by Kate “One Take Kate” Taylor.
In my endless hunt for freelance writing opportunities; I recently participated in a Test Edit process for design magazine Urbis. Although I was unsuccessful with them on this occasion, I thought it would be a shame to waste the words; so below please find my copy on the assignment I was given, which was to give an overview of December design event: Design Miami 2013. Check it out!
Considering that Design is not an area that I’ve got an extensive background with; I was pleased that my strong research skills and keen thirst to be a writing chameleon culminated to produce a strong piece of work. Clearly you can see that I was drawn to the jewellery designers, as they seem to really be creating some of the stuff that Sci-Fi fans of the past, imagined that we’d be wearing in 2013. Here it is…
Design Miami 2013
 |
| Pharell Williams and colourful visual artist Takashi Murakami. |
Where can you party in a Paris originated pop-up club conceived by David Lynch,
with Hip Hop artist Pharell Williams and colourful visual artist Takashi Murakami as your evening’s hosts?
At the opening soiree of Design Miami 2013, of course! Williams and Murakami hosted the blow out evening at Lynch’s Silencio in the heart of the Miami Beach design district, to showcase and celebrate their current works at this year’s extravaganza; held December 4th through to December 8th. Williams treated the crowd to his hits ‘Get Lucky’ and ‘Blurred Lines’, whilst Murakami screened a selection of his animations and short films from the past ten years. The electrifying affair launched five days of current design trends, a plethora of specialist areas and exhibitions ranging from late 19th century pottery and mid-20th century masterworks; to imaginative uses for unusual or ‘found’ material pieces and a stunning array of Jewellery collections.
Gijs Bakker, displayed his much lauded collection marking him a favourite for design tastemakers impressed by this industrial designer with a flair for jewellery pieces motivated by pop culture cheek, as present in his Nadal
 |
| Gijs Bakker, Nadal brooch (2013) |
brooch (2013) and I Don’t Wear Jewels I Drive Them – Bus crash brooch (2000), the latter comprised of silver, white gold, diamond, sapphire, colour photos and plexiglass. Bakker also delves into more traditional semi-precious stone pieces such as Butterfly brooch (2008) and meanwhile in jewellery, Frank Stella’s collection of chunky statement rings and Jesus Raphael Soto’s series of kinetic earrings were also indeed highlights.
 |
| Frank Stella, Dynamic gold ring (2010) |
A strong representation of talented female designers appeared this year; Maria Pergay and her 50 year career received special attention at exhibition, Astrid Krogh’s works of fibre optics melded into colourful tapestries of light in pieces like Meadow (2013) or glass artist Ritsue Mishima’s exquisite colourless forms, such as Ice (2013) created with master craftsmen from Murano; displayed the breath of talent and diversity of mediums used currently at the cutting edge of design, and their inspirations from the past. Clean, simple lines with pops of colour were on trend with collections across galleries for the event; exhibitions of late 60s, beautifully simplistic furniture pieces by Charlotte Perriand sat snuggly in relevance next to Hella Jongerius’s new collection of Polychrome resin tables, such as the delicious looking Gemstone (2013).
 |
| Astrid Krogh, Meadow (2013) |
 |
| Ritsue Mishima, Ice (2013) |
 |
| Hella Jongerius, Gemstone (2013) |
