Ugly/Beautiful

(Welcome again to Manuela, one of the finalists in our Blogger search. She's writing from Seattle. Comment away!)

Guillermo del Toro, director of the fantastical Pan’s Labyrinth, describes finding beauty in “the horror of nature.” No pretty Tinker Bell in del Toro’s film; instead, a fairy resembles a stick insect, and a faun appears to be carved out of wood. They are what del Toro describes as “Ugly/Beautiful.”

We've noticed the advent of “Ugly/Beautiful” in design, with Roost spearheading organically shaped furniture and objet d’art that mimic tree branches, logs, coral, and rocks. Take a look at this “Hot or Not” post from AT:LA for one of Roost’s pendant lamps. There is a careful balance to this kind of design; one needs to consider what tips the scale from “not” to “hot,” from ugly to beautiful.

Roost is based in Sausalito, California, but items can only be ordered by designers and retailers. For Seattleites (and online shoppers), many Roost items can be found at Velocity.

-manuela

Comments (6)

That creature scares the daylight out of me.

posted by ccs on July 12th 2007 at 10:12am
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Granted, that Roost light is most definitely *not* hot, and those bowls are more rustic than refined -- but Roost makes lots of unquestionably beautiful items as well:

http://morewaystowastetime.blogspot.com/2007/07/cool-stuff-roost.html

Still, I really like your take on things, Manuella!

Leah

posted by Leah on July 12th 2007 at 11:20am
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and what about "ugly sexy"? it's a very interesting philosophy! from another movie, though...

i just watched pan's labyrinth last nite, and was FLOORED. truly, ugly/beautiful is right. and done well. very well. creepy.

posted by kdkaboom on July 12th 2007 at 3:19pm
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Love the connection with Pan's Labyrinth... great post!

posted by luz on July 13th 2007 at 5:18am
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As easy as this:

Just because it's perfect for the movies doesn't mean I want it in my home.

If pretentious "designers" believe that ugly/beautiful can compete with beautiful/beautiful, they must be either extremely talented and focused on the consumer or they'll end up with a warehouse filled with nasty things and nobody who wants to buy them. If I wanted sticks glued to a lightbulb, I'd go outside and say I'm "talented" as I hang my overpriced piece of garbage on my living room.

posted by Djluckyonline on July 13th 2007 at 5:36pm
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Fugly is the new pretty!

posted by becky on July 16th 2007 at 12:48pm
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