In this episode, artist and designer Nik Bentel chats about the importance of objects, whether it's a beautiful design object or a rock on the beach. Tune in + give it a listen!

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When is a pasta box not a pasta box"
To paraphrase Magritte, ceci n?est pas une pasta box: In fact, it?s a luxury handbag, crafted in leather, with a chunky, metallic chain. Released in August as part of a series of monthly limited-edition releases, the bag, priced at $199, sold out in five minutes. For artist and designer Nik Bentel, the bag offered a way to ?create something exciting from the mundane? ? both in the sense of creating the bag itself from its pasta-box origins, and for the many among us who returned to their cupboards to prepare some version of pasta night after night during last year?s lockdowns. ?I think this really resonated with people specifically because everyone had picked up a box of pasta [during quarantine] and made some really bad pasta with it,? he says. ?All in all, it was a really amazing response.? At press time, a few bags from the 100-piece run were available on eBay, ranging in price from $600 to a tidy $15,000. For the people who sell them on eBay, I hope they get the bang for their buck,? he says. ?So thank you to those people as well.?
Also in this Milkshake, Nik talks to us about the role of beauty in the objects we love, and how they acquire a sense of story ? the same sense of narrative that underpins pieces he?s produced. His ...