General
Sucabaruca in Disigno
You can read a really nice interview with Luca Nichetto, Alissa Coe, and myself about the process of making Sucabaruca on Disegno right now. Please give it a read if you have a moment.
Walk The Line
If you are planning on visiting the Milan furniture fair next month, please make an effort to come see our exhibition “Walk The Line” with Luca Nichetto and Lera Moiseeva at iconic gallery and shop Spazio Rossana Orlandi.
Milan Design Week 8th-13th April 2014
Spazio
Rossana Orlandi
via Matteo Bandello,
14-16 Milan
Italy
Opening hours 9.00 – 20.00
Walk the line, the exhibition designed by Luca Nichetto and Lera Moiseeva, illustrates how the Sucabaruca coffee set and Cheburashka table set were born. The two collections, which are produced by different companies in different parts of the world, geographically and culturally very far from each other, share the same craftsmanship characterizing the production processes of porcelain and of ceramics, respectively.
The skills needed to produce these items become evident in the geometric patterns of the decoration, which are obtained by manually tracing a series of lines on each of the pieces. That is just where the title of the exhibition comes from.
Since 2009, John Baker and Juli Daoust have been collecting and distributing Japanese and Scandinavian objects with unique aesthetic and emotional meanings in their shop/gallery Mjo?lk, in Toronto, Canada. They also produce collections signed by major international designers.
In the Russian town of Suzdal, Vadim Dymov and Evgenia Zelenskaya, founders of Dymov Ceramics, produce, among other items, a particular kind of black ceramic pottery, for which an ancient process of cooking dating back to the third century AD is used.
These people were brought together by the collaboration of the Venetian designer Luca Nichetto and the Russian designer Lera Moiseeva, who worked together on the design of the Sucabaruca coffee set and the Cheburashka table set, which aim at enhancing two rituals of conviviality: filtered coffee and food sharing.
These products have in common the high quality of the craftsmanship emerging from the lines engraved by hand on their surfaces, which appear to intersect like the lives of those involved in these projects.
The Cheburashka set marks the beginning of a broader project that will be developed during the coming years and that aims to connect different cultures through an accurate selection of products realized by different designers and produced by Dymov Ceramics.
We hope to carry the Cheburashka table set as soon as we can, we’ll keep you updated on the progress.
Mold All
Despite the cold weather. and the March break holiday we were happy to see so many familiar faces join us for our reception with Nagano-based glass artists Studio Prepa. Our latest exhibition “Mold All” Presented by Play Mountain and Studio Prepa is a collection of glass art made using wooden molds that leave the impression of wood bark and end-grain on each vase. The wood is burned away, so a new mold has to be made for every piece resulting in a collection of unique works in many different sizes and shapes.
If you haven’t seen the video we last posted, you have to check it out. It is incredible to see the process.
Above: Mr. Hira’s tools and what is left of the wood mold after it is used.
The process itself is inspired by Scandinavian “Ice glass” which was popularized by artists like Tapio Wirkkala and Timo Sarpaneva. Even the iconic “Savoy” vase designed by Alvar Aalto in the 1930s was originally made using a wood mold and then later made with a metal one to accommodate mass-production. The Hira’s took this original process, and enhanced it even more by lining bark to the interior of the mold to further romanticize the texture of wood grain. Now these vases look almost like they are the form of the log itself, instead of just the interior.
Very beautiful grey / blue glasses.
The complimentary amber vases look especially nice with bright green leaves.
Along with the Moldall collection, we also showed Studio Prepa’s art glass which they are famous for.
Maple lids carved to perfectly fit the asymmetrical forms of each vase.
Very Scandinavian looking glass-cast candle holders.
Bud vases.
One of our favorites in the collection: the glass planters.
A glass paper weight used as a futaoki (lid rest).
Mr. and Mr.s Hira on the far right.
Mold All exhibition
We’re really excited to announce our 2nd exhibition of 2014. We were lucky to host Mr. and Mrs. Hira of Studio Prepa during a group show with Oji Masanori two years ago. Our follow up to that exhibition is a solo exhibition entitled “Mold All”. This series is the result of an experimentation with wooden molds, the same technique used by mid-century Finnish glass artists to create “Ice Glass”.
A log is hollowed out and glass in blown into the mold. The end grain, knots, and grain are left imprinted on the clear glass. Since the molds are made of wood they can only be used a few times before they are destroyed so as a result the works are very limited and each piece has a unique size and shape.
We will also be offering a collection of Studio Prepa’s studio line, which includes bowls, dishes and glasses.
We hope to see you this weekend! We will be hosting an evening reception with the artists Saturday evening from 5:00 – 7:00pm.
Mjolk through the eyes of Cereal
We were thrilled to find out Cereal was interested in profiling us in their features section on their website. Of course they are known for their beautiful publication, writing and romantic photography. We were really interesting to see our store through their lens.
Of course they did not disappoint. Photographer Titus Chan did a fantastic job capturing the mood of the store, and John Connell asked me some really thought provoking questions. I think our interview went well beyond what he needed to get.
Please read the article and see the photographs here
A little more living
I hope everyone had a nice weekend. Monday is our day off so today was pretty relaxed, with brunch at Luna, a visit with Sali Tabacchi, coffee at Full Stop and some grocery shopping. Since the dwell article a few things in our home have changed so we thought we would give you a little update.
The first little thing is our tiny little Peace Lily in an Arabia Finland planter, along with the Luca Nichetto Timeline bowl and copper Zoo table by Claesson Koivisto Rune. We also sell the TMM floor lamp by Spanish designer Miguel Mila, we always have his designs on display at Mjölk.
Available at Mjölk but not on the webstore yet: Luca Nichetto Timeline bowl and TMM floor lamp in white oak, beech, walnut or wenge. Please enquire here.
Underneath this little side table is our new (old) mid-century Swedish carpet by Judith Johansson. She is one of our favourite rug designers, you might recognize her work from the red and blue carpet we have at our cottage.
When we first moved in we didn’t have any rugs on the floor at all, and in the beginning it was really nice and minimalistic. However, as we grew into our home we starting craving the warmth you get from incorporating textiles. They are also so nice underfoot and remarkably cut down on sound.
The full shot of the living room rug.
The untreated vegetable tanned leather on our 2213 sofa is about 2 years old, and wearing beautifully. Eventually it will be a cognac brown.
Elodie rolling around on the carpet.
You might be wondering where our old Berber rug moved to. We found a great place for it in our bay window underneath the Conoid bench. The two carpets play off each other really well. We’ve always loved textiles but incorporating different styles in the same room can be challenging. That’s why we really took our time waiting for the perfect rug to tie everything together.
All of the subdued fall colours are really nice. Funny enough, when we bought the rug via an online auction, the colours in the photograph were more blue, pink and orange, so we were really disappointed when this colourway showed up. Thankfully because of all the white oak and natural leather it works and it ended up being a win!
A photo of Elodie to end with.
