Léo Caillard - Hipster in Stone

Léo Caillard is a photographer whose digital manipulations call into question the perception of reality. Caillarrd gives viewers a chance to reflect on the contemporary world by contrasting with the surreal or ancient. A graduate of the École des Gobelins in 2008, Caillard started hid career assistanting to some of the biggest photographers in France and abroad.

The series Hipster in Stone portrays classical statues from Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome and dons in a hipster wardrobe. Simple changes and additions of clothing transform each figure’s timeless grace into cool aloofness.  

In this series Caillard and Alex Persani (whom he collaborated with for this project) seem to draw similarities between the ancient figures depicted and modern perceptions of beauty in the twenty first century.  

Good Vibrations Storage Unit - Ferruccio Laviani

This is not a distorted image. Playing with the viewer, Good Vibrations Storage Unit by Ferruccio Laviani combines contemporary and classical, whilst referencing to the digital, when creating his distorted piece of cabinetry. Laviani designed this piece for furniture brand Fratelli Boffi, known for their avant-garde approach to classical forms within furniture. Laviani is part of a generation of young Italian designers who came to prominence in the early 1990's when the Memphis movement made its mark on international design.

The Good Vibrations storage unit was carved from oak using a CNC machine. The success of this extraordinary piece of furniture lies in its ability to question classical stylistic principles such as purity, cleanness and symmetry, while evoking a comforting feeling of deja-vù, matched by unquestionable craftsmanship. Good Vibrations is another addition to the so-called New Aesthetic, a favorite art movement of Internet philosophers characterised by themes of hacking and general digital malfunction as well as stressing the material and physical processes in the making of visual art, Laviani wanted to challenge the idea that glitches are solely found online, blending the virtual and the physical.

Laviani's piece will be displayed at the Salone del Mobile in Milan from 9 to 14 April next month. More examples of Laviani's work can be found on his website.

Riccardo Beretta

Every so often you come across a true creative, one who makes you stop and rethink the world around you. Why does one material have to feel like this? Why should this object look that way? Why does this look at same as that? A true artisan has the ability to make you evaluate and question your physical surroundings, and inquiry why it is so?  With this in mind, Riccardo Beretta is truly one of the great contemporary designers within his field. Growing up Mariano Comense near Lake Como, Italy, I region know for its high quality craftsmanship and a long and illustrious history especially in the development of Textiles. It is easy to see how the emphasis on quality in Beretta’s work has evolved.

Now working and living in Milan, Beretta’s work has been described as both ‘conceptual handicraft’ and ‘hypertextual handicraft’ referring to his production methods and highly refined finish to his pieces. Using wood as the bases of most of his work, he has developed and mastered the technique of inlaying natural dyed veneers. Reminiscent of the inherent patterning of the wood, it evokes a creative foundation and unity amongst his pieces.

Beretta, presents to the viewer works that goes beyond its material quality. Not only highly decorative but an object of wonder. to see more of Riccardo Beretta's work visit his website.