Trend of the Week: Cindy Says… Don’t Forget to PLAY!
A striking image of play—a fun or festive moment that grabs your attention—can make a strong impact, even if the message behind it is more serious. Take something as simple as origami birds in flight (check out Gensler and EvensonBest’s booth at DIFFA’s Dining by Design) can powerfully represent the fight for HIV/AIDs… or a colorful bear scene to teach us about about climate control (see the SCAD installation). There is strength and power in fun and living life with a little bit of play—it keeps us youthful, grounded, and TOGETHER.
For more, check out my Instagram, @thecindygram, and go forth and DESIGN!
FACE OFF! From our Big Ideas issue: 45 participants displayed 800 curios from their personal archives alongside new work at “Fundamentals,” an exhibition launched during Dutch Design Week Eindhoven. It was the vision of Wendy Plomp, founder of Dutch Invertuals (the name derives from inverse, a reference to the collective’s radical perspective), who has produced 18 shows focused on innovative Dutch design over the past nine years. Wowza! Photography by Raw Color.
SCAD IS SO RAD! Three cheers to Paula S. Wallace and SCAD’s extraordinary commitment to design, and all artistic expressions and endeavors for our future generations! For the installation “I did it again”, Italian multimedia artist Paola Pivi cleverly employs playfulness to explore darker themes. This series of life-sized polar bear figures—oh so brightly hued—actually are a symbol of the perils of climate change. Thanks to head curator Storm Janse van Rensburg!
GOOD VIBRATIONS! Camille Walala brings her larger than life personality to WALALA x PLAY, a vivId and graphic art installation that explores bold colors, patterns, and reflective surfaces at NOW Gallery, located in Greenwich Peninsula: south-east London’s new district for fashion, design, and art.
GO FISH! The super talented Martin Lejarraga conceived a tribute to maritime traditions and old dockside bars with teeny seafood shop Marino Take Away in Cartagena, Spain. Lejarraga mixed rustic planks for the walls, blue, green, and white ceramic tiles discovered behind the plasterboard on the rear wall, a linear fluorescent tube that also already existed…and the showstopper, La Sirena, a 19th-century wooden mermaid hung high on a sidewall. Plus, on a personal note, my hubby’s name is Marino, so I may be biased, but this tiny, budget-minded project is something else! Photography by David Frutos.
DIFFA: DESIGN FOR A CURE! Opening night for DIFFA’s 21st Dining by Design was off the charts! Here’s a look at some of the creative and impactful installations: Gensler, Knoll, and EvensonBest, Alessandra Branca for Benjamin Moore, New York School of Interior Design with New York Design Center, Luxe Magazine, Design within Reach with Matt Goodrich and Kendal Lowe, and finishing off with Interior Design’s very own booth—THE LIGHT WITHIN!
