Hasta La Ideas

The artist’s latest print series blends graphite drawing with 3D digital sculpture

Haunting curvilinear forms dominate the work of Sougwen Chung, an artist with international roots and a flair for outspoken minimalism. Her most recent series—produced as a limited-edition print run for Ghostly International—portrays four natural phenomena with subtle coloration and high contrast. The individual members of “Étude Op. 2 No.1-4” take the names “Flight”, “High Tide”, “Cocoon” and “Bloom”, and lie somewhere between representation and theory. Viewed together, they communicate a congruent narrative and aesthetic in spite of their abstract form.

“The form and composition of each piece are informed by textures and elements within an original series of graphite drawings,” Chung tells CH when asked about the process. “Elements are deconstructed and then sculpted in a 3D digital environment. The final pieces are a result of a multi-disciplinary approach to improvisation and experimentation.” Ultimately, the blend of mediums and abilities brings about sci-fi worthy, otherworldly shapes.

A departure from her previous print series for Ghostly “Étude Op. 1”, “Op. 2” rejects the minimalist, hand-drawn look for “darker palettes and more iconic motifs.” “‘Op. 1’ was deliberately austere and minimal, celebrating pure form and visual rhythm in the way only black and white images can,” Chung explains. Both series showcase Chung’s talent for visual edginess and slick dynamism—which goes a long way towards explaining her commercial successes. If Chung’s look is minimalist, then it is a minimalism in crisis, full of movement, transition and graphic energy.

“Étude Op. 2” and the earlier series “Op. 1” are available from the Ghostly online store starting at $60. See more images of the two series in our slideshow.

Nous sommes fiers de vous présenter aujourd’hui l’Issue 07 du programme hebdomadaire Fubiz TV. Au sommaire cette semaine, nous avons sélectionné le meilleur de l’actualité et nous avons rencontrer Orelsan et le réalisateur David Tomaszewski pour une interview exclusive.

As the go-to guide for seven-day snapshots of local arts and events listings, Time Out Chicago boasts service-oriented stories that help urban explorers find the best ways to spend their free time.

And if you’re a freelance photographer, TimeOutChicago.com is wide open for those looking to add to their portfolios. The site gets over 3 million page views a month and features lots of photo galleries that speak to the mag’s cultural core.

“We have the broadest, most in-depth cultural coverage of Chicago of any media outlet and the largest cultural reporting team in the city, so if it’s about Chicago culture, we’d like to hear about it,” said editor-in-chief Frank Sennett. “Our target readership is anybody who actively consumes culture in the city of Chicago, people who are going out and doing things. They tend to be people in the city, but it could be anybody who wants to go out and do something fun.”

For editor contacts and more details on breaking in, read How To Pitch: Time Out Chicago.

This article is one of several mediabistro.com features exclusively available to AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Creating book jacket covers in a hilarious TED talk from the seasoned designer

One of our favorite talks from TED this year, Chip Kidd delivers a great message in a most relaxed and humorous way. The talk, just posted online, reminds us about the importance of print in the digital age: “Much is to be gained by e-books: ease, convenience, portability,” explains Kidd. “But something is definitely lost: tradition, a sensual experience, the comfort of thingy-ness, a little bit of humanity.”

Opening the session called, “The Design Studio,” co-curated by David Rockwell and Chee Pearlman, Kidd runs through his highly successful career at Alfred A. Knopff, from early efforts designing the jacket for Michael Crichton’s “Jurrassic Park” to Haruki Murakami’s most recent hit “1Q84”. Starting from the simple premise of giving a face to a mess of words, the challenge often breeds entertaining results. Kidd jokes about his work for David Sedaris’ “Naked”, saying, “For me, it was simply an excuse to design a book that you could literally take the pants off of.” The designer fully embraces the advantages of digital type, but understands that it has its limitations, most notably when it comes to the senses: “I am all for the iPad, but trust me—smelling it will get you nowhere!”

Designed in Hackney: today’s instalment in our showcase of the best design in the London borough of Hackney is this tiny printer by BERG, which aggregates digital data streams such as news feeds or social network updates and prints the information out on a till-roll to create a personalised miniature newspaper. You can also watch this movie on Dezeen Screen »

Little Printer connects wirelessly to the internet, and can be configured using a smartphone app to print a regular bulletin of subscribed online publications, as well as personal information such as to-do lists, memos or messages.

Rather than using ink, the printer uses heat to transfer an impression onto thermal paper, just like a till receipt.

A beta printer and app will be launched later in 2012 and will initially work with data from launch partners Arup, Foursquare, Google, the Guardian, and Nike.

Little Printer is the first product to make use of BERG Cloud, the company’s online service that allows wireless devices in the home to be controlled remotely via a smartphone, without the need to connect them to a PC.

BERG have their offices on Corsham Street near Old Street.

Key:

Blue = designers
Red = architects
Yellow = brands

See a larger version of this map

Designed in Hackney is a Dezeen initiative to showcase world-class architecture and design created in the borough, which is one of the five host boroughs for the London 2012 Olympic Games as well as being home to Dezeen’s offices. We’ll publish buildings, interiors and objects that have been designed in Hackney each day until the games this summer.

More information and details of how to get involved can be found at www.designedinhackney.com.