#ids16

IDS Vancouver, now in its twelfth year, is the Pacific platform for creativity and design. The 2016 show was an experience of fine art, innovation and the latest products showcasing the philosophies and current works of designers, artisans, and design-centric brands. And the show brought together the international design community to celebrate.

IDS Vancouver - Image credit Regina Sturrock 

The floor was electric with creativity. With so many rich ideas to absorb, I feel that each person journeying through the displays and installations could take away something unique and inspirational, commensurate with their own experience.

Poetic creations around tactility, light and geometry and the ‘experience’ of design itself were all part of my personal takeaways.

Annie Tung’s Braille ‘Love Spoons’ held me captive. The small collection of cast silver and brass spoons were displayed in honest simplicity on a white plinth. At closer inspection, I noticed that each was inscribed with tiny tactile nibs.  The beauty of these pieces transcends the visual because each holds a sentence in Braille meant to be ‘read’ with one's tongue. Together as a set, the lovely spoons comprise a poem of love by Gwendolyn MacEwen. Craftsmanship and poetry merge as one in these uniquely beautiful and experiential creations.

‘Love Spoons’ by Annie Tung - Image credit Regina Sturrock

The ‘Veiled Vases”, designed and crafted by Brad Turner, were illuminated to stand as modern masterpieces. The hand-blown glasswork of soft organic sculpturing, in and of itself, is so engaging. The textile-like folds and grooves beg to be touched.  But the colourful glass tops that debut in full clarity and then shift to a ‘veiled’ version when swathed within the sandblasted glass cocoon is the allure.

‘Veiled Vases’ by Brad Turner - Image credit Regina Sturrock 

“My designs are driven by a need for originality and a strong responsibility towards the material.” – Brad Turner.

‘Traden Lamp’ by Brad Turner - Image credit Regina Sturrock 

I was equally drawn to the artisan’s modern organic Traden Lamp. The light-and- sculpture unit fuses handblown glass with a colourful industrial cable attached to a light source – a simple notion of parity between the hand and the machine, I feel.

Candian artist, Desirée Patterson, brought a strong environmental message of awareness and transformation in her Éveil Collection, a series of photographic creations that layer the human form, the natural world, and urban environments. The arresting montages are dense ‘geometry-meets-organic’ visuals to inspire preservation through art. I spoke with the artist about her motivations and passions behind the art and a dedicated blog of her work is in the queue. 

Éveil - ‘Divided’ by  Desirée Patterson - Image credit Regina Sturrock 

Vantot, a Netherlands product design and commissioned works studio, featured their collections that are inherently both pure and complex. Geometry, the mechanisms of movement, and curiosity inspire the creations.

 ‘Limpid Lights’ by Vantot - Image credit Vantot

Beautifully simple forms of handblown glass shades and LED light comprise the ‘Limpid Lights’. The lights are a response to the designers’ musings. They asked, ‘do we understand what happens when we dim the lights, and to what extent could the dimming be part of the design?’ The answer lies within nature’s rhythm of light. The sun is the constant unfading source. The earth is the moving variable that causes the light to brighten, dim or die as it nears and then travels further away. The design is realized based on this same principle of manipulating light by moving the light source. The pure light can be manually revealed or masked through the varying shifts in colour and opacities of the glass shades. It playfully adapts through the hazy, smoky and dusky glass environments to the brilliantly clear and coloured renditions.

Reverberate by Vantot - Image credit Vantot

The Reverberate jacquard-woven acoustical wall-hanging is another Vantot creation that focuses on intriguing optical effects. The high-craft textile explores how the eye can interpret multiple mathematical patterns.

The showstopper of IDS Vancouver was, indeed, the DXV line of 3D-printed metal faucets. The artistic thought and human touch behind the technology bring each of the three unique designs within the collection into a relatable and interactive form. The design intent is to present water in masterful play.

Redefining the way water is delivered, each faucet, the Vibrato, the Trope and the Shadowbrook, realizes the luxury to be found in everyday living. The flow of water is presented in poetic movement as guided by the faucets’ fine structures of concealed waterways. Each design presents a different experience.

The Shadowbrook is my personal favourite. The organic flow of water through nineteen individual waterways mimics a soothing stream over pebbles. This design fosters quiet reflection- a simple luxury of time to observe the beauty and purity of our natural world.

The DXV Shadowbrook 3D- Printed Metal Faucet  - image credit DXV

The Tom Dixon creations were a solid force at the show, and the focus was on beautiful materials forged into all manner of sculptural and geometric form.

The ‘Curve’ pendant is a geometrical light of soft nickel silver that emits a filtered ethereal glow. It raises the question, ‘is it a satellite, or is it an Art Deco sculpture?’ To me, the pendant is a moody and textural light form that could transform a clean-lined space.  

‘Curve’ Pendant by Tom Dixon - Image credit Regina Sturrock