Photographs by Helena Kvarnstrom

January 15, 2011 by Designsquish

January 08, 2011 by Designsquish

http://artandagriculture.org/

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January 04, 2011 by Designsquish

Children of the Forest by Elsa Beskow - my favorite childhood book.

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I am absolutely in love with %100 wool felt boots, valenki. Traditional Russian footwear. A great alternative to Uggs.

December 30, 2010 by Designsquish

Above: From series titled “Deserted States of America”

December 23, 2010 by Designsquish

Moths and butterflies illustrations by Eugene Seguy

December 22, 2010 by Designsquish

Steven Siegel is a New York based artist noted for creating large boulders/sculptures from recycled and found materials - newspapers, branches, tree trunks, aluminum cans, and plastic bottles.

“Siegel’s first attempt with newspaper structures was for the Snug Harbor Sculpture Festival on Staten Island, New York. He noticed that the largest landfill in the United States was located on Staten Island. At the Fresh Kills Landfill, garbage is buried under mounds of earth. Newspapers will remain intact and readable for long periods of time. Here, Siegel thought that humans were creating a “new geology” with the human waste being buried under mounds of earth. Thus, his first attempts in this kind of sculpture were titled “New Geology #1” and “New Geology #2,” both were constructed in 1990. Since the sculpture has been allowed to be overgrown with vegetation, “New Geology #2” remains intact and the newsprint is still able to be read.” - wiki

December 19, 2010 by Designsquish

“Vladimir” or “Pallet Mirror” by Karl Zahn is made using two partially destroyed shipping pallets. “The scars on the lumber tell a story of its travels. While the form is reminiscent of old victorian french mirrors, its origin is far from gold leaf” -Karl Zahn

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December 17, 2010 by Designsquish

The CitiCar was a small electric vehicle, first produced in United States in 1974 by a company Sebring-Vanguard partly in response to the mid-1970s fuel crisis. The CitiCar was a tiny golf cart sized car that could go at a top speed of about 39 mile per hour.  At about 4,300 C-Car variants produced, it still holds the record for most road-legal electric cars made in automobile history.

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Photographs by Rob Hann. From “The Plant that Ate The South” project.

“Anyone familiar with the American South will know that throughout the summer months large parts of the countryside are swathed in a green leafy plant that will cover anything in its path. It smothers abandoned buildings and drapes over trees, large and small, giving the landscape a magical, dreamlike quality.” - Rob Hann

Kudzu is a plant native to Souther Japan.  Kudzu was introduced from Japan into the United States in 1876 and is now common throughout most of the southeastern United States. Kudzu has been spreading at the rate of 150,000 acres annually and is considered invasive species.

http://www.robhann.com/project-kudzu.htm

December 16, 2010 by Designsquish

Parquet Table by Bouf. Easy shipping and assembly. Good design but also great do-it-yourself idea…...

December 15, 2010 by Designsquish

Above slogan was hung between two treetops in the countryside, 1978. It reads: “I do not complain about anything and I almost like it here, although I have never been here before and know nothing about this place”

Collective Actions is an art-group founded in early 70’s in Russia that was part of Moscow Conceptualist Movement.  Collective Actions is responsible for series of art performances and installations in forests and suburban parks outside of Moscow.  They call their happenings “Trips Out of Town”(«поездки за город»)

Above photo was taken by Collective Actions not far from the “Slogan” installation.

Above: Twelve canvas paintings by N.Alekseev were sewn together into one single piece, installed in the shape of a tent and left in the forest. 1976.

Above slogan installed and left in the forest: “I waited for you at the appointed time and left. You know the road yourself. Come, if you want to see me.”

December 14, 2010 by Designsquish

I was happy to find this online snowflake library: The Bentley Collection  Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Thousands of snow crystals available for view online for free:

December 11, 2010 by Designsquish

Moss terrariums are fun and easy to create and maintain.  Decorate your moss terrariums with precious stones and twigs you find.  Above are do-it-yourself moss terrariums created with vintage listerine bottles found on Bottle Beach, Brooklyn and moss from Upstate New York.  Bottle Beach is a great place to find old bottles. If you are not afraid to dig through Brooklyn’s vintage garbage:

“Keep the moisture in. The moss will use the CO2 provided by the decomposing and dead plants in the soil. Sometimes, there’s algae and seeds from other plants in the mini-ecosystem, which will overgrow the moss over time [...] Seal the jar off completely making sure, that there’s enough moisture in it. Try to supply the jars with enough light without exposing them to direct sunlight”
- from experienced moss terrarium owner, Henry K Miller

You can always use old wine bottles and jars, or buy ready-made moss terrariums. Below: Moss terrariums at Cog and Pearl.

December 09, 2010 by Designsquish

Vanished Forest by Bo Yang Zang.

