Monday, January 30, 2012

bound mirrors



I love these textile-wrapped Bound Mirrors, from Grain. Their use of color and pattern reminds me of these colorblocked boards, and I think that a combination of both types of objects would all look amazing hanging on a wall together.

(Via swissmiss)

Friday, January 27, 2012

Designer of the Month: Louise Bourgeois

Week 4: fabric

Louise Bourgeois, Untitled, 2002. Tapestry fabric and stainless steel, 74 1/2 x 15 x 12 inches/189.2 x 38.1 x 30.5 centimeters. Courtesy of Cheim & Read, New York (BOUR-5637) CR# BO.7400.

During the last decade of her life, Louise Bourgeois made yet another shift in focus by working in fabric, creating both figurative and abstract sculptures and drawings. While the act of sewing always held a special significance for Bourgeois, both as a domestic iconography and because of her family's business repairing and selling tapestries, she began stitching together sculptures from fabric during the late 1990s/early 2000s.[1] Not only was this for practical reasons - large-scale carving and casting were too demanding for Bourgeois, who was in her late 80s when she began these works - but it was also a way to extend her practice of incorporating clothes into her installations.[2] According to the Guggenheim Museum's 2008 Louise Bourgeois exhibition:
Extending her practice of incorporating clothes into her installations, Bourgeois constructs many of these fabric sculptures from scraps of tapestries—the material that played a central role in her early experience—as well as garments and household linens that she has saved over her lifetime, infusing the objects with a powerful set of memories and associations. In contrast to the artist's more characteristic use of anthropomorphic fragments, in these late sculptures the body is fully realized.[3]
Louise Bourgeois, Untitled, 2002. Fabric steel and wood, 14 x 15 x 6 inches/35.6 x 38.1 x 15.2 centimeters. Courtesy of Cheim & Read, New York (BOUR-5386) CR# BO.6766.

In addition to these fabric sculptures, Bourgeois also created fabric drawings.[4] These works, created during the period of 2002 to 2008, are unique for Bourgeois in that unlike than the symbolic sculptures that she was also creating during this period, these drawings are completely abstract in nature, taking their symbolism from the material itself. As Hauser & Wirth explains in their 2010 exhibition of these works:
The fabric drawings are abstract and heterogeneous, deriving their formal logic from the juxtapositions of patterns printed on their materials and the artist’s long-standing motifs. Over a six-year period their designs evolved, exploring more intricate geometries and increasingly incorporating collaged elements. Stripy and chequered drawings that Bourgeois began making in 2002 weave thin strips of her garments together, bending the modernist grid. Later works adopt polygonal structures, stitching the fabrics so that the patterns form concentric circles and spirals similar to spider webs and the vibrant mirrorings of a kaleidoscope. Rather than being minimalist, these morphing geometries are supple and embracive, softly corporeal.[5] 
Louise Bourgeois, Untitled, 2007. Fabric, 69.9 x 55.9 cm / 27 1/2 x 22 in. Courtesy of Hauser & Wirth, London BOURG44847.

Bourgeois was a remarkably prolific artist who strove to challenge conventional ideas about art, expressed her ideas through a wide range of forms and materials. In addition to an array of exhibitions and retrospectives of her work, as well as a renewed interest in her art from the early 1990s through her death in 2010, Bourgeois has had a remarkable influence within the art world, inspiring artists as diverse as Kiki Smith, Cindy Sherman and David Hammons.[6] Over the course of her life, her achievements have ranged far and wide to include, among others, a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts (1973), membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1981), membership in the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in New York (1983), an Officier de LOrdre des Arts Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture (1983), a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Sculpture Center in Washington, D.C. (1991), a Grand Prix in sculpture from the French Ministry of Culture (1991), a Mayor Award for Art and Culture by the Mayor of New York (1993), a National Medal of Arts (1997), the Golden Lion for a living master of contemporary art at the 48th Venice Biennale (1999), an honorary membership at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Vienna (2000), and a Medal of Honor from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia (2005).[7] As Christian Leigh explained so well of her enduring influence:
Bourgeois's art renders the self as the bearer of all things, great and small, good and evil. Subjecting herself to the gristliest of dissections, she insists that we the viewers look as intently as she does, not only at her, but at ourselves as well. Here is where her radicality lies. She illuminates the responsibilities