Studio MS

Studio MS have created, among other things, the perfect light for bookworms. Pleats unfold – piano-accordion-like – between the covers of a novel and are brightened with a gentle glow. This elegantly ruffled look can be seen in all their pieces – from the 'Octave' handbag to the 'Closer' bench.



Studio MS is the work of Mi-Seung Kim and Myung-Seo Kang, both graduates of Central Saint Martins in London; one specialised in product design, the other in fashion print. The school is where they first met, five years ago, and they started designing together mid-2009. Their inspirations are "small things from people's daily lives".



The 'Book' light and 'Octave' bag are part of Studio MS's Octagonal Series, which exhibited at Tent London 2009.

"We played with origami and used 'fishbone direct folding'. We calculated the length of pleats mathematically, creating octagonal pleats, which are not merely flexible but also strong and have inestimable possibilities," they explain.



"The 'Book' light is inspired by traditional bookbinding; book and light are inseparable from each other, so we combined two elements with pleats. According to how you open the book, it adjusts the amount of light."

"The Octave bag is a contemporary use of the octagonal shape. When the pleats are unfolded, the remaining space makes a fashionable statement. It also makes the bag size changeable, and helps with finding items more easily."



With the 'Closer' bench', people can communicate better by flexing the shape of the seat. The pleats also part and the blank space inside can be cleverly used as storage.

Although Studio MS are hard at work in their London office – which is filled with tools, materials and books about leather, binding, origami and design theory – they'd love to see their work conveyed around the world.



"When we get a chance, we want to do an exhibition in Australia." They're also looking for stockists here, too.

Until then, you can see more of Mi-Seung Kim and Myung-Seo Kang's designs here.

Lee Tran, deputy chief sub-editor

Finders Keepers

Bride & Wolfe

The Finders Keepers craft/design markets are on again next Friday and Saturday in Sydney. Head down to Carriageworks in Eveleigh, to see all the browse-worthy stalls. Featured designers and labels include Bride & Wolfe, Das Monk, La Rara, Made By White, The Red Thread, and many more (quite a few are also making their first-ever Finders Keepers appearance). There's also free music by great local bands, such as the cinematic I Dream In Transit, whose moody music centres around a Rhodes piano they rescued off a suburban front lawn.


Made By White

Here is a visual teaser of some of the stalls you can see this coming weekend. Warning – it is very easy to lose your head and want to buy everything.

Head to the the Finders Keepers website to find out more.

Lee Tran, deputy chief sub-editor


Likkie Girl


Peter McLisky


La Rara


Sarah Rothe


Invisible Bus


The Red Thread

P.S. If you're not in Sydney, you can keep up-to-date with lots of great artist and shop profiles by reading the Finders Keepers blog. Currently in the spotlight is the cute-and-creative Lark store, located in Daylesford, Victoria.


Lark

Design buyers … Write this down!

Some of the world's most famous design brands (which often also grace the pages of Inside Out) will be available at Corporate Culture from January 2010. The company will carry Cassina, Poltrona Frau, Alias and Cappellini; these brands feature the work of designers such as Le Corbusier, Charlotte Perriand, Frank Lloyd Wright, Marc Newson and Tom Dixon. A definite mental note for designers, decorators and students.

Vanessa, style editor

Wonder world

Paper anemones and photo by Minaxi May

Adding a confetti-burst of colour to Perth right now is the Awesome International Arts Festival For Bright Young Things. Highlights include the Musem of Everyday Life from France, City Within A City exhibition and Wondersite, a series of colourful sites brought to life by artists Marley Dawson, Rose Skinner, Hayley Bahr and Minaxi May.


Artwork and photo by Minaxi May

Previous works by Minaxi May include giant cupcake wrappers, stacked in a corner, as well as bright spirals of paper 'anemones'. To see what she – and the other artists – have unveiled for 2009, you'll have to head to Forrest Place in Perth, (although, below, is a sneak peek).

For more details about the Awesome International Arts Festival, visit the website. It runs until November 29.


Artwork for Wondersite; photo by Minaxi May

Spectrum

It's not the same as standing in the gallery and seeing the library of colour before you, but for people who can't teleport to Melbourne to see Victoria Reichelt's Spectrum exhibition, here's a few images for you.



And if you are in Melbourne, you can see her paintings of book shelves in full-colour glory at Dianne Tanzer Gallery, 108-110 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, until December 19.

For more details on Victoria Reichelt, head to her website. I hope she has more 'bookish' projects up her (paint-scattered) sleeve.

Lee Tran, deputy chief sub-editor

(Kitchen) table of contents

How cute are the contents pages of Stephanie Alexander’s Kitchen Garden Companion? I came across it after our work experience intern Alex mentioned the book in her Xmas wish list. I did some detective work and found out the foodie symbols – and the publication's look overall – was created by Penguin's inhouse designer, John Canty. You might recognise his work on your own shelf – or in your book store. He's produced the covers for several well-known works, such as Steve Toltz's A Fraction Of The Whole.

Lee Tran, deputy chief sub-editor

Par aviation

Here’s how to stamp your correspondence with a little style. These little 1mm-thick balsa wood postcards can not only wing their way around the globe with warm and wonderful messages, but can then be made into mini aeroplanes. Press along the dotted lines, pop out the shapes and slot the pieces together. Easy – and fun.

