Amoako Boafo’s Paintings are Heading to Space

amoako boafa space sixtysix

Photo courtesy of upiftaerospace.com

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August 5, 2021

Every Thursday the Sixtysix newsletter delivers the latest creative news, designs, and insights straight to your inbox. Here are this week’s highlights. Not on the email list? Subscribe now.

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Amoako Boafo’s art is being launched into space. Really.

+ Celebrated for his portraits of African diasporic bodies, Amoako has been commissioned by Uplift Aerospace to create a triptych on the exterior panels of a rocket as part of its newly launched Uplift Art Program.

+ Josh Hanes, CEO of Uplift Aerospace, called Amoako the perfect collaborator for the project because voices like his that “connect our human experience … are key to navigating humanity’s continuing efforts to explore beyond the bounds of Earth.”

 

 

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Fashion waste becomes Slum Studio, the Ghanian brand behind bespoke upcycled garments.

+ Artist and founder of Slum Studio, Sel Kofiga, starts her process by visiting Accra, one of the largest second-hand clothing markets in West Africa, where she collects fabrics from all over the world and hand paints them into new pieces. With the help of her collaborators, the pieces become wearable works of art challenging the politics of fashion.

+ “If you truly care about the clothes, start thinking about what you want to see happen to them next. You have the power to buy, so you have the same power to challenge and question the players involved,” Sel told designboom.

tigmi trading rilievo sixtysix

Photo courtesy of tigmitrading.com

Tigmi Trading’s first rug collection, Rilievo, takes cues from the geometric forms of Brutalist architecture.

+ Crafted with New Zealand wool and smooth contrasting linen, Rilievo is a five-piece collection designed to balance positive and negative space created from Carlo Scarpa-inspired relief elements.

+ The collection is offered in a richly hued natural color palette, distinctive of Tigmi’s brand identity. Joining GoodWeave, a nonprofit working to end child labor in the rug industry, Tigmi has also ensured the ethical production of their new line.

Photo courtesy of elisauberti.com

Elisa Uberti’s perennial ceramic lamps are the antithesis of mass consumer goods.

+ The Roubaix-based French designer felt compelled to return to timeless goods after many years working in the fashion industry characterized by mass consumerism.

+ Choosing clay as a medium to bridge design with art, Elisa’s fixtures feature monochromatic linear surfaces and are suggestive of primeval forms. “I’m working very instinctively to create emotional and sensitive forms,” Elisa told Domus.

Photo courtesy of iamfarhan.com

Farhan Hussain takes a journalistic approach to photography, relying on light and color to tell his subjects’ stories.

+ Farhan stumbled upon photography when he was designated cameraman at his sister’s wedding and recognized an obvious talent. Without any formal training, he forged his own path, developing his skillset by looking beyond visuals and focusing on his intuition.

+ ​​“I believe that my subjects are always an important and authentic part of the stories I tell,” the India-based photographer told It’s Nice That. “I’ve become invested in understanding and respecting my subjects and am always driven to work on projects where the team aligns with the above beliefs.”

 

Step inside the Miami home of designer Travis London, where more is more.

+ The celebrity chef-turned-interior designer took advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to do some self-reflection, resulting in the renovation of his Miami home. Now swatched with animal prints and saturated in color, Travis planned each room around his various moods, from sophisticated to flirtatious.

+ The wall art is dedicated to all black female artists, commissioning pieces by Lex Marie, Sasha-Loriene, and Kendra Dandy to illustrate Travis and his three poodles. Combining high and low, his bedroom features the RH Cloud bed in Jim Thompson’s silk Serengeti fabric while the chairs and sofa sport hot pink and orange Scalamandré velvet.

Photo courtesy of alixmcintosh.com

Designer Sam Buckley transformed a Victorian Edinburgh apartment with bold graphics and a kaleidoscope of color.

+ Happy, dreamy, yet somehow calming, Sam imbued the space with rich colors of teal, hunter green, and coral. A marigold Verner Panton pendant light hangs from a pale pink ceiling and a black floor lamp by Vipp stands beside a Shuffle side table by &Tradition.

+ The doors are decorated with graphic push plates matching a custom area rug designed by Sam for cc-tapis. Its shapes and colors can be found throughout the apartment, tying together the bold graphics and ’70s color scheme.

Photo courtesy of meowwolf.com

Meow Wolf’s Convergence Station is the newest addition to their cosmic multiverse, opening in Denver this fall.

+ The interactive display, opening on September 17, tells the story of worlds colliding. The immersive art installation includes a cathedral from an ice planet, an underground catacomb civilization, and a six-dimensional being called Numena.

+ The art collective included artwork from 320 local and in-house artists, providing the backdrop for guests to explore four different worlds inspired by the diversity of Sun Valley in Denver. As Meow Wolf’s third permanent location, Convergence Station is an extension of the group’s other projects, which are believed to complement another in one fictional universe, separated only by geographic boundaries.

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