This new art installation in London caught my attention. Yesterday celebrity tattooist Henry Hate unveiled his first ever sculpture and the world’s first ice tattoo in a creative partnership for the launch of Nissan Cube. On the banks of the river Thames sits an enormous 2.4m x 2.6m and eight tonne block of ice with a Nissan Cube frozen inside. It took 8000 litres of water, filtered then frozen for 240 days, and sculpted with Japanese Samurai chisels. It’s pretty impressive – and made me wonder whether the car will still work when the ice has melted! The car inside has been the subject of a fair amount of controversy too, with a facebook group devoted to talking about its.. shall we say.. ‘unique’ design. Like Marmite, you either love it or hate it. Apparently it already has a cult status in Japan. I saw one yesterday, and it was turning heads – which i guess is what some people want in a car.

The sculpture, which is beautifully lit from the inside, is covered with an intricate design by Hate. The art installation has an interactive sensor panel which allows you to light up parts of the tattoo design. The interactive panel also provides information on how the art project came into being, as well as the design aspects of the Nissan Cube.

If you get a chance, it’s well worth the trip to take a look. Unless the weather changes for the warmer i guess it will be there for a while to come.. In the meantime there is discussion, more photos and news on the Nissan Cube facebook group.

I was pleased to take part last week in the making of the Borkowski PR video Christmas card.

Three out-of-work, recession-hit Santas were employed by Borkowski to add a little Christmas spirit to the company’s Christmas card, on the assumption that they would be easier to control than robins and cheaper than fake snow…

3 bad Santa’s – rampaging drunkenly in the streets of London. Watch it and pass it on..

httpv://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rJwgw3Z4sBo

Whilst researching a project today I found myself browsing the London Victoria and Albert museum website.

Some great inspiration can be found in the textiles collection, which contains 1120 online images of textiles covering a period of more than 2000 years. Most techniques are represented, including woven, printed and embroidered textiles, lace, tapestries and carpets.

I was particularly taken by the fragments of buddhist ritual banners. These banners were carried aloft hooked on a staff, or fluttering from the tops of stupa. Lovely, delicate and decayed scraps of silk discovered in Dunhuang, China.

If you get a chance to visit them in person its well worth the trip – if not the online collection is fantastic.

© Victoria and Albert Museum, London

I was inspired to have a play with the pieces – they reminded me of little houses, and here is what I came up with in 10 minutes..

© Victoria and Albert Museum, London

I must point out that the images in the V&A collection are NOT for any kind of commercial use, I am not promoting their use, and are shown here for interest and inspiration only. More info on their terms here