Kai & Sunny – Illustrative Art for the Home

I just can’t enough of Kai & Sunny, everything they do just impresses, astounds me, captivates me.

Kai and Sunny are a multidisciplinary design duo. Their work appears in many arenas of art and they have won numerous accolades, including a D&AD award in illustration/design.

Years ago I never was that intune with art and just predominately spent my time listening to music or reading. ‘Art’ was introduced to me via music largely through CD or 12″ vinyl covers like on the MoWax label the mainstay of the label’s releases were done early on by graffiti artists Futura 2000 and by Massive Attack’s 3D. Yet I appreciated the power that a piece of art could have and how it evoke emotions or feelings or even just look phenomenal.

I bought my little house my first for that matter a few years ago I really wanted something unique, not just some New York canvas scene from IKEA that everyone can get. Thus I began my search for inspiration. I originally had this idea of finding classic album posters for artists that I liked and framing them for a clean retro feel. I bought a Poster for UNKLE – Psyence Fiction, and another for Never Never Land and then tried to find a poster for Blue Lines by Massive Attack, but then it just seemed harder to find really good conditioned posters from 20 years ago!

I bought a Futura character silkscreen print from the Daydreaming with James Lavelle (UNKLE) exhibition and then later regretted NOT buying the Kai & Sunny print from the exhibition too – it was called Country Tune South and had beautifully illustrated butterflies in a southernly direction on the print – I can’t tell you how much I regret not buying this print and they sold so quickly (anyone has a copy of this print that they no longer want and is for sale please get in touch! )

The Futura Character Print for the Daydreaming With James Lavelle

Kai & Sunny – Country Tune South

I got the bug so to speak after missing out on that print and ever since jumped quick and sometimes rather too quickly to grab a print that I like and that captivates me and that is reflective of being unique.

So Why buy a print? despite not being original pieces of art they can still be expensive ranging from the affordable to the hundreds to the extreme (Futura prints are seriously sort after and can run into the thousands of pounds). When purchasing my prints I always attempted to find something unique, personal and captivating for somewhere that is precious to you, you’re home.

Which brings me back to Kai & Sunny’s work, it holds all the traits I am looking for and the fact that the contact I have had with them when purchasing prints has been always been really positive and friendly. Fortunately I discovered them at the right time just prior to their Flower show at Stolenspace in London,so all their subsequent prints share a particular origin. They also have a relative small run so obviously when they are all sold they are gone forever, but it also ensures that that upon purchase you have something that say only 25 or 30 other people have in the world!

What followed was the following prints which currently sit in my house and not a day goes by when I dont look at them in wonder! I have several others by the pair but yet unsure how to have them displayed without making a small house look too much even if the prints are spectactular.

Kai & Sunny – Country Tune North

Kai & Sunny – Flower

Kai & Sunny – Ghost Flower

James Zabiela – Burnt Bridges

We get to the point, where we question ourselves
What we’re doing with our lives
Compare ourselves to people around us
And what society says we should be doing
It’s important to break free of this
Life is best seen as a gift
You’re already dead, so why not enjoy it?
And live to your highest potential
Everything has always been that way, and will continue to be

Electronica … (Part 1)

I’m a huge electronic music fan, this is something I see as having warmth, depth and emotion.. electronica touches on many bands and groups as well producers the likes of UNKLE, Sigur Ros, M83 and here is my attempt to aknowledge to all that it does not all sound the same.. and well beats anything in the charts I think!

I also add that I regard electronic music, ambient, IDM as different to club music which I have almost no interest in whatsoever…

Here are some of my favourite works.

Brian Eno – An Ending (Ascent)

Jon Hopkins – Wider Son

Trentemoller – Miss You

Adam Johnson – Four Squares

Sebastian Faulks’ Birdsong

I’m reading this at the moment, Sebastian Faulks’ Birdsong whilst I have read quite a few historical fiction I’ve not read anything about the First World War. About half way through it at the moment and I’m enjoying it… try and find a copy if you can.

Follows an English man who has an affair with a married French woman then goes to fight in the trenches, it skips across time and generations of his family so I believe.