Ophelia has a dream

Between 1851 and 1852, John Everett Millais painted Ophelia, one of Shakespeare's Hamlet character before she drowns in a river.

Not very appreciated in its years, later it became an admired artwork for its beauty and its accurate depiction of a natural landscape. Ophelia has been estimated to have a market value of around $48 million.

And a few days ago, Mihara Yasuhiro collaborated with photographer Paolo Roversi on a moving rendition of the portrait, presented at Tate Britain in London alongside the original painting of the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Mihara Yasuhiro is a japanese designer known for his work with shoes. His work has been prolific since his first shoes were created, landing him deals with Puma and major shoe distributors around the world. He has recently taken up clothing lines for both men and women and his work in street fashion has made him a popular name throughout Tokyo.

He decided to make this film as a symbol of eternity and existence after Japan's disaster in March 2011.

"I wanted to create something that would allow viewers to dream and be immersed in a fantasy", said Yasuhiro.

The Void

Besides fashion, architecture is one of the things that I feel passionate about. It's always cool to see what the great architects are doing, what they have on mind, their concepts, their creations and believe me, it's always amazing.

Integrating the architecture of the Guggenheim Museum, created by Frank Lloyd Wright, and an amazing and huge intervention by JDS Architects, the proposal invites everyone to experience the a net spiraling down the instituion's rotonda.

One of the great things about this art intervention/installation is that people actually can walk, play and rest IN it. The form is very dinamic and gives the same idea of movement that has the central part of the museum.

Love it!
♥

Art in a full bloom

I've always been obsessed with japanese people (meaning designers, artits, architects, culture, etc)! I think they are extremely creative and they always have something interesting to say with their creations. Comme des garçons, Yohji Yamamoto, Tao Kurihara are some of the designers that I always look for, that I love their collections and that I think that are masters in what they do.

Now, I found a new guy to admire: Makoto Azuma. He's a japanese artist, who creates all of his pieces with materials coming from nature (like blooms, plants, etc). He moved to Tokyo in 1997 and planned to become a rock star, but then he found what he likes in botanical art. Watching his work (even in photos) is amazing! With things coming from nature, he creates a natural master piece, unique on its kind. Mixing pines, lilies, ikebanas, dahlias + species that he cultivates in Japan's mountain, in his own field.

Right now Azuma is working in a new project that involves pines + steel panels that would be show in Ginza, Tokyo in February, 2010. He also has some other projects now, including one for the Japanese Pavillion for the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai that consists in the creation of a japanese modern garden.

Here are some pics from his work...