#meng dan

[stainlessblue]

Yet another commissioned piece of fan art by the long-suffering and patient BennyDaArtist! I can't draw, but "art patron" is a noble calling, though I can't afford cathedrals. https://artistree.io/bennydartist Second in my Husband Propaganda series for the Forge Of Destiny series by Yrsillar. The main character has three choices of love interest. This one is for Meng Dan, the Flirtatious Historian.

[design-china]

Essence Labs

Hidden in a back alley of 798 Art District, Essence Labs is nothing like the bustling souvenir stores in the area. The mysterious atmosphere in the shop is exactly what adventurous explorers are looking for. Emerging creatives Yin Xiangkun and Meng Dan opened the store in 2009 during the final year of their jewellery design course at CAFA. Lynn Zhang of Design China visited to chat with Yin Xiangkun and find out more about their journey to date.

Skeletons are heavily featured in your work. How did this become the theme of your designs? I've always been a big fan of nature and animals. In middle school, I developed an interest in animal anatomy (but only with animals that had died from natural causes). Animal skeletons fascinate me because they're more delicate and sophisticated than artificial systems. They support life and when the body decays, they're the only proof of the animal's physical existence. I gradually ended up building a collection of animal specimens and they became an inspiration for my jewellery designs later on.

In which direction do you see your design work going? As you can see, my earlier work is a more literal translation of skeletons and animal life. Now, I'm digging into more simple but fundamental elements of life, such as the bone, which can be moulded to form a ring, or vertebra, which may become a pedant. I'm also exploring and integrating plant and fish forms into newer pieces. The direction is to apply subtraction and opt for a more simple and conceptual design. As for materials, I'm exploring wood and stone now.

Which customers do you target? We're targeting people aged between 20-40, those who have relatively good taste and, most importantly, those who have their own spiritual world and want to show their personality with quality accessories.

What is it like to have a store in 798? Our 798 store is more like a showroom where we can exhibit our designs, art installations and specimen collections. Apart from our friends and other local creatives, most visitors are tourists. A lot of the time, they just come in, curiously look around and leave. But we're getting more and more visitors who are fascinated by the animal specimens, as well as the skeleton designs. These people usually stay in the store for longer periods of time to browse and ask questions. We're receiving more and more requests for customised pieces too.

Designs from Essence Labs are available at their 798 store (next door +86 Design Store), BNC in Sanlitun North, and Seven Days in Sanlitun South.