Everyday Objects as Art

My most popular post of 2011 was Practically Impractical Japanese T-shirts, so I thought I’d kick off 2012 with something from that same camp (emphasis on camp): everyday objects as art.

Eninal by Okayama-based design duo, Fift, is a series of blank canvases intended for “capturing one moment of art which normally just happens and gets lost”. The magnetic Eninal is also useful for capturing art supplies that normally just happen to get lost.

I’m a big fan of writer porn, or what normal people may refer to as “office supplies”. I profile some of my favorite pieces from time to time on this blog, and there’s much more to come in 2012. Fift’s idea is to elevate art implements to art status, and Eninal is a very Japanese concept. You can avoid desk clutter and gain wall art at the same time.

Also very Japanese: The Eninal Tissue Case. Perhaps it’s in the tradition of origami or the culture of finding clever ways to decorate and disguise the lowliest of objects, but Fift declares: “Tissue becomes a piece of ART.” The Eninal Tissue Case is a tissue case that hangs on the wall “like an art piece”.

Every time you grab a tissue, the shape of the tissue transforms into a new sculpture dropping a beautiful shadow.

As a person who spends seemingly an eternity deliberating over the banal tissue box selection at Walgreens, I find Eninal a refreshing innovation.

A panel on the back of the Eninal Tissue Case canvas allows for switching out a spent tissue box for a new one. This is definitely a must-have item for all art gallery lavatories!

Unframed mini Eninal tissue cases and magnetic canvases are 11,550 Yen (~ $150 USD) with the larger unframed versions going for 15,750 Yen (~ $200 USD). To properly display your hole-punchers and tissues, though, you’ll need to drop 34,650 Yen (~ $400 USD) on a framed Eninal. But can you really put a price on (Everyday Objects as) Art? Check availability here.

Click through for more everyday objects as art and additional pictures of Eninal.