Category: Design

As visitors wander through a mile-stretch of Filoli’s Natural Lands this summer, they’ll encounter a group of eager wooden characters ready to share their wisdom. Trolls: Save the Humans is a playful, yet urgent exhibition by Danish artist Thomas Dambo (previously), who’s known for creating enormous fairytale characters from reclaimed wood. At Filoli, Dambo has…

From the spiral shells of prehistoric ammonites to uncanny depictions of organs and fish, Hiné Mizushima has a knack for combining cuteness and humor with the unusual and unseen. The Vancouver-based artist (previously) continues to create vibrant dioramas and wall sculptures that toy with textiles, anatomy, and taxidermy. Using felt, sequins, embroidery thread, and yarn,…

If you, like us, are in desperate need of some outdoor time but are instead caught up in emails, meetings, and distressing news alerts, we have a salve to hold you over for at least an hour or two. New York-based photographer Noah Kalina is known for expansive projects that test commitment and attention. His…

In some parts of the world, stray animals are nearly as beloved as pets. Thousands of dogs roam the streets of Cusco, Peru, for example, and cats pretty much rule the night in places like Athens, Valletta, and Japan’s “cat islands.” Local residents often feed and provide shelter for these roving colonies, and for Dutch…

For his latest single, “Soft Gradient Beckons,” British electronic musician Ryan Lee West, a.k.a. Rival Consoles, tapped multidisciplinary artist Anthony Dickenson to create a music video that plays with a sense of perception and reality—especially the distinction between analog and digital processes. Dickenson employs a range of photography and film processes in his practice, focusing…

From rocky outcrops overlooking modest, brightly painted houses, photographer Dennis Lehtonen captures an astonishing nordic phenomenon. Innaarsuit, Greenland, which sits more than 430 miles north of the Arctic Circle, sets the stage for a series of images highlighting dramatic visitors to the area’s waterways. Lehtonen moved to Greenland in April 2023 to work in a…

Have you ever sought out the best variety of paper, highest quality paints, or most-trusted brand of equipment only to find that a cheaper, more readily available version actually worked better? That’s something Chinese painter and calligrapher Wang Mansheng thinks about a lot. Making his own brushes from natural materials, the artist considers how organic…

From PVC, silicone-coated fabrics, nylon mesh, electronics, and other found or manipulated materials, Rong Bao creates oddly personable inflatable sculptures. “My fascination with inflatable structures began when I realized how absurd, tender, and unstable they could be—all at once,” the artist tells Colossal. “Unlike rigid materials, inflatables breathe, wobble, collapse, and revive. They seem alive,…

Emile-Allain Séguy, better known as E.A. Séguy (1890-1985), was a prolific French designer. He was active during the Art Nouveau movement of the 1920s and created Papillons, a timeless collection of prints inspired by butterflies. Séguy skillfully employed pochoir—a printing method using stencils—to produce vibrant illustrations of the winged insects. Nervous System gives the artist’s…

An unassuming cacao tree in Indonesia has made a unique connection to a high-tech artwork in China. Thanks to ecological data artist Thijs Biersteker, “ORIGIN” is a sculpture — a “digital twin” — that reflects the sensors monitoring the growth and elemental experiences of the tropical tree through pulses of light. “When it rains in Indonesia,…