Winifred Wikkeling

Narcissus by VanEsch

Most often a mirror is for gazing, at times for questioning and sometimes for reflecting. After gazing we questioned, what might our Narcissus reflect? Would it be, thank you for this journey, thank you for the obstacles, thank you for your perseverance? Or maybe, thank you for your fearlessness, thank you for your exploration, thank you for your open mind? It might also say, thank you for your intuition, your questioning, your searching. But then we would have to add, thank you for your growth, your dynamic style. Surely we would want it to offer, thank you for surprising, thank you for believing, thank you for receiving. We would hope for enough space to thank you for that laugh – disproportionate and loud – for it was there with us always when we needed it most…

Pixelated Chair By Studio Makkink & Bey

Via Design Boom

Ah…the Dutch. Clever, liberated, progressive, open. Intellectually curious about all cultures, history and creativity. Humanitarians? Yes, Internationale Zamenwerking tells us just how so. As does a very relaxed justice system. It is fitting then that Studio Makkink & Bey would create this project titled ‘A Poor Haute Couture,’ a commentary on consolidation in the luxury market and the left over materials that are normally not of interest in design. We wondered: was it the landscape free of a death penalty that allowed this chair to take shape? Our first glance made us shiver, our second glance made us confused, our third made us blush a little. Though we like this free form design, unplanned and unstructured, we continue to feel a bit of anxiety. Is the overeenkomst with the electric chair apparent to us alone?

Vondel Verses by Anouk Vogel and Johan Selbing

Via Dezeen

Every so often we realize that the child in us holds much sway over our tastes. We never quite got over the elfin world of Galadriel, and the work of Natalie Shau makes us envious. We like the way she stirs sweetness with a little bitter; her light holds the allure of the dark. It reminds us of the lovely leaps of our stomach when as a child we would tread dangerously close to the forbidden. Vondel Verses, the new furniture designed for Amsterdam’s Vondel Park, makes us excited for the forbidden. We like the strength of cast iron benches that suggest a heavy gate. They don’t so much seem intended for sitting as they are protective, keeping us out, holding something back. The daffodil shapes of the lamp posts are noncommittal. At first glimpse, daffodils, but a second look may reveal something other. And the ivy patterns of the kiosks, is there a secret message in those swirls? Though the furniture is intended to be romantic there is a strong hint of mischief. Vondel Verses wants to take us on an adventure. We will gladly come along…

A spritz or two of rose,

me, at the tip of my toes, my nose in pursuit,

hovering close,

brushing lightly the curve of the base,

I follow rose to the hollow,

there below the ear, savoring,

I take a deep breath in,

holding rose briefly, I release, reluctantly, but rose stays with me,

when I open my eyes,

he smiles knowingly,

how easily I succumb…