Kick the habit: The Culture Creative and AUX fight phone fixation with Devices

With so much of our lives being played out online through emails, messaging services and social media channels, sometimes we need to be reminded to put down our smart phones and live in the moment. With this in mind, Los Angeles-based design consultancy The Culture Creative has paired with artist Sean Brian McDonald to create Devices – a series of handheld, pocket-sized sculptures that will serve as temporary replacements for smart phones, encouraging us to look with our eyes instead of our screens.
The idea for the project came to McDonald during his tenure as a gallery attendant at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), where he noticed how often the gallery's visitors checked their phones. 'Maybe they would take a picture, but never really look at and experience an artwork in the flesh,' remembers McDonald. The sculptures, he says, are 'kind of like a pacifier! A way of being in the moment and aware of your surroundings.'
Produced by AUX, The Culture Creative's new in-house production arm, as a limited edition of 39 iPhone-sized sculptures that can be thrown into a purse, the tactile Devices are made using fabrics and materials sourced from LA-based fashion designer Jasmin Shokrian's studio – cotton, silk, chiffon, paper, styrofoam – encased in dark blue enamel. 'Since tactility is a focus, the fabric is the most important of the materials,' says McDonald of the process. 'The high gloss enamel helps accentuate the various weaves in the fabric. The inner materials are simply there to hold the shape. When I'm applying the fabric and primer, I'm looking to make a structurally sound object by creating a solid outer shell. When the fabric and paint fuse, it takes on a different physical property, so I have to react and allow any kind of natural gesture to happen.'
Serving as hybrid, talisman-esque objects that sit somewhere between fine art and fashion accessories, the Devices are AUX's second project, following its launch earlier this year. 'AUX collaborations vary from project to project,' explains AUX director and The Culture Creative founder Sean Yashar, 'but the common thread is that I'm proposing questions to problems that don’t yet exist. Meaning, I present and conceptualise AUX projects directly to and with the artists I select to to collaborate with, based on a desire to push dialogue on a given subject in the cultural ether.'
The Devices will go on sale on AUX's dedicated ecommerce page in October and will also be on show by appointment only at AUX's space within The Culture Creative's mid-city office near LACMA. 'I call this space an "un-gallery", as it's an alternative to the classic gallery model. Its mission is that it's filling a whitespace between the artist and gallery,' says Yashar of the new space, which also showcases other projects and prototypes that the studio is working on. 'Unlike a gallery that shows finished work, AUX space confidently shows works in progress, successes and failures.'
Produced by AUX, The Culture Creative's new in-house production arm, as a limited edition of 39 iPhone-sized sculptures that can be thrown into a purse, the tactile Devices are made using fabrics and materials sourced from LA-based fashion designer Jasmin Shokrian's studio – cotton, silk, chiffon, paper, styrofoam – encased in dark blue enamel
Serving as hybrid, talisman-esque objects that sit somewhere between fine art and fashion accessories, the Devices are AUX's second project, following its launch earlier this year
The Devices will go on sale on AUX's dedicated ecommerce page in October and will also be on show by-appointment only at AUX's space within The Culture Creative's mid-city office near LACMA
ADDRESS
The Culture Creative
1608 South Hayworth Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90035
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ali Morris is a UK-based editor, writer and creative consultant specialising in design, interiors and architecture. In her 16 years as a design writer, Ali has travelled the world, crafting articles about creative projects, products, places and people for titles such as Dezeen, Wallpaper* and Kinfolk.
-
Doc’n Roll Festival returns with a new season of underground music films
Now in its twelfth year, the grassroots festival continues to platform subcultural stories and independent filmmakers outside the mainstream
-
Commune Design’s new rug collection is a psychedelic trip
The Los Angeles-based company worked with Christopher Farr on its groovy rug collection inspired by 1960s and 1970s Northern California
-
The Hart Marylebone marks the next chapter in London’s design-led pubs
The trio behind The Pelican and The Hero turn to Marylebone, fusing Victoriana, intimacy and culinary honesty in their most ambitious project yet
-
Jamel Shabazz’s photographs are a love letter to Prospect Park
In a new book, ‘Prospect Park: Photographs of a Brooklyn Oasis, 1980 to 2025’, Jamel Shabazz discovers a warmer side of human nature
-
The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles launches the seventh iteration of its highly anticipated artist biennial
One of the gallery's flagship exhibitions, Made in LA showcases the breadth and depth of the city's contemporary art scene
-
Thomas Prior’s photography captures the uncanny fragility of American life
A new book unites two decades of the photographer’s piercing, uneasy work
-
Central Park’s revitalised Delacorte Theater gears up for a new future
Ennead Architects helmed an ambitious renovation process that has given the New York City cultural landmark a vibrant and more accessible future
-
Stephen Prina borrows from pop, classical and modern music: now MoMA pays tribute to his performance work
‘Stephen Prina: A Lick and a Promise’ recalls the artist, musician, and composer’s performances, and is presented throughout MoMA. Prina tells us more
-
Curtains up, Kid Harpoon rethinks the sound of Broadway production ‘Art’
He’s crafted hits with Harry Styles and Miley Cyrus; now songwriter and producer Kid Harpoon (aka Tom Hull) tells us about composing the music for the new, all-star Broadway revival of Yasmina Reza’s play ‘Art’
-
Richard Prince recontextualises archival advertisements in Texas
The artist unites his ‘Posters’ – based on ads for everything from cat pictures to nudes – at Hetzler, Marfa
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the week
Another week, another flurry of events, opening and excursions showcasing the best of culture and entertainment at home and abroad. Catch our editors at Scandi festivals, iconic jazz clubs, and running the length of Manhattan…