The DnA Factory, London

Image Courtesy and Copyright DnA Factory

There's something quite cleansing about being in creative environments. Several months after first discovering DnA Factory from seeing their incredible 'Tree of Life' at Amouage here in London which led me to their website, I finally managed to meet the guys behind this incredible work. Hidden away underneath the arches of one of the main railway links out of the city in South London, Dallas and Angel, the guys behind DnA Factory work tirelessly to produce the most incredible work. Crammed to the rafters of their studio I found countless ephemera and object d'arts used as inspiration for their work further surrounded by their signature drawings, paintings and incredible high gloss sculptures. DnA met while students at Goldsmiths College in the early 1990's and have shared this studio space for several years. Their clients read like a who's who - in a global context. It is refreshing to see that these guys begin with initial drawings to work through their concepts, generating collage constructions from found materials before creating their three dimensional pieces. Lolita (DnA's fictitious character) crops up quite frequently across their work in a variety of guises, forms and outputs and surrounds the studio space. DnA's work is loaded with passion, anxiety, character and love and possibly any other emotional response you care to mention which gives their work the kind of depth that can, as high art does, appear elusive and exclusive to the general viewer. However, these guys communicate their thoughts so eloquently and thoughtfully that there clearly is no hidden agenda or sly means of revenge that we need to be afraid of (their work simply has depth) and they are so wonderfully nice too that I cant help but want to be a part of it all. These guys are inspiring and passionate about their work and I can visualise all types of contexts using DnA's work within a commercial environment without wishing to undermine their clearly thoughtful concepts. Dallas and Angel have worked with some of the major retail players developing and executing the most incredible concepts, so, if you haven't met or seen the work of these guys, what are you doing? If you happen to be in New Orleans (USA), swing by the Good Children Gallery or very soon at the Multi-Species Salon (also in New Orleans) to get your fix from this amazing work. In the meantime these guys have to be on your speed dial and at the front of your contacts list. Dallas and Angel can be contacted via info@thednafactory.com or check them out through their website at www.thednafactory.com .In the mean time, like me drool over these images and feel cleansed too.

Image Courtesy and Copyright DnA Factory

Tiffany, London

Well Summer is virtually over here in London after just a few weeks of warm weather, but that's living in the UK for you. Tiffany's windows along Bond St. here in London, always seem to create these wonderful narratives wrapped up in a game of hunt the jewellery. Tiffany's product presentation of course oozes the quality one would expect from such a luxury brand (although I do wish they would do something with their dated interior). I haven't quite worked out the narrative here yet, as the wooden articulated hands hold postcards with images of exotic places (well exotic from a London perspective) together with the pieces of jewellery that one would have expected would have been contained within a letter? Maybe the jewellery in this context is being used as a reminder, a kind of personal romantic reminiscence of wonderful experiences from places visited and experiences shared, who knows. However, one of the elements that I do particularly find fascinating is what I call postcard 'realities' and how the images of places presented are not always as they actually are. The lighting is altered, dramatic clouds digitally enhanced behind the image of the Taj Mahal, the deserted palm tree edged beaches which in reality are crammed full of lobster coloured tourists baking themselves until they resemble old saddles or worn out leather handbags (we don't see that in the 'idealised' image do we?) Anyway, whatever the brief given here and how the outcome has been achieved, one thing we can always be assured of is the quality of the product.