GOING, GOING, GONE!

Kelli is one of the sharpest shoppers I know. She can find ANYTHING. Although she would deny it, I think she is a shopping psychic. I asked her to kindly share some of her secrets.

Enjoy, Todd


Auctions houses...love them. I discovered them on a live auction several years ago on Ebay. They are an amazing source for learning about designers you love, viewing rare pieces, and values. You may even find a new favorite designer.



Wright 20 in Chicago is tops on my list. They have such amazing taste.



Treadway Gallery in Chicago and Rago Arts + Auction Center in Lambertville, New Jersey are both excellent as well.

Check the archives. Pieces often do not go as high as the estimate....or you may also be surprised by how high some pieces climb.


For classic reissues and new design findsI like highbrowfurniture.com, type in "stan" during checkout and get 10% off with FREE SHIPPING!


Ebay ( of course ) often has damaged pieces you can fix yourself or love the piece even with flaws. Shipping is sometimes not that much.


Dansk Møbelkunst has an excellent selection often with rare pieces for Danish Modern and Scandinavian finds, Outernational has a huge selection of european 50's -70's ceramics and porcelain.

Last, just type your dream piece in Google and more than likely it will turn up somewhere just waiting for you.

Happy hunting, Kelli

I HEART PHOTOGRAPHY

During a trip to Highpoint, North Carolina, home of the worlds largest chest of drawers, Tony found the duality of the south in full force. Here is the evidence. Enjoy, Todd











I love photography!…I grew up in the south…Louisiana actually…colorful…funny…lovely and scary all at the same time…this is where I am sure I acquired a taste of capturing imagery of everyday life…I live in NYC now and you see the same incredible images here for sure but there is still something special about how we live in the south… I feel it made me a better person….here are some images that I captured during a recent trip to North Carolina…I could not resist pulling over (coming to a screeching halt actually) when I saw a great outdoor sculpture retailer off the side of the highway…..more of my photography in the weeks to come…if you are a fan of photography please visit the photography section of our site…Todd snapped some awesome pix…one of my favs….. Stephen Colbert as a female striper!

Enjoy….t.o.n.y.

ZINE YOUR SCENE

With its democratic approach, garage publishing has yeilded some inspiring, incredible results throught the years. Kelly shares some thoughts on those that moved her.

-Todd



Before there were blogs there were 'zines. As a teenage rocker tucked away in the bowels of central New York I found myself isolated from the punk/hardcore subculture. Zines like Maximum Rock n' Roll and Punk Planet provided me with valued musical information needed to discover punk/ska/oi/rocksteady music, band tee shirts and pen pals (sometimes with the incarcerated). Within the larger and more widely distributed zines of MRR and Punk Planet, more obscure, smaller zines were reviewed and addresses provided for purchasing (most cost $1). Similar to how youths now use myspace.com to search for new, underground music and friends, zines provided a community for the pre-internet days.

Now older, wiser, less punk rock and living in the variety of NYC, I still look for zines to provide eccentric individual views of the world. Of course, there are as many varieties of zines as there are blogs. Here I'll feature my favorites which are mostly weird-o, arty, designerly zines.



Independent publishing house Nieves based in Zurich, Switzerland focuses on publishing Artist Books and Zines. Nieves features a wide variety of totally rad stuffs ranging from photography, drawing and type experiments. All zines catalogued provide a website linking to information about each artist which is helpful and even more inspiring. The image above is by Stefan Marx of Hamburg, Germany.



The newest zine onto the scene is 'The Artist's Guide to Making Money' compiled, designed and published by Matthew Cassity and Sam Spratlin. It's a refreshing look at money's effect on artists and writers; those typically horrible with finance. Artists were asked to submit works that responded to the idea of money. The front and back cover is a sampling of ads Matt and Sam sold to fund the project. More topic ideas in the works—all which ask Artists and Writers about things they most likely know nothing about are—The Artist's Guides to Luxury Hotels, Spirituality, Fine Dining, Historical Figures…the list goes on and on. $$$$$ Purchase the Artist's Guide here.

In support and in response to the social platform of a blog I would like to re-inspire people to consider creating zines. Forget the computer for awhile, maybe for a couple days. Take out a pen, scissor, glue stick and cut n' paste your way to your nearest photocopy machine! Vent your thoughts and submit it to the world. Well, maybe show it to a few people. Sure blogs can get your views out into the whole wide world in mere minutes but consider the importance of small numbers and handmade appeal. Lulu.com is a great source for all your self publishing needs. It's a bit classier than a rugged photocopy machine and you may choose from several sizes and bindings. Make it on the computer or not, whatever it takes get your crazy individualized ideas and images out there into the world via zine or blog. Think community people!

Note (according to wikipedia):
An abbreviation of the word fanzine, and originating from the word magazine—is most commonly a small circulation, non-commercial publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self published work of minority interest.

