ART & DESIGN • NEWS

Mercedes-Benz makes it great to be man’s best friend.

Portrait of Tammy Strobel

01 DOGGIE DELIGHTS

Luxury knows no bounds and Mercedes-Benz has taken this to new heights with irresistible accessories for your dog in its Mercedes-Benz Collection  2019. Developed in partnership with the German family business Miacara (whose motto, “beautiful living with dog and cat”, is on the family flag), Mercedes-Benz makes it easy for owners to indulge fur kids with cushions, collars, leashes and snack carriers that are both functional and stylish.

The cushions, with a soft, dimensionally-stable polyurethane filling in washable grey polyester, are perfect for dogs – and, dare we say, owners too – looking for something comfortable to snooze on. Adapted to their ergonomic needs, the sizes available can accommodate just about any dog, from a Great Dane to a dachshund.

The collar and lead (above) in dark grey Saffiano leather are produced exclusively for Mercedes-Benz by Miacara in Italy. The collar has a stainless steel pin buckle and a small Mercedes star pendant with a stainless steel loop.

However, it is the thoughtfully designed doggie snack bag that has our vote. Treats go in the upper part of the grey canvas and Saffiano leather bag while the lower section is designed to hold a roll of dog waste bags. Once the roll is inserted through the zipper, individual bags are dispensed through the looped metal opening in the base of the bag, which can also be attached to a belt, coat or handbag, leaving your hands free to throw sticks or dish out treats. Yes, it’s a great time to be Charlie, Max or Pooch.

 
My Reading Room
My Reading Room

02 SUM OF ITS PARTS

Art works featuring skulls are as common as those displaying unconventional spins on celebrity portraits. Berd Vaye’s pieces are particularly ingenious as they are made of vintage watch components, and so open the works to multitudinous interpretations. Hallucination, for instance, sees a skull made of watch gears floating within a Lucite cube. One can also dub this The Mechanics of Mortality or The Prison of a Complex Mind. As Damien Hirst knows, genius is sometimes in the naming of art. The 25cm Hallucination is limited to 999 pieces and costs US$6,900 (S$9,500). www.berdvaye.com 
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03 KITCHEN OMNITASKER

If the Thermomix company had its way, its highpowered, high-tech gadget would be the only piece of equipment you will ever need in your kitchen. At its core, the Thermomix TM6 combines a food processor with an electric pot, allowing all kinds of possibilities including emulsification, low-temperature cooking, chopping, whisking, and even dough kneading. There’s also an integrated Wi-Fi system you can use to download recipes. 
 
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04 A GIFT OF SOUND AND VISION

Television screens have become a numbers race as brands compete to introduce the biggest, the clearest, and the most colour-accurate. Design, meanwhile, automatically veers to variations of the sleek black rectangle which, while practical, lacks that certain je ne sais quoi. So, thank goodness for the upcoming Beovision Harmony from Bang & Olufsen (B&O)! It combines the Danish company’s sound-engineering and design chops in a LG OLED 4K screen for a living-room centrepiece that’s not just functional but aesthetically arresting as well. Loosely modelled after B&O’s mid-20th century Capri cabinet TV, the 77-inch Beovision Harmony features oak-veneered, three-channel speakers that open outwards like the wings of a butterfly for a slow, glorious reveal of the screen. Now, if that doesn’t elicit a conversation or 10, we don’t know what will.

TEXT JENNIFER CHEN & WEETS GOH