Chris van Niekerk’s Ecoskeletons – “specimens” created by the artist using leaves, bark, grass and other plant matter – call attention to the beauty and importance of the insect world.

Born and raised in the rural northwestern Free State, artist and horticulturalist Chris van Niekerk has long had a deep connection with the natural world. “I was forever fascinated by the unfathomable beauty and perfection of flowers,” he says. “I would spend entire school holidays collecting flowers, seeds and leaves, dissecting and rearranging them into different shapes, forms and patterns.”

That childhood passion translated into university studies in horticulture at Tshwane University of Technology, following which Chris spent six years working at a horticulturalist – including being involved in the design and development of what is now the Centurion Lake complex in Gauteng. His increasing interest in design led to part-time lecturing in the field of landscape design and, following a move to Cape Town, 22 years as a conceptual artist making site-specific installations for major events and celebrations.

Now this multitalented creative has focused his attention on insects – and is creating the remarkable works shown here under the overall heading of Ecoskeletons. This series title is “a play on the word ‘exoskeleton’, which in biology refers to the rigid external covering of the body of some invertebrate animals, such as grasshoppers and beetles,” explains Chris. He is concerned by the growing evidence worldwide of plummeting insect numbers (mostly due to habitat destruction) over the past 30 years, and Chris’s work is in part an attempt to focus attention on this issue.

These delicate “specimens” – made entirely from carefully collected plant matter – are a timely reminder about the crucial importance of insects to the survival of many other forms of life on the planet, including our own. They are also very beautiful: to make each individual “insect”, Chris meticulously combines leaves, bark, roots and sticks, grass and seeds to form a unique and brand new “species” of his invention. They’re then carefully sprayed with biodegradable lacquer to preserve them, and mounted in wooden display cases very like those you’d see in a museum of natural history.

Combined in a series, they make an exquisitely lovely decorative feature that is bound to start just the sort of conversation about the conservation of the natural world that we should all be having more regularly.

Chris van Niekerk’s Ecoskeletons are available to purchase at the Babylonstoren Fine Living Store, and directly from the artist via Instagram.

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From biological design to reigniting a passion for fixing, with a whimsical app in between, and rounding off with a starchitect and a knight, the third and final day of the Design Indaba Conference 2013 did not disappoint. We even got over Spoek Mathambo’s no-show.

Designing biology

Easily mistaken for a blond supermodel, as soon as Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg opened her mouth, it was clear that she was going to challenge more than just that stereotype, and our sacred cows, preconceptions and imaginations were never going to be the same. Working with synthetic biology, Daisy’s work includes poop that changes colour as an indicator of health, and cheese made from feet and armpit bacteria. Daisy explained that biological matter is becoming just another material for designers and that the impact will be cultural, political and personal. “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used to create them,” she quoted Einstein. 

Type cast

Many designers’ work is pervasively famous compared to them. Such is the case with typographer Matthew Carter who is responsible for fonts such as Georgia, Tahoma and Verdana that, as default html fonts, no one can avoid seeing practically daily. His humble sense of perspective was endearing, saying things like “Typographers, just like musicians, aspire to be on the cover of Rolling Stone” and “When your font is on (not in) a trash can, you know you have arrived.”

Charming comics

Christoph Niemann’s delightful illustrations and madcap humour charmed the entire audience. Not to mention the gob-smacking dedication that went into running, photographing and drawing the New York marathon! Continuing a theme that has emerged during the conference – the real gets more respect – he told us that he can’t discover new creative territory without getting his hands dirty. He also launched his first app in collaboration with Design Indaba, called the Petting Zoo. It features sound design by South Africa’s own Markus Wormstorm and really is a treat for kidults of all ages.

Sugar and spice

Dubbed “the Amy and Tina of design” by John Maeda, Jessica Hische and Marian Bantjes took to the stage to present their respective work in a conversation format. The conversation was sometimes hard to follow, but their intricate, ornamental typography and illustration work was pure eye candy.

French connection

After lunch, the disappointing news that Spoek Mathambo would not be presenting the grand finale was delivered and a few programme shuffles announced. First up, the wacky Frenchie Nelly Ben Hayoun made a brief appearance to talk about her film, the International Space Orchestra, showing later at the Design Indaba Filmfest. Even after having seen the film, we can’t believe how this delightful but crazy girl convinced NASA to let her use their scientists to rehearse and perform an opera. Ridiculous ideas that come so sweetly to life are very inspiring. Let your dreams take you anywhere, to the moon and back!

Making and fixing 

Visibly nervous but a hit nonetheless, hats off to Daniel Charny who took to the stage to deliver a presentation with 20 minutes warning. He spoke about curating the Power of Making exhibition at the V&A Museum in London in 2011 and how it had drawn the most visitors that the museum had ever seen. This led him to develop and launch Fixperts, a website that puts people with problems in touch with designers and makers. “Just as making is a way of fixing, so fixing is a way of making,” he said.

Architectural awe

African-born, UK-based starchitect David Adjaye is the real deal: a slow, measured, sometimes academic presentation had everyone awestruck. He too emphasised the importance of making – even though it is a particularly long and laborious process in architecture – saying: “If we absolve responsibility and let mechanisation build our cities, we will have more urban crises” (like Katrina). From social housing projects to high-end public buildings, from low-budget to high-budget, David impressed with the elegant simplicity of his work. We particularly loved how he used reflective surfaces to camouflage buildings in their surroundings.

The philosophy of irreverence

Sir John Hegarty closed the 2013 Design Indaba Conference with a talk about his creative philosophy – irreverence. Giving a brief history of art in ad agency one-liners – including describing Michelangelo as the ultimate art director as he was late, over-budget and disagreed with the client – he went on to show some of his favourite irreverent ads – some by him and some by others. For the good Sir, irreverence is not cynical and not punkish in that when irreverence takes a belief off its pedestal, it does offer an alternative. “Humour challenges authority, that’s why it’s so powerful,” the knight told us, concluding the event with a direct instruction to take responsibility for filling the world with truly creative ideas, not cynicism.

Read our higlights from Day 1 and Day 2 of the Design Indaba Conference.

Follow our Design Indaba coverage at visi.co.za/designindaba

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