In the Middle Ages, when everyone trusted in god, they also believed that nature was alive. The existence of “Mother Earth” proposed by Aristotle, as interpreted by St Thomas Aquinas, was taught in universities. Animals and plants were believed to have souls, the Latin word for soul being “anima”. The scientific revolution starting in the […]
There was a time when hats were expected, not just on formal occasions, but for everyday wear. In the 1950s, a woman without a hat was less likely to be served in a shop and was highly unlikely to be seen in a church. Hats are no longer considered a vital part of an outfit, […]
No one would have guessed that the Great Pottery Throw Down would make for compelling television entertainment, let alone that BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour would be running its own craft competition to celebrate the programme’s 70th anniversary. Likewise, few could have anticipated the rise and rise of craft, at a time when ‘authenticity’ is everywhere, […]
Whether you go to London’s new Design Museum to see the architecture or the exhibits, you are unlikely to be disappointed. Hailed by original founder and inspirational octogenarian, Sir Terence Conran as, “a cathedral of design,” and “the most important moment of my career in design… so far,” the museum brings to life a dream […]
Discarded materials have been put to good use in Cheryl Higgins’s textile collections. The young designer’s slow textiles incorporate used bottle tops and ring pulls reworked into sustainable mixed media designs. Her 2015 degree show at Loughborough University won her a place as one of the Top 30 New Designers in the annual show of the same name. Cheryl […]
Apologies for the digital downtime, but we’ve been working on Visuology Issue 5. The new issue will be out soon. Meantime, we are going to make our posts here brief and photo heavy – there will be plenty to read in the magazine. As well as giving you a sneak preview of the magazine on our […]
In Visuology Issue 2, we featured Outside In living, drawing attention to the growing desire to be at one with nature. Carpet tile maker, Interface, has researched the global impact of biophilic design in the workplace. Workers in office environments with natural elements, such as greenery and sunlight, report a 15% higher level of wellbeing, […]
Why is it that art galleries and happening concept stores are always off the beaten track? There’s probably a correlation between the difficulty of finding a place and the level of slow style snobbery. On the same stretch of Berlin’s Potsdamer Strasse as uber-trendy Andreas Murkudis, a new Acne outpost, a fair few Turkish grocery […]
Everything is connected. People say the world is getting smaller, but external cultural influences have inspired tastes in food, style, art and design for as long as man has travelled. In China, tea has been drunk for millennia, but the art of drinking tea is a culture all of its own. Gonfu Cha, the Chinese tea ceremony means “making […]
From passementerie to fashion adornments so extreme that the decoration becomes the fabric itself. Just when you thought we were over fringing, this is something you’ll be seeing even more of in the spring – with fringing becoming an integral part of the fabric. The frayed fabric look has been seen on the catwalks of Chanel, […]