Sex may often be on our minds, but rarely is the subject dealt with wth artistic flair or a design eye. Wallpaper* has done it, of course – US editor Michael Reynolds teamed up with glass artist Jeff Zimmerman for Handmade 2014 – but design academy Eindhoven graduate Bastiaan Buijs is the latest to rise to the challenge.
For his final year project showcased at Dutch Design Week, Studio Cremaster created two sex toys – one for men, one for women – that are as much a visual pleasure as they aim to be sexual one.
‘My designs are on the edge of art and function,’ says Buijs, aiming to ‘make sexual taboos discussable.’
The 'Grandfather Clock' dildo, for example, is an elegant, hand-blown glass vessel, fitted with a brass and metal mechanism which causes it to vibrate. As the name implies, it needs to be wound like an antique clock. And like a clock, it should be on display within a home, not hidden away. Created for men, the 'Satyr' is loosely based on the vaulting horse, with four long legs for stability. The silicone torso also vibrates, with a hole at one end. We’ll let your imagination do the rest…
These sexual objects are not a direct attempt at attracting attention, (just a happy coincidence, perhaps), as Buijs explains: 'In both my projects I tried to grasp something beautiful. To find a different way of thinking about sex and sex toys.' It is the moralisation of ordinary sex toys, he says, that he hopes will contribute to the ‘breaking of taboos around sexuality’. How better to do that than by making beautiful objects of pleasure?
Design and sex become unlikely bedfollows in Bastiaan Buiji's final year project as displayed at Dutch Design Week
The 'Grandfather's Clock' is meant to be exhibited, not hidden away, with its clear glass casing and intricate wind-up mechanics
INFORMATION
For more information, visit Studio Cremaster
-
Japan in Milan! See the highlights of Japanese design at Milan Design Week 2025At Milan Design Week 2025 Japanese craftsmanship was a front runner with an array of projects in the spotlight. Here are some of our highlights
-
Tour the best contemporary tea houses around the worldCelebrate the world’s most unique tea houses, from Melbourne to Stockholm, with a new book by Wallpaper’s Léa Teuscher
-
‘Humour is foundational’: artist Ella Kruglyanskaya on painting as a ‘highly questionable’ pursuitElla Kruglyanskaya’s exhibition, ‘Shadows’ at Thomas Dane Gallery, is the first in a series of three this year, with openings in Basel and New York to follow
-
Sculptural sex toys made by womxn for womxnNew retailer ILOH empowers us to take control of our sexual wellbeing through intelligently designed products
-
Jimmyjane's Sensual Care line gives garish lube the slip
