This is my 2nd Submission Check my 1st submission at this link: https://on.contra.com/CbjhLm Inspired by: Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zúñiga, Francisco Goya, 1787–88, from The Met's open archive. Link to Original Art: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436545

I liked this painting because of the boy at its center, Manuel, dressed in a striking red suit, holding a magpie on a string while three cats watch him from the shadows. Even as a child's portrait, it felt tense, like something was about to happen. It looked like a moment frozen right before a story unfolds.

What I made: I turned Manuel into a toy doll, kept his red suit, his pose, his face, everything the same, just changed what he is. In my video, a father buys the doll from a toy shop and gives it to his little daughter, and they walk out together. I chose a girl instead of a boy on purpose, it felt like giving Manuel a second life completely outside the world he was painted into, away from the cats, the cage, the tension, just a toy being loved.

How I made it: I downloaded the painting image from The Met's open archive, then imported it into FLORA, connected the picture to a text prompt node, then connected both the picture and text prompt node to the video node I also made an element Doll, and selected the Seedance 2.5 model with a 30 second clip. I kept the workflow as simple as possible.

Why I made this: I wanted to take Manuel out of the painting and out of the museum, and give him an actual childhood, even 230+ years later. I think his portrait still holds so much presence that it deserves to live on, just now as something a child can actually hold and love, not just look at.

Instagram post link: https://www.instagram.com/p/Dc8SwEJMwP3/ Twitter(X) post link: https://x.com/AhmadSauleh/status/2096539462402466095?s=20

Awwwww so sweeet, ideaaa!!!

L’Empreinte — “The Imprint”

I wanted to explore the relationship we build with the objects around us — the marks they leave on us, and the marks we leave on them.

I started with François-Thomas Germain’s Coffeepot, made in Paris in 1757. What interested me was not only its form, but the world it represented: a time when rituals such as drinking coffee, serving and displaying silverware were surrounded by extraordinary care, craftsmanship and ceremony.

That made me think about our rituals today.

We listen through headphones. We gather around speakers. We work through laptops. We communicate through phones.

The objects have changed, but we still build habits, memories and relationships around them.

What if that same care, refinement and presence were applied to the products surrounding our lives today?

Rather than reproducing the coffeepot, I wanted its design language to leave an empreinte on a new generation of objects. Its flowing ornament, polished silver, sculptural curves and sense of preciousness became the basis for a collection of headphones, speakers, phones and laptops.

The aim was to imagine another evolution of modern design — one where ornament had never completely disappeared, and where technology could still feel crafted, emotional and precious.

Explore the full FLORA project here: https://app.flora.ai/view/js7b1ngr9rm9d9v0cv3vzc6tkx8dvnrf

I’ve also included a process video showing how the idea developed from the original reference into the final collection and world.

Instead of placing the objects inside a cold technological setting, I built an environment around stone, natural textures, open space, light and the sky. The tree-like elements and blue-and-white opening above connect the space back to nature, contrasting with the polished technology and making the environment feel more grounded and alive.

The people complete that world. They are different, but their gestures overlap: listening, working, communicating and sharing sound. Their presence shows how these objects become part of the body, the room and the rituals that connect us.

That is ultimately what L’Empreinte represents:

the trace history leaves on design, the trace objects leave on us, and the trace we leave on them in return.

A collection imagining what might happen if the refinement of the past became part of the design language we still spoke today.

Created with @FLORA for the FLORA Museum Challenge.

Original work: François-Thomas Germain, Coffeepot, Paris, 1757 The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Amazing approach and design work!