Mannequin Art: Voila!
Source: Mannequin Madness
Demonstrating to the design world that mannequin art doesn’t have to center around painted sculptures and store displays, design firm Voila! has used the mannequin form to craft some rather unique lamps and light fittings. While the thought of creating functional light fixtures from dismembered limbs might seem a bit macabre, the result is less “House of Wax” and more modern art house. Voila’s arm lamps are made from vintage aluminum and are created by pouring the hot metal into a glove mold.
Source: Voila
Source: Voila
Once set, the limb is ready to be kitted out with all the fixtures and fittings that will transform it into a functional lamp. Other illuminated mannequin editions feature bodies with a chandelier for a head. But if you think such craftwork is cheap, you’d be sorely mistaken. Costing well over $1,000 to get your hands on one of their lamps, you’d better start saving now.
Source: Voila
Sidewalk Catwalk
Source: Flickr
One of the last things you’d expect to see when walking along the sidewalk is a mannequin posing alongside you. Sidewalk Catwalk was a unique 2010 project at a Manhattan pedestrian mall that did just that. Turning a simple sidewalk into a runway show, Sidewalk Catwalk featured dozens of famous designers whose weatherproof designs swaddled the bare mannequin forms in high-end style.
Source: Ms. Fabulous
With a host of famous faces turning up to see the colorful models, the mannequins were later auctioned to raise money for the group Materials for the Arts; a New York-based foundation that donates thousands of unneeded supplies to art programs and schools. Bids for the mannequin divas reached dizzying heights with one model going to Tommy Hilfiger among other design gods. What lucky mannequins they were.
Source: Flickr
