Modern Clock Design – Front and Back by Giha Woo

Front and Back - A modern clock design by Giha Woo

 Giha Woo creates an elegant, minimalistic, modern clock design by turning the conventional clock upside down. Instead of hiding the batteries behind the clock, she makes them an integral part of the design by using them as hands to show the time.

Batteries become the hands of the clock in this modern design by Giha Woo

I love the simplicity of this contemporary design and how it streamlines the two main components of a modern clock. The only challenge I see is finding attractive batteries to feature on the front. The clock would lose something by placing the ubiquitous brown and black striped batteries at the center of this clean design!

Batteries removed from the Front and Back modern clock design by Giha Woo

Contemporary Art – David Hockney’s iPad drawings

Artist David Hockney's exhibit Fleurs Fraîches of his iPhone and iPad drawings opens today in Paris

Today in Paris, contemporary artist David Hockney‘s exhibit Fleurs Fraîches opens. The  unusual thing about this contemporary art exhibit is that all the drawings were completed on the iPhone and iPad.

Visitors at contemporary artist David Hockney's new Fleurs Fraîches exhibit

At the exhibit the drawings are displayed with backlighting, so viewers see them just as they would appear on the iPhone. Also, the iPad allows you to record and playback your brush strokes after you finish a drawing. So there are also video projections where viewers watch as Hockney makes his contemporary art drawings stroke by stroke.

Flower drawing by David Hockney on the iPad

The artist discovered brushes on his iPhone and started making small drawings every morning and sending them to friends by e-mail so they would wake up with fresh flowers. The name of the exhibition is ironic, since these fresh flowers never fade.

Series of sunrise drawings by contemporary artist David Hockney

This is a new development in the field of contemporary art and visual culture. Hockney is the first major artist to have an entire show of works that are in essence finger painted on the iPad. It also subverts traditional ideas of ownership in the art field since theoretically, every person who receives one of Hockney’s e-mails has an original copy of the artwork and could send it on to numerous people.

Read more about Hockney’s process and exhibit here and in this Telegraph article.

Modern Design – These Are Things

I stumbled upon the delightful website these are things, the website of modern graphic designers Jen Adrion and Omar Noory. The clean, retro design of their website is the perfect complement to their beautifully designed modern printed materials. Be sure to check it out!

It had never occurred to me that most map designs were dated, but Adrion and Noory explain, “All we wanted was a simple, modern world map. When our search turned up nothing but glossy posters and cheap antique reproductions, we knew it was time to design our own.”

Modern World Map by thesearethings.com

I really appreciate the clean, slightly edgy esthetic they brought to their maps. I sure wish I could have had some of these hand-silkscreened prints to stare at during geography class.

For those of you thinking ahead to the holidays, these are things also makes a 2011 travel adventure calendar, which would make an excellent modern gift.

Fill In The Blank cards by thesearethings.com

Their Fill In The Blank card set is another example of beautiful modern design. The format is simple and the typeface elegant, but it allows the writer to express their own sentiments, refined or otherwise. These cards would also make a great modern gift for the design lover in your life.

These cards are a refreshing combination of the best of modern and post-modern design. Graphically they adhere to all the modernist requirements: clean lines, basic colors, plenty of white space, etc. But the fact that the writer of the card is intended to create their own message and possibly deface the front of the pristinely letter-pressed card adds an ironic post-modern twist to this otherwise modern design.

Rotating Floor Mirror

This contemporary mirror from Oversized Mirror Gallery has a unique design: it doubles as a bookshelf. I love the clean lines as well as the fact that it spins! Watch the video to see it in action.

What a great way to add function and novelty to a small space. I could easily see this floor mirror fitting into a modern bedroom or contemporary bathroom.

OK Go

The band OK Go is known for its creative music videos; their newest is White Knuckles. While this blog normally focuses on modern interior design, contemporary art, and modern furniture, I loved the contemporary look of this video so much I had to share it with you!

Besides the incredible timing, choreography, and animal training required to make this video, my favorite part is the color palette. I love the clean white with the bright blue background. Then, about halfway through the video they add a pop of red to keep it interesting. Using clean, bright, solid colors inspired by the Pop Art movement almost always makes for great design. OK Go, we like your modern style!

Modern Bathrooms – Rotating Shower/Bath

Rotator bath from Teuco by Ron Arad

Designer Ron Arad created this surprising modern bath and shower combination. When the larger lip is closer to the ground as in the picture above, water fills the reservoir at the bottom to make a bathtub. Then, when you are finished bathing, the entire rim rotates, pouring the water to into a drain where the wall meets the floor.

Rotator bath, shower view

When rotated as in the picture above, the larger lip forms the hood of the shower, directing water toward the drain at the base of the wall.

While this bath/shower design may not be practical for most homes, I would certainly put it in my dream ultra-modern getaway or in James Bond’s next swanky hotel room. The fact that an entire part of your modern bathroom is able to rotate is quite a novelty and the clean lines of the white surface make it a beautiful contemporary design.

Watch the video below of contemporary artist and designer Ron Arad explaining his innovative design at the 2008 Milan Furniture Fair.

Contemporary Art – Painter Amy Park

Aalto's Wood Wall

Contemporary Artist Amy Park at work and her 2008 watercolor painting Aaltos Hidden Entrance

Light and Dark at the Same Time

Contemporary artist Amy Park creates beautiful, large watercolor paintings depicting architectural as well as abstract subjects. Park’s watercolor technique is impeccable. However, the muted color palette, hard edges, cropped compositions and geometric shapes are not what one usually expects from a watercolor artist.

The careful rendering of the crisp lines of modern architecture places artist Amy Park’s paintings firmly in the realm of contemporary art. I am confident any of these paintings would be right at home in any modern interior!

Modern Design for Kids – Caramelo Chair

Caramelo Kids Chair by Luis Luna

I want to be a kid again just to have the chance to play on this adorable modern chair by Luis Luna.

This graceful modern chair design should fit nicely with any modern interior. More importantly, the cheerful colors and fact that it rocks make sure that it will be kid-approved!

Modern Clock Design by Christiaan Postma

Designer Christiaan Postma created this groundbreaking modern clock design. We normally think of time in terms of numbers, but this modern clock design confronts our normal associations and forces the viewer to discern the time only using words.

Instead of using a conventional clock format with 3 hands for hours, minutes, and seconds, Postma’s modern clock is made of many hands that turn at unique speeds. On the hour, the clock hands combine to form the word of the current time. By the time the next hour rolls along, the previous hour is unreadable.

Visit Postma’s website and click the number 3 to view a fascinating animation showing the clock’s movements.

This modern clock design bridges the fields of contemporary art and modern design. The clock is functional since it does tell you the time within an hour. (Personally, I would love to live in a world where that is the most accurate time estimate we would need.) This modern clock serves as a kinetic sculpture as well as communicates a nonverbal sense of the passing of time much more effectively than an individual second hand circling a conventional clock. Postma has managed to excel at the most difficult task for a contemporary artist or modern designer: make a truly original statement by re-imagining a familiar object.

Contemporary Art Photography by Jeffrey Stockbridge

Room 921, photograph by Jeffrey Stockbridge

19th & Brown, photograph by Jeffrey Stockbridge

Contemporary photographer Jeffrey Stockbridge captured these striking images of abandoned rooms. Rather than dismissing these neglected living spaces, Stockbridge fills his contemporary art photography with poetic light and finds beauty in the imperfect. In these photos, as in some Edward Hopper paintings, the light itself is the subject as much as the rooms it fills.

What a great way to combine two of our favorite subjects: contemporary art and interiors!