hopping
Products, fashion and style
Beaut'tu creatures
Glasgow-based design company Timorous Beasties brings out its big guns. Wottlé‘. Maureen Ellis
imoroux Beaxtiex can really turn headx. The company
can make l.ondon—centric dexign magx xit up and take
notice. The lruitx ol it.x loomx haye adorned xtately homcx. barx. rextaurantx and hotelx the world oyer. 'l'radc xhowx in London and New York .xhowcaxe the wallpaper. l'abricx and blindx the company producex. And why'.’ Why indeed when you conxider that inxectx ligure regularly in the dexigux. Big hulking beetlex are xynunetrically arranged on one dexign. random mothx on another. 'l‘horny roxex are blown tip to gargantuan proportionx; all part ol the company ethox which l'uxcx the beautiful and aexthetically pleaxing with the ueg and unplcaxant.
.\'ow. that philoxophy ix being taken one xtep lurther. ll' creepy crawliex .xuccexxl‘ully .xtretched the boundariex of
acceptable taxte. then new work (inns .\' Rnxt'x will obliterate pt‘ccottcepllottx ol' xtyle. 'l-Lttth. littllclx. camouflage. tighter planex and eyen xtealth bomberx l‘eature in the new collection. Not exactly your chint/y liy in; room l'odder now. ix it'.’
The idea originated lrom a photoxhoot with iiber-hip xtyle maga/ine Interior lieu: The original ‘war and peace’ theme
wax thought too xtrong and politically-minded. .xo (ium .'\'
Rows proy idcd a thoughtlul. yet xtill pt'o\‘ocati\c. alternatiye.
Since tlx inception in l‘)‘)(). 'l'ltttot'otlx Beaxtiex ltux garnered a reputation for producing inxpired dexignx. Such ix the renown ot' itx work that an exhibition ix taking place at (ilaxgow'x lighthouxe. (‘U—ltttllltlct'x Alixtair McAuley and Paul Simmonx regularly produce material to order. catering to domextic clieutx. buxinexxex and interior dexignerx. but the (iron N Roses exhibition ix like a manil‘extation ol' their creatiye juicex on o\ erdriye.
‘Some Ul‘ the xtulil. lit the new collection ix really
bi/arre.' xayx Simmonx. ~and xo complicated in termx ol‘
printing. I mean. there‘x xome thingx that haye dil‘l'erent typex ol‘ repeatx going on top of one another. We‘re tlUlllL‘
.xome large llot'al wallpaperx which haye .xmall camouflage printed on top of it. They're almoxt like ideax which aren‘t commercial at all.‘
Rather than being a xhop window for the company'x work. the Lighthouxe exhibition puxbex the envelope in technique and content in a way that wouldn't be reprmluced in ordinary dexignx. l axk it the xubject matter ix too way—out d war xymbolx are too contraxting with ideax ol' condo” and decoration but apparently tatth were u.xed in textile dexign in l‘)2().x Ruxxia. mixxilex tranxl‘erring to carpet patternx in Al‘glianixtan. "l'hey 're totally ama/ing carpetx ax well.‘ xayx Simmonx.
So it our preconceptionx are culturally- baxed. how doex Simmonx expect hix exhibition to tare when it tt'uttxlt‘t'x to New York alter (ilaxgow".’ ‘I think that New York ix not quite like America. I'd be certainly worried it" we were doing an exhibition in 'lcxax.’ he .xayx. ‘We're jitxt raixing quextionx about how pctiple perceiye thingx and whether thingx are right or w rong.’
The next .xtep tor the company ix a new collection ol labricx. then late xummer ,xeex the opening ol a .xhop on (ireat \chtct'n Road.
'l‘iinoroux Beaxtiex wallpaper retailx from £70. but with the attention to detail that goex into each roll. the work xoundx like a labour of loye. ‘A lull-colour roll takex l'our hourx. at leaxt to printf explainx Simmonx. ‘Which. when you think about it. l‘our hourx to produce 20m ix quite uneconomical really. 'l‘hat‘x juxt the way it goex.‘ Indeed. the bext thingx come to thoxe who wait.
Guns N Roses, the Lighthouse, Glasgow, Sat 5 Apr-Sun 22 Jun; Timorous Beasties, 0141 959 3331, www.timorousbeasties.com
Guns N Roses will obliterate preconceptions of style
Designs on war: evil imagery meets contemporary style
.7 i I 2 THE LIST 105