Objects of Desire

The Wick Culture - Object Devialet Phantom I speaker by Yang Bao and Wa Liu

Object Devialet Phantom I speaker by Yang Bao and Wa Liu

£5,300

To celebrate the Chinese Year of the Dragon, French audio brand Devialet has tapped artists Yang Bao and Wa Liu to give its flagship product, the Phantom I speaker, a fire-breathing twist. The collaboration played to their strengths: Bao is an installation artist and musician with a classical piano background, while Wa is a multimedia artist whose work explores the “complex interplay between humans, nature and technologies”. The side panels of their design are hand-embellished with 22.5-carat gold leaf and red varnish in a matte finish, to reference the colours and scales of the dragon. Wa Lui describes the device as “breathing” and “morphing”, while also “producing very beautiful music”. She adds: “We wanted to envisage this encounter and symbiosis between humans and this mythical and potent idea of this legendary being.” Just 150 examples of the Devialet Phantom I by Yang Bao and Wa Liu will be available, so you’ll need to snap up this mighty musical beast fast.

Visit website
Share
The Wick Culture - Object Year of the Dragon embroidered bomber jacket by Nigo X Kenzo

Object Year of the Dragon embroidered bomber jacket by Nigo X Kenzo

Rather than merely pay homage to the dragon for Kenzo, Japanese fashion designer Nigo has fashioned the mythical creature into the form of an eight – a symbol of prosperity in Chinese culture. The dragon embellishes bomber jackets, jerseys and more, bringing fashion fire to your wardrobe.

Visit website
Share
The Wick Culture - Object Sarah Lucas: Bunny Book

Object Sarah Lucas: Bunny Book

£55

Sarah Lucas has been making her “Bunny” series since 1997: soft, fleshy sculptures fashioned from stuffed tights to evoke the seated female nude. Often sporting stilettos or heeled boots, these ‘women’ feature breasts made from balloons and impossibly long limbs that wrap around their chairs. Some appear vulnerable and uncomfortable while others seem to ooze self confidence as they sprawl upon their seats.

A full cast of these uncanny sculptures stars in Sarah Lucas: Bunny Book, co-published by Walther König and Sadie Coles HQ. Designed by Studio Claus Due, it charts their evolution, including the addition of colour, plinths and metal, as well as their increasingly assertive poses. Produced to coincide with Lucas’ show Happy Gas at Tate Modern, it includes contributions from curator Nancy Spector and writers Rose Eastwood and Róisín Tapponi. Don your stilettos and slouch in a chair while you flick through this must-have tome.

Visit website
Share
The Wick Culture - Object Swarovski Optik AX Visio binoculars

Object Swarovski Optik AX Visio binoculars

£3,820

Swarovski Optik has called on design titan Marc Newson to collaborate on a world first: the new AX Visio binoculars, equipped with an artificial intelligence system to help you identify over 9,000 birds. These vision sharpeners come with the brand’s precision 10×32 optic systems (10x magnification and an objective lens diameter of 32mm) and an inbuilt camera for snapping images and videos. Newson has given the binoculars the smooth styling you’d expect, concealing its complex inner mechanisms behind a clean, ergonomic form. Bird watching has never been so chic – or high tech.

Visit website
Share
The Wick Culture - MP-15, Takashi Murakami Tourbillon Sapphire

Object Hublot MP-15 Takashi Murakami Tourbillon Sapphire

£273,000

Takeshi Murakami is no stranger to watch design, having lent his creative magic to Hublot timepieces several times before, as well as to devices for Casio and the independent Japanese maker, Hajime Asaoka. But the Japanese artist’s latest for Hublot is his most striking and ambitious. Murakami has turned watch design on its head by eschewing a central dial – known as the ‘face’ of the watch – instead fusing the case, movement and dial in a central arrangement. The central flying tourbillon is surrounded by a flower (a classic Murakami motif) with sapphire petals. Just 50 are available, so Murakami lovers will need to act fast – and have deep pockets.

Visit website
Share
The Wick Culture - Highgrove x Burberry Spring

Object Highgrove X Burberry scarves by Sammi Lynch

£150

The gardens at Highgrove are captured in all their seasonal glory in this series of scarves by young artist Sammi Lynch. Burberry tapped the recent graduate of the Royal Drawing School as part of its shared mission with The King’s Foundation – steward of Highgrove Gardens – to nurture the next generation of artists and craftspeople. Lynch spent time on the estate to sketch from life in pastels before working with oil paint in the studio, seeing the works as a collaboration with the gardeners. Each scarf, finished with hand-rolled edges, evokes the colours of a different season, while framing King Charles’ private residence in the centre.

Visit website
Share
The Wick Culture - Surfing Fan scarf 65, Hermès

Object Surfing Fan scarf 65 by Dennis Osadebe

£275

Here’s one for surf fanatics with a penchant for life’s luxuries. Nigerian artist Dennis Osadebe
has lent his vibrant post-pop style to a cotton and silk scarf for Hermès, featuring a horse poised atop a surf board on an open sea. “Surfing Fan scarf 65” is Osadebe’s first venture into accessories, and bears his characteristic blend of stylised shapes, flat planes of colour and embellishments drawn from African decorative motifs. While we’ve never seen horse riding the waves before, we’re sold by this elegant equine.

Visit website
Share
The Wick Culture - Enigma, Kate MccGwire

Object Enigma scarves by Kate MccGwire and Co-Lab 369

Starting from £355

To keep the winter chill at bay, we’re wrapping ourselves up in scarves designed by artists. British sculptor Kate MccGwire takes cues from the rhythms, patterns and cycles of nature in her work to create muscular, writhing forms clad in feathers. For Enigma, her collaboration with Paris-based Co-Lab 369, she has given her sculptures new life as a series of limited-edition scarves. ‘Host’, for example, reimagines her artwork Host II from 2010, a mixed media piece made with pigeon feathers. Crafted in silk, wool and cashmere by artisans in Como, Italy, and made with eco-friendly dyes, the scarves evoke the fluidity of the sculptures and the rich colours of nature. Each piece is made to order, ensuring minimum waste. These wearable artworks will take you from season to season.

Visit website
Share
The Wick Culture - Cecilie Bahnsen X Asics GT-2160 trainers

Objects Cecilie Bahnsen X Asics GT-2160 trainers

€220

Put your best foot forward this year with this natty new sneaker collaboration. Copenhagen-based fashion designer Cecilie Bahnsen – known for her ethereal, floaty dresses – has teamed up with Japanese sportswear brand Asics on a series of trainers with a feminine edge. It translates some of her design signatures, including quilting, embroidery and floral detailing, into technical footwear with an innovative mesh base. The new white, pink, red and orange colourway adds a blossom-like touch to welcome in the spring.

Visit website
Share