Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » new: ashes and milk

one of the things i really love is when great design meets great website design. working with the also team on the d*s relaunch last october, i really came to appreciate the way they were able to take the design details i love and turn them into a beautiful, working website. so when nikko moy emailed me for a website designer suggestion i knew also was perfect for her. so i was thrilled to hear from nikko a year later about her brand new (just opened today!) shop, ashes and milk.

from the second the site loaded i was in love (especially with betsy dunlap’s written logo for the site). i love the way the little wooden boxes set the scene for beautiful ceramics, painted stones and other home accessories. nikko, an artist based in chicago, founded ashes and milk “on the principle that a lot can be created from very little”. she explains that “[ashes and milk] is driven by modern ideas with a reverence for traditional methods and the belief that the things we bring into our homes should have a soul and a sense of history.” i couldn’t agree more- and i was thrilled to see that the first pieces in her shop have a real sense of character and craftsmanship. i was especially drawn to yoran morvant’s drawn stones- each one is one-of-a-kind and drawn to fit the unique stone used.

i have a feeling ashes and milk is going to grow to be one of my new favorites. i just love the combination of a beautiful site and beautiful handmade products. you can click here to view ashes and milk’s full collection and shop online. [thanks, nikko!]

Thank Grace for the glowing post!!!

In regards to Dustin’s cups, I had several people react the same way. I had actually fell in love with these cups the second I saw them and even more so when I met the creator, Dustin Yager.

I really tried to explain the context of these cups within the product description below because if anything they are self-deprecating and honest to the artist.

“For Dustin to use the expression “Faggot Faggot Fucking Faggot” is an act of self depreciation, and is concealed by the pleasing composition of the cup. The contradiction within this piece is something we can all understand: so often we present ourselves the way we think people want to see us, and keep our true selves in secret. A cup also alludes to nourishment, healing, rejuvenation, and coming to terms with oneself.”

This site is really cool. It’s such a clever integration of fine art and web design.

As for those mugs, I worship them, even more so after reading Nikko’s perspective on them. Sometimes reality is art is not always comfortable. but I know I’d be inspired drinking my morning coffee from one of them.

my oh my!

I’m glad Nikko could share her interpretation of the faggot cups and hope you will, too. Like so many others, I believe the things we make reflect our times–what are your reflections?

I think there’s so many cups out there that are simply ‘comfortable,’ but I think our objects can and should have a stronger personality. For me, this text is a response to homophobia in our culture, a culture which frequently claims to believe that sexuality is not a big deal, not an issue worth discussing, yet it is something that some of us have no choice but to confront and when it comes right down to it, even us ‘liberals’ would rather not discuss it. By reclaiming this phrase and juxtaposing it with a delicate object, I aim to make an uncomfortable object for the domestic setting.

Plus beauty of form, texture, line, etc etc etc, which in some ways makes the words irrelevant.

xoxo,

Dustin Yager
Maker of Things

In regards to the Dustin Yeager pieces: After reading the other reviews, it seems that few have been met with such intense response…isn’t this art’s purpose? To elixcit some kind of emothing or reaction be that positive or negative? If I wanted something cute that said nothing, culturally, couldn’t I just buy my “art” from et$y.com?
I think the fact that these cups have something to say, and moreover, that people have something to say about them proves their relevance.

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