each December. Bringing together influential gallerists, collectors, curators and designers from around the world, Design Miami is a treasure trove of weird and wonderful objects and furniture. Amidst the elegant chrome-finished dining tables and gleaming glass structures, were a number of eye-catching creations that peaked our interest. Here are some of our favourite offerings, including funky furniture and other strange, surreal objects, from this year’s installment of the annual fair.
The Office — Harry Nuriev
Office life getting you down? Why not reimagine your mundane, monochrome work environment as a piece of art? That’s what Harry Nuriev has done his installation, The Office, in which he has fused the inspiration of the small, windowless, stereotypically Russian office where he began his career, with influences from art and fashion, including Balenciaga’s SS19 collection, to create a cooly elegant work space where we wouldn’t mind putting our noses to the grindstone – especially if we got to sit in the custom-made Balenciaga print chair.
Pink bunny seats — KAWSxCampana
New York based gallery Friedman Benda presented KAWSxCampana — a collaborative installation by the American artist Brian Donnelly (KAWS) and Brazilian designers, the Campana Brothers — featuring highly Instagramable bubblegum pink loveseats, patched with cuddly pink bunnies (at least we think they’re bunnies…). It turns out American rapper Pharrell Williams was also a fan, as pictured here disobeying the request not to sit on the sofas. Tut tut.
The Sugar Ring — Méret Oppenheim
Rings have often been used to sweeten an engagement deal, but Swiss surrealist Méret Opennheim takes the saying one step further, replacing the traditional diamond with a cube of sugar in The Sugar Ring. This peculiar piece of jewellery was originally created in 1936, and was featured in this year’s fair as part of Martina Simeti Gallery’s contribution to the Curio section. One lump or two, dear?
Breaking the Mould — Contemporary Korean Ceramics
Whilst the biggest thing to come out of South Korea in recent years may be K-Pop bands such as teen heartthrobs BTS, J. Lohmann Gallery was keen to highlight the talented array of ceramicists from the country in their contribution to Design Miami’s Curio programme. Whilst they are all made out of clay, you’d be forgiven for thinking that some of these designs were made out of different materials, as Design Miami itself has said on Instagram; “in different pieces, the clay masks itself as glass, plastic, wood, or even fur and rubber”.
Foam Sofa — Sang Hoon Kim
Made by South Korean designer Hang Soon Kim and exhibited by Cristina Grajales Gallery, we’re pretty sure this four seater looks like what would happen if Jackson Pollock was let loose on a sofa. In fact, Kim’s motivations are similar to that of Pollock, saying in an interview that his messy aesthetic is the result of wanting to be “very free and intuitive”. The only twist is: his work is made out of flexible foam blocks rather than paint, sourced from his family’s foam factory.
The Meander armchair —Mattia Bonetti
New York’s Kasmin Gallery presented an array of works by Swiss artist Mattia Bonetti, including this plush velvet chair which looks like the fanciest cinema seat we’ve ever seen. Bonetti is renowned for bringing together materials including bronze, gold leaf, crystal, marble and gemstones, and merging influences from ornate 17th Century architecture, to Surrealist aesthetics, combined with an experimental use of cutting edge methods such as robotics and 3D printing.
Nests — Porky Heffer
You might be used to being reprimanded for touching artworks in galleries, but Porky Hefer’s creations welcome your active participation. His human pods were presented as part of Southern Guild Gallery‘s offering to Design Miami, and aim to incite childlike playfulness, while providing the perfect hideaway after a hard day of facing reality. Could these be the ultimate luxury nooks for the #selfcare brigade?
Design Miami ran from 5-9 December 2018.