Nino Mustica: Art and automotive design in symbiosis

 

UNSTOPPABLE SPIRIT EXHIBITION
Two dramatic sculptures developed by Nino Mustica and Gerry McGovern, inspired by the new Discovery Sport, featured on the Riverside Terrace of the Southbank Centre in London from 14 – 19 October, 2014

A dramatic new installation has debuted at Southbank Centre's iconic Royal Festival Hall beside the River Thames. Unstoppable Spirit is comprised of two dramatic sculptures reaching over seven metres into the London sky and is the product of a unique collaboration between Mustica and Land Rover's Design Director, Gerry McGovern.

The pieces were inspired by the design and capability of the new Land Rover Discovery Sport and were unveiled during Frieze Week London. They will be on public view until 19th October.

"Unstoppable Spirit is about the fusion between automotive design and contemporary art," says Mustica, who has a studio in Milan. "As an artist I am able to work in the abstract with full creative freedom, however the Discovery Sport is a piece of industrial design that must be both versatile and beautiful. This work is a fascinating exploration of how these worlds collide and interact."

"I have always been a huge admirer of Nino's work and I'm delighted to be collaborating on this truly unique project," says McGovern, recently appointed as a Visiting Professor at the Royal College of Art. "Our team at Land Rover understands that art and design are central to the creation of highly desirable vehicles that resonate on an emotional level. I believe art and design enrich people's lives in all their manifestations. That's why I'm proud to be revealing Unstoppable Spirit in such an iconic location at London's Southbank Centre."

Made from a combination of steel and glass fibre, Unstoppable Spirit creates a striking juxtaposition with the brutalism of Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall, originally built for the Festival of Britain in 1951. The two sculptures frame the front of the building, adjacent to the River Thames. Both measure over 7m x 6m x 6m and are of such a size that the integrated Land Rover Discovery Sport's forms are replicated in a scale of 1:1.

To achieve the intricate curved surfacing requested by Mustica and McGovern, an innovative production technique was developed using Land Rover's virtual reality cave, a process normally reserved for the development of prototype cars. The sculptures were then handcrafted in Turin before being transported to London. Such was the attention to detail that over 8000 working hours were required for their construction.

Annie Leibovitz for Vogue

The american portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz is famous for John Lennon and Yoko Ono Rolling Stone's cover. However, it's impossible to forget all the shoots she did for Vogue. Most of all Kirsten Dunst in Oscar de la Renta, Julianne Moore for Disney and Alice in Wonderland's Lewis Carrol shoot.

Rural Home by Dom Arquitectura

Dom Arquitectura: the renovation of a historic home in La Cerdanya, Spain.

From the architect

The project is located in a small village in La Cerdanya. Located on the north valley side and facing south, the dense rural core is formed by about 20 houses, is surrounded by fields and meadows where agriculture and farming are the main activities. Breathtaking views of the Cadi in front make this setting, a natural paradise.

Most buildings in the village are formed around an era. We can see in the village distribution map, that outside eras spaces organized the old constructions around them. They formed a structure grid set with old barns, stables and houses.

One group of constructions formed by a haystack, a barn, a warehouse, a small house and badiu belonged to our client who wanted to rehabilitate the space set and make his home and several guest pavilions.

We keep the volumes of the existing buildings, rehabilitating their facades and roofs and redistributing all interior spaces. The badiu was and old haystack, and now becomes a large covered and open space. It has been renovated keeping the old trusses that supported the roof. We use a roofing system where is no bonding material between timber and tiles.

Inside the house several rooms and guests living areas area faced keeping stone walls, wood coating, using iron elements and combining wood flooring with hydraulic tiles. The idea is to create large spaces, in a rural environment, where the surroundings privileged views become part of the interior.

Situations, gli scatti di Maia Flore

La ricerca della liberà e della felicità è il fulcro del progetto della fotografa francese Maia Flore che ha dato vita alla serie dal titolo Situations, in cui una ragazza vestita di rosso attraversa svariati paesaggi. Un ricerca intima e costante che conduce la protagonista in luoghi fatti di aria e spazio dove quasi come in un gioco tra realtà e fantasia, indaga la possibilità di reinventarsi attraverso attimi di comunione totale con la natura. Gli scatti sono altamente evocativi e regalano una sensazione di scoperta, sofferenza ed al contempo evoluzione. 

La pista stellata di Vincent Van Gogh

Avete mai pensato di tuffarvi nella "Notte Stellata" di Van Gogh? Da oggi è possibile... Recentemente, infatti, a Nuenen, in Olanda,  dove l'artista visse tra il 1883-1885 è stata inaugurata una pista ciclabile in suo onore. Si chiama "Van Gogh Roosegaard Bicycle Path", ed è lunga un chilometro, chiara citazione del suo celebre dipinto. Il sentiero, infatti, è composto da 50mila ciottoli incastonati nel tracciato che accumulano energia durante il giorno per rilasciarla durante la notte anche grazie ad un impianto LED: l’effetto è quello di un bagliore stellato vorticoso proprio come nel capolavoro datato 1889. Il progetto è stato realizzato dalla compagnia Heijmans e dallo Studio Roosegarde, un innovativo laboratorio di progettazione sociale noto per le  esplorazioni  tra persone, arte, spazio pubblico, e la tecnologia; in particolare la loro ricerca di autostrade intelligenti. L'opera è stata creata in occasione del Van Gogh 2015 international theme year, dedicato ai 125 anni dalla scomparsa del pittore olandese.

The work of Patrick Seymour

Unique line-art illustrations by Patrick Seymour, an art director based in Montreal, Canada.