Wine Friday: HELLBENT

Such a cool label! Almost blank label with simple black and red lettering upside down at the bottom - HELLBENT. After a bit of a long week, the name was enough to entice me into purchasing this wine, even though it surpassed the designed budget. But to hell with it, I was hellbent on having a nice friday night! 

Unfortunately for me, nice was out of the question. 

The wine, "sniff, sniff", was, "snuffle, cough", OFF...

Crap. Really? Maybe not, lets try again... Oh yea, that's off... Crap.

Well I gave it a solid try, almost convinced myself that the wine was just really terrible, but couldn't make a go of it, it was most definitely off.  Perhaps the review will happen another night, the label is strong enough, it will probably entice me again...

Well, at least the bottle looks great! Particularly with that really sexy light behind it. More on that this weekend...

Designer: Christian Haas

Christian Haas is a German designer who currently works out of his own studio in Paris. He is a diverse designer, working on projects that include lighting, glass, porcelain, furniture, interior design, and graphics. Somewhat hard to distinguish between art and design, his work is quite spectacular. He has real talent with glass and porcelain, but he first caught my attention with the Ropes Light series that he developed in 2011. It is quite a light-hearted warm lamp that I would love to have hanging in a few spaces at home, especially our rumpus room. It just begs the question of what would happen when, not if, my boys try climbing them, I guarantee they would give it a shot.

Ropes - Lamps, 2011

via http://www.haasdesign.de

Artist: Oleg Dou

Oleg Dou is a Moscow based photographer who mixes photography with design. Born in 1983, he has been surrounded by art and design his whole life as his mother was a painter and his father a dress designer. He was recently ranked in the top 3 photographers in the world under 30, and is touted as one of the most promising artists of his generation. Not bad!

His work is both beautiful and shocking, some pieces bordering grotesque, while others are adorable. A surrealist style that makes an emotional impact.

From the artist:
“I like having a tradition and seeing how it can work with modern material, how it can translate into new ideas.”
“I want to concoct a situation that happens, for example, in European films: there doesn’t seem to be a specific message, but the situation plays with our head and makes us ask ourselves questions like ‘what is this’ and ‘what is this for?”
“I find it extremely important to do what I do ‘beautifully’; not for beauty itself, per se, but more so as a tool that makes my ideas both interesting and workable.”
“I am looking for something bordering between the beautiful and the repulsive, living and dead. I want to attain the feeling of presence one can get when walking by a plastic manikin…”

- www.douart.ru

It was hard to pick, but my favorites are White, Red, and Cheburashka, and Cheburashka 2...

Cheburashka 2. 2011 - Help Japan © Oleg Dou

Architect: Andersson-Wise

One word: Craftsmanship.
 

Founded just over a decade ago by Arthur Anderson and Christian Wise, the work by this Texas-based firm is, for the most part, stunning.  As is often the case, their best work is done in their houses. Some of their larger institution work is interesting, and in a few instances poetic, but as a whole it's just not of the same standard as their houses.

The designs use primarily local materials and incredible craftsmanship. Beautiful, tight steel work, carpentry, and concrete combine with delicate detailing and unique forms to create inspiring, calm homes. I would happily inhabit any one of these spaces.

Stone Creek Camp
Bigfork, MT

via http://www.anderssonwise.com/

Product: "ish" Watch

Now here is a watch for anyone with kids, Prasanna Sankhe has designed the "ish" watch. Designed for people in India where "'fashionably late' is safely replaced with 'predictably late'. Cow blockades, politician escorts, cratered roads, compound the problem and offer a valid excuse." - From Hyphen Brands.  I, as a father, believe very strongly that no cow blockade has anything on two little tyrants refusing to put on their socks before heading off to Nana's house, or anywhere else for that matter, and as such, I believe this watch is not only for life in India, but for anyone who is a parent, or is a friend with said parent, or friends with the Misura twins, they are running on India time, no offense intended guys you are running at the right time if you ask me...

Wine Friday: Longue-Dog

Longue-Dog, 2010 French blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Pays D'Oc. 

I will say right off, this is one I will get again. Firstly, awesome, simple label. Super cute prancing wiener dog stretched across the front and back label with a bright red collar as the only touch of colour. It grabbed my attention, and I'm glad it did. At $14.65 in the liquor venders, meaning it is probably more like $13.50 at a BCLS (I think), I think it was a really tasty good value for the buck.

Side Note: BRNO HDR video...

How about a side of video with your friday... 

Here's a video by Samadhi Production out of the Czech Republic Titled BRNO. It's shot in HDR (something I didn't know was capable in video = cool). It's typically done in photography by taking multiple, rapid pictures of the same subject, each shot set at a different exposure setting, then merging the images. The end result being highly saturated and very 'crisp', the image captures a greater dynamic range between the lighter and darker areas in an image, thus the name, High Dynamic Range Imaging (HDR). Enjoy!

BRNO HDR from samadhi production on Vimeo.

Designer: Maarten Baas

Maarten Baas is a Dutch designer who works out of a barn turned workshop, on a farm near 's-Hertogenbosh, south Holland, with fellow designer Bas den Herder. For the most part their work is playful and whimsical, but in general I find it somewhat lacking in elegance and quite simply not my style. HOWEVER, they have one series of work called SMOKE, that is truly stunning. The chair grabs hold of my imagination, looks plush, refined, and incredibly sexy. Yes I called the chair sexy, and I want one.

Smoke

Consisting of burnt wood, finished with epoxy resin, and fire retardant foam leather upholstery (the baroque pieces, my favorite, are produced by Moooi, the rest come from the duo's farm studio). The pieces are literally burned, then preserved in a clear epoxy coating to make sure your Versace suits don't get smudged. 

via http://www.maartenbaas.com/

Side Note: The Mountain (Time Lapse Video)

I came across this gorgeous video capturing El Teide and the Milky Way by Terje Sørgjerd of TSO Photography this morning and had to share. El Teide, Spains' highest mountain, is also considered one of the best star gazing areas on earth. Beautiful cinematography accompanied by elegant music, a nice way to start the morning, enjoy. More info here.

The Mountain from TSO Photography on Vimeo.

Artist: Banksy

I'm sure many of you have heard of Banksy, even if you haven't you have very likely seen some of his work. Banksy is perhaps the most well known street artist there is. He does not limit his work to the street, but that is where he got his start and where he continues to do the majority of his work. His art is often thought provoking, political, tongue in cheek, it frequently challenges society and norms, but on occasion it's simply goofy and fun. Some pieces are remarkably complex, while others are almost childlike in their simplicity. Most frequently, his pieces carry an anti-war, anti-capitalism, or anti-establishment message. It is his ability to abstract the ideas behind his work that truly makes his art stand out, that combined with a remarkable talent with stencils.

Here are a few of my favorite pieces…

via http://www.banksy.co.uk/