Designed by Suck UK and available locally through Until.

Susan, chief sub-editor

Fleur Harris at William Topp

Mornington Peninsula artist Fleur Harris has an exhibition running at William Topp in Perth. It's not your average show - it even includes laser-cut wooden clocks. It runs until November 29, at 452 William St, Northbridge. Go to the William Topp site for more details.

Lee Tran, deputy chief sub-editor

Papier Mache magazine

I discovered the latest Papier Mache magazine through Grace, our former designer. She featured it on her blog and also drew some Frenchy-chic illustrations for it.



Papier Mache describes itself as a "very cute children's magazine for anyone who wants to read it" and it certainly contains high amounts of adorable.



Produced by Sydney folks, The Convenience Store, the latest issue features Melbourne artist David Bromley, a profile on Paris-based illustrator Atsuko Ishii, an endearing feature snapped by kids (one of the young photographers, Bruno, 9, claims one of his favourite things is "being alive" – so awesome!), and crafty tips by Meet Me At Mike's Pip Lincolne.



But my two favourite things have to be Hannah Scott Stevenson's pinker-than-pink shoot depicting a young girl (and her tutu) defying gravity, and Barbara Berrada's 'Sugarbaby Nael' pictures, which shows the cutest bout of tea-drinking ever witnessed.



Check it out at www.papier-mache.com.au.

Lee Tran, deputy chief sub-editor

Our wishlist from 100 sensational stocking fillers

Spacecraft 'Artplay' decal

With less than six (slightly stressful) weeks to go until Christmas, it’s time to start thinking about the presents you want to give and what you’d like to see in your stocking.

Our lovely stylist Vanessa has trawled the stores for our '100 sensational stocking fillers' feature in the Christmas issue, and our staff have chosen their favourites here. To ensure gift-related excitement on December 25, refer your parents, brothers, sisters, aunties, uncles and grandparents to the list here!

-Alexandra Brown, work experience intern



Staff Pick #1

OK, so I may be a little biased as I sourced all of these pieces, but seeing as I can’t list 100 faves, here are my top three.

Two that I am particularly fond of and would personally love to see at home are number 23, the Spacecraft 'Artplay’ wall decor (I already own a huge Spacecraft canvas and these little guys trailing up my stairwell would balance it nicely) and number 24, the Yellow Owl 'Ghost' camera from William Topp (because I love ceramics, Polaroids, and modern pieces that suggest the past).


Yellow Owl 'Ghost' camera

I already have some 'House' shoes no.25 in Grey Marle and have bought some black ones for my husband, so it's safe to say I love these too. They're super comfy and look hot on my hubby … Biased again I know, but it’s true!

Vanessa, style editor



Staff Pick #2

I love the old-fashioned fold-out timber ruler with a difference (No.88). It's the 'History By The Metre' ruler, where you have a timeline of happenings covering 2000 years in two metres - that's 10 years per centimetre. Talk about a condensed history! (Oh, by the way – the flipside actually measures things!) There's also an 'Evolution' rule for 'Beagle-eyed' measurers.

Susan, chief sub-editor



Staff Pick #3

With all the overindulgence at Christmas time, I’ll be wishing for No. 20, Stephanie Alexander’s Kitchen Garden Companion, to encourage me to get back on the healthy horse and hopefully not kill my parsley again after the third attempt at growing the herb! I’ll also be telling my rellies about no.44, the Rossetti body care gift pack from Aesop – no girl can have too many lip creams or hand balms.

Alexandra Brown, work experience intern



To find prices and where you can purchase these items (just in case all your hinting pre-Christmas is ignored), turn to the "100 sensational stocking fillers” special feature in the latest issue of Inside Out.

Home is where the art is

Föhrenwald, Michaela Melián, 2005/07 slide installation, courtesy of the artist

My relatively inexperienced artistic eye finds ‘The Dwelling’, an exhibition in its last days at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art in Melbourne, to be pretty exciting.

The show is a collection of spooky works from a range of artists that explore surreal, haunted and very strange aspects of the idea of the home.

Featured works include House II, an eerie video of a deluge of water gushing from inside the house by David Haines and Joyce Hinterding.


House 2 The Great Artesian Basin Pennsylvania, David Haines & Joyce Hinterding (2003), single-channel DVD projection with 5.1 sound, courtesy of the artists

‘Familiars’, another video, this time by German artist, Sophia Hulten, features members of her family dressing up as poltergeists and devising absurd situations to try and frighten one another.

Of all the ‘dwellings’ in the exhibition, associate curator Hannah Mathews says she would most like to live in Callum Morton’s International Style. “Based on Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House, this is one of the most iconic pieces of 20th-century architecture – without the brawling party soundtrack, of course!” she says.


Familiars, Sofia Hulten, 2007 video (still), courtesy of the artist and Natalia Goldin Gallery, Stockholm. Photo credit: Sofia Hultén and VG-Bildkunst

Getting people talking is Opera For A Small Room by Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, with its intimate audio-visual experience based on the fictionalised life of a record collector.

To make up your own mind about this intriguing collection, head to the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art at 111 Sturt Street in Southbank before the exhibition finishes on November 29. Admission is free.

Alexandra Brown, work experience intern