DESIGN DISPATCH

Heron Preston Debuts Fully 3D-Printed Sneakers, and Other News

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Heron Preston teams with an emerging tech brand for a line of 3D-printed sneakers. 

Seeking to eliminate the need for factories and a supply chain, Heron Preston has partnered with Zellerfeld to fashion the label’s maiden 3D-printed sneaker that may bring about a new era in footwear production. Taking inspiration from its namesake bird, the Heron01 is built without traditional glue and materials, allowing the product to be recycled as an ingredient for newer counterparts. The distinctive manufacturing formula uses foot scanning software to customize each pair’s internal structure to achieve an enhanced level of fit and breathability. Available in three colorways, the beta launch of Heron01 will hit StockX as part of “Campaign for a Cause,” a philanthropic effort with Global March to battle child labor supply chains. 

Burning Man will host a Sotheby’s auction to help raise funds for its next edition.

Following the economic onslaught of the pandemic, Burning Man is facing a dire financial situation. To help remedy losses incurred by two cancellations, the desert festival is teaming with Sotheby’s to launch “Boundless Space: The Possibilities of Burning Man,” an auction of more than 100 works with a focus on BIPOC creatives. Ranging from sculptures and paintings to NFTs and stilt walking tutorials, the bidding game starts well above a $10,000 price tag and runs through October 8. Although the organizers for Burning Man conducted several relief efforts during its hiatus, most of those assets have been directed toward employee retention.

George Lucas goes on an art buying spree for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.

When the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art was announced nearly one decade ago, some dismissed filmmaker George Lucas’s idea as flimsy and superficial. Recent acquisitions prove that his interest in visual storytelling ventures far beyond the Star Wars franchise and into the realm of blue-chip art, including major Black and Latino artists. Credit the newly appointed chief executive Sandra Jackson-Dumont and curator Pilar Tompkins-Rivas for buying an Alice Neel painting from her Metropolitan Museum of Art retrospective, a self-portrait by Frida Kahlo, and a Baroque painting of a Greek nymph attributed to Artemisia Gentileschi.

Documenta’s artist list for its 15th edition focuses on post-pandemic togetherness. 

Returning to the German city of Kassel, Documenta has announced an artist roster that deviates from typical formats. With a focus on resource-sharing, the renowned quinquennial enlisted Indonesian collective ruangrupa to curate an exhibition featuring artists that span different geographies. As such, the creative lineup is organized by time zones rather than a conventional alphabetical layout and forgoes artist biographies. Participants will include performance group Black Quantum Futurism, South African collective Chimurenga, and art history preservationists Asia Art Archive.

A tower that would cast a giant shadow over the Brooklyn Botanic Garden gets nixed.

A city board has rejected a controversial plan to build a 34-story apartment tower that would cast an enormous shadow over the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Continuum Company first applied to rezone 960 Franklin Avenue in 2019, but faced two lawsuits and public opposition from several elected officials and 60,000 people who signed a petition to protect the garden. “We’re elated by the decision,” Adriane Benepe, president of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, told The City. “It represents a real exclamation point on the community at large, speaking in many tongues but one voice saying ‘This is wrong.’”

Givenchy enlists Josh Smith to debut dystopian accessories with a vibrant twist.

Despite its many downfalls, the pandemic has been a haven of inspiration and has galvanized fashion designers into long-overdue reflections on society and equity. For Givenchy creative director Matthew M. Williams and the artist Josh Smith, it was a colorful reimagination of the latter’s psychedelic Grim Reaper paintings and ceramic sculptures for the label’s spring 2022 collection. Debuting earlier this week, the medley of accessories melded the duo’s artistic practices by imbuing the line of cheerful-goth embellishments with the Givenchy logo.

Today’s attractive distractions:

Homer Simpson makes his catwalk debut for Balenciaga at Paris Fashion Week.

View the shortlisted photos from the 2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award.

Gaming has come a long way now that Netflix has bought a development studio.

The photographer Sebnem Coskun captures pandemic waste polluting the sea.

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