The Immortal

Revital Cohen on the design of "artificial biology"

Repurposing a retired greyhound racer as a human respirator or a pet sheep as a human dialysis machine represent the type of concepts that irreparably change your understanding of what design can do. How about an electricity-generating human organ that can be implanted to replace the appendix? Such is London-based designer Revital Cohen’s specialization: pushing the applications of design into the realm of what seems …

Alessandro Brighetti Schizophrenia

A macabre demonstration in the electromagnetic manipulation of oil-based ferrofluids

Raised in a family of doctors and formally educated as a painter, Alessandro Brighetti finds himself and his work helplessly drawn towards the fields of arts and science. Initially channeling this keen interest through works reminiscent of petri dish experiments and cellular dissections, Brighetti’s work has since evolved to include a range of chemically enhanced sculptures. On a recent visit to Switzerland’s Scope Basel 2012 …

The Breathless Zoo

The eccentric art of taxidermy explored in a new book

Taxidermy has risen in the contemporary design scene over recent years, mounted on the walls of shops and restaurants as well as defining a certain throwback aesthetic in modern homes. The venerable form of animal preservation marries actual scientific study with an undeniably eccentric sensibility that has endured across generations, though not everyone decorating with a bust might be fully versed in the origins of …