AMAZING BOOK ALERT!

National treasure, artist Cindy Sherman’s, entire work is represented in the beautiful new monograph CINDY SHERMAN. The giant book was produced alongside a gigantic retrospective of her work that opened in Paris last year and is currently showing in Copenhagen. I hope it comes to the United States too! This dazzling collection is a must have.

Todd

L.A. ART SHOWS

Greetings from Los Angeles,

If you find yourself here in the next few months there are two extraordinary exhibits that are must sees. Mark Ryden's new works at Michael Kohn Gallery is called "The Tree Show." Working thematically as he did before with "The Meat Show," Ryden explores a haunting world that sets the fragile characters he renders so beautifully amongst, and some times inside, trees. One is immediately taken by the startling quality and richness of the works. Rydens lovely polished working drawings for the paintings are just as mesmerizing.







Photos by supertouch.

The hand-carved wooden frame that encases the main piece of the show “Tree of Life” is a marvel and worth the visit alone! I imagine it is almost impossible to photograph these quiet masterpieces with their shiny, luminous surfaces so please try to see this in person.

The Getty Center commissioned brain-bending genius Tim Hawkinson to create new works called ZOOPSIA [n. VISUAL HALLUCINATION OF ANIMALS]. A Hawkinson is impossible to categorize and often impossible to even describe, but when you see them in person you never forget them. He had a terrific, inspiring retrospective at the Whitney and the LACMA a few years ago and the monograph for the show is great.






Photos Copyright 2007 Tim Hawkinson

There are 4 new pieces installed near eachother creating an intimate presentation. When I was in the gallery I heard a women standing in front of LEVIATHON gasp loudly when she recognized that the spine of the skeletal structure was a series of miniature rowers in mid-stroke, grasping their rib bone oars. The looming OCTOPUS, a photo collage, seems to capture the sinewy creature at rest. A closer inspection reveals that each leg sucker is puckering lips. The modest and hysterical BAT is flawlessly constructed out of radio shack bags and wire.








Original photos and video with permission of The Getty Center.

The terrific art series on PBS, art:21 Season 2 features an
interview with the astonishing artist. Also installed for the first time on the west coast is UBERORGAN. Hawkinson's wild construction involves cloth, buckets, tape, light and sound all with the inner workings exposed. This version reaches up almost 60 ft!

Happy viewing,

Todd

LE CORBUSIER: MAN WITH A PLAN

Recently, Josh from our studio went on a tour of India. This week he shares his impressions of the unique Le Corbusier designed, Chandigarh.

-Todd


In January of this year I had the pleasure of visiting the city of Chandigarh, the dual capital of Panjab and Haryana in northern India. The city was laid out by French architect Le Corbusier in the early 1950’s and is viewed by many as India’s only planned city. In stark contrast to every other city in the country, Chandigarh’s architecture is consistently modern and the materials employed are an unwavering combination of poured concrete, brick and steel framed windows.


When traveling around Chandigarh the first thing you notice are the trees. Other than New Delhi one sees very few trees in Indian cities. Here there are thousands upon thousands. They were planted in straight lines and were part of Le Corbusier’s design for the city. Obviously, more trees means more space and better air quality – two things in short supply in the country.


My tour of Chandigarh started at the Panjab University, a huge, sprawling campus, which is similar to many American universities built in the mid 20th Century. The campus may look unkempt here but these pictures were taken during the dry season. Visit these same places in the summer and they, like the rest of India, will be lush and overgrown. The photo above shows the Gandhi Bhawan surrounded by a huge swath of concrete. This is actually a dry reflecting pool which is appropriate considering the architect of this structure Pierre Jeanneret derived its form from a lotus flower.



The highlight of the University of Panjab was Le Corbusier’s School of Architecture. A master of filtering light and understanding shadow, LC designed a wonderful oasis for design with studios filled with indirect, natural light as well as shaded areas to escape the harsh Indian sun.




The grandest buildings in the city are located in the Cultural Center at the North end of the city. Here the grid of the city disintegrates into the hills that eventually lead to the Himalaya. The Cultural Center is comprised of Le Corbusier’s monuments and the three structures of government: the Secretariat, the Legislature & the High Court.





In these buildings one can see Le Corbusier’s genius: his mastery of the elevation, his understanding of light and shadow and his ability (which I believe is unparalleled) to take you on an ever revealing ride. Though they share a common exterior of raw concrete, each building has it’s own character and there is a harmonious interplay between them. Sadly, what you will not see here are the incredible interior spaces of the Legislature, as photos are not allowed.


The wide boulevards virtually devoid of traffic are another anomaly. Nek Chand’s Rock Garden and the Rose Garden are other “must see” places in Chandigarh.

You can find out more on LC's Chandigarh here.

Photos by Josh Geurtsen