Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Spotted: Paul Villinski & Beer Can Butterflys

My sister called me after Monday's episode of Gossip Girl raving about the new bedroom that (most likely) Christina Tonkin created for Serena's new college bedroom (let's look over the obvious fact that this is NO college bedroom) and instead I want to bask in all that is wheat colored grasscloth, wainscotting, upholstered green and white fabric bedframes and the most noticeable thing... art by Paul Villinski, commissioned for Gossip Girl

Please excuse the TERRIBLE iphone shot of the TV on "pause." It kills me because it's not even the best view of the installation, but that damn DVR refused to stop on the best millisecond of screen time and the episode is not available, nor are any pictures on google -- it also kills me that the walls read as pink, because they are the most wonderful, inviting wheaty-gold.

When I first saw this particular piece, I was reminded of the artist Andy Goldsworthy. If you're familiar with his work, he uses materials in nature to create a pattern like this from found and natural objects. A few examples are below, but really, photographs are all that a person could take home because it's all temporary and created in the environment.


So when Villinski's artwork was shown on GG, I was totally bananas for something that uses this design on a wall and is 3-dimensional. I think artwork in residential homes is so predictable sometimes, but something like this, it's amazing. Seeing his portfolio, it's pretty incredible what he does with (drumroll) aluminum cans. Yup, he makes every one of these butterflys from our old D-coke cans, using some metal snips and a lot of filing.

Wouldn't this be amazing in a child's bedroom?

This one above is actually made from vinyl records

A similar application as to Gossip Girl, but the difference between how the two rooms read is amazing: one comes off as potentially a little cold, whereas GG's was totally warm and chic.

So there it is. My mind is already spinning as to how I could do something similar in a room, potentially on wood panel for portability. Of course it's not Paul Villinski, but then again, I'm no Serena Vanderwoodsen, maybe someday, right?

p.s. I'm going to keep a lookout for photos of the bedroom from Episode 3, season 4 and update this post in the future if something turns up. I'll keep you posted.

4 comments:

  1. I am a big fan of Paul's and his magical butterflies, really makes me happy to see others are catching the wave. He has pursued his vision for a long time and it is great to watch it all happen. I too dream of owning those butterflies or even using them for one of my projects...If you ever come across a still from that episode I would love to see it too. Many thanks, Cristina Hadzi
    http://cristinahadzi.com

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  2. I LOOOOOVE these! I must research them more and find someone to buy them so that I can live vicariously through them. Thanks for sharing!

    Leah

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  3. Not the best lighting in this one, but you can at least get the gist of the wall color...love this room. http://gossipgirlonline.net/photos/displayimage.php?pid=90776&fullsize=1

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  4. how much would something like this cost?? i really want one!!!

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