December 08, 2010 by Designsquish

December 06, 2010 by Designsquish

Antonello Fuse coat hangers made from old recycled chair backs.

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Some drawings inspired by grapefruit pulp, dragon fruit, eyes and sky:

- http://mareikeauer.com/iam/anastasia_ugorskaya.html
- http://www.i-am-artist-designer.com/

December 04, 2010 by Designsquish

Community garden on Albemarle Rd in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn. Photo taken on December 2, 2010.
Read more about it on Sustainable Flatbush:

http://sustainableflatbush.org/2010/05/03/flatbush-community-garden-2010/

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at Cog & Pearl in Park Slope, Brooklyn

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Clayton Merrel is my new favorite artist. “In my recent work I have been experimenting with peeling the paint film from my own large oil paintings, then manipulating them by folding, tearing, stretching, etc. before remounting them to canvas in the manner of the old conservation process of ‘lining’.[..]It makes the painting process appear infinitely fragile, tenuous and contingent.  by analogy, the painting’s subject, the sky or rather our perception of the sky, our eyes, our coherent world view), becomes human, skin-like, and in need of care.” - Clayton Merrel

December 02, 2010 by Designsquish

Sandcomb seat from reused cotton by DKSD, Dutch interior and product design studio. A lightweight, yet windproof seat when filled with sand. Part of ‘portable’ furniture series. - http://www.wraf.nl

Beautiful exterior cladding panel design by DKSD inspired by…herring!
Below is a new exterior cladding panel designed to protect buildings from rainwater and also retain it. This slightly bowl-shaped panel harvests rainwater and funnels it to tanks for internal storage. The water is then used for the building’s heating, cooling and sanitary installations.  The scale-like surface and pearly colours give the panels their nickname ‘Hollandse Nieuwe’, referring to Dutch fresh herring and two brand new Dutch designers!

November 30, 2010 by Designsquish

Fog and Ice, Jokulsarlon Lagoon, Iceland, September 2006 BUY

Icebergs, Jokulsarlon Lagoon, Iceland, September 2006 BUY

Stanislav Ginzburg recently launched SG Print Shoppe - a place to buy beautiful nature photography from all over the world while benefiting iconic North American wildlife (A ten percent donation from each sale will be made towards creating American Prairie Reserve in northeastern Montana. This future three-million acre wildlife sanctuary will provide an uninterrupted area that will harbor more than 90 species of mammals, 300 birds and over 1,500 kinds of plants. For the first time in a hundred years it will restore migratory routes for pronghorn antelope, grazing fields for bison and will reintroduce entire colonies of prairie dogs and foxes back into their native habitat. )
This is truly the best present for holidays!

http://www.sgprintshoppe.com

Read more about American Prairie Reserve:
http://sgprintshoppe.com/protect-wildlife/

November 23, 2010 by Designsquish

Above: Moth from various leaves, acorn, rose hip, sticks.

It is autumn and acorns, pine cones, sticks and various seeds are available outside. These are some wonderful illustrations instructing on how to make toys from found natural materials. (Поделки из природных материалов)

Some materials to think about:

Snake from acorns, string and acorn caps:

Cat from deergrass, sticks and maple seeds:

Above: Bear from pine cones. (ha-ha)

DIY hedgehog from pine needles and pine cone.

Donkey from acorn, sticke, peaunut, maple seeds.

Goldfish from acorn, oak leaves, maple seeds.

Owls from pine cones.

November 22, 2010 by Designsquish

Bags from reclaimed tractor inner tubes by Chicago based company Defy Bags. Old materials. New ideas.

http://www.defybags.com

November 19, 2010 by Designsquish

Botanic illustration drawings by Ernst Haeckel

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Mycetozoa (still life with porcelain #4), from Hidden Place series. Inspired by Ernst Haeckel’s botanic illustrations, 3D rendering and photography.

Portrait of Ernst Haeckel.

Mycetozoa drawings by Ernst Haeckel.

Untitled (still life with porcelain #2), from Hidden Place series, 3D rendering and photography..

Untitled (still life with porcelain #3), 3D rendering and photography.

3D renderings of various creatures….

Above is an installation piece with secret silent film/animation hiding within.  Inside is a 3D animation on loop based on folktale about two women finding shelter under a whale skull amid the frozen landscape:

Animation below is based on folktale about the origins of snow. Ancient whale left the ocean to die on land.
Air and wind withered away his body until all left was a colossal heart. It wasn’t too long before it too gave away. When it burst open millions of white particles escaped and fell all over the ground.

What a beautiful story about the origins of snow!!

Stanislav Ginzburg is a Brooklyn based artist originally from Orenburg, Russia.  A lot of Stanislav’s artwork is inspired by folktales that deal with nature, strange species, microcosmic organisms, as well as animals which could have been living on earth or not. 

http://www.stanislavginzburg.com

November 14, 2010 by Designsquish