Thanks to the support of Blurb Books, CR recently announced it was funding a new project by designer, Tom Darracott. The resulting work, a hypnotic film called Kiss Kiss, is now available to view here on the blog…

Darracott’s film taps into his interest in airbrush art. “I was looking at a lot of airbrush art, particularly Michael English and Philip Castle, and was really attracted by the level of technical perfection and the hyper-polished feel of the imagery,” he explains. “I also saw the cover of Tubular Bells – not in my music collection, I hasten to add – for the first time in ages, and something about it felt really fresh to me.”

Kiss Kiss applies this aesthetic to rendering a host of objects. “I also liked the classic Pop Art subject matter of many of these airbrush compositions; the crushed Coke can, fast food, cherries etc and wanted to make a video exploring this,” says Darracott. “The Pop Art idea of elevating mundane, everyday objects into totems of high luxury and decadence is a really strong one in my mind.”

Darracott set up various scenes within 3D software and applied the same mirror-like material to a range of objects. “I wanted to give the piece a slightly sinister feel as well,” he says, “which is where the ropes and chains come from. The title Kiss Kiss was appropriated from the Roald Dahl book of the same name – it has that stylised sexiness about it, but also an unsettling, dreamlike feel.”

A selection of stills from the film are also set to be made in to a Blurb book, art directed by Darracott. Here’s a preview of what to expect.

Thanks again to Blurb for their support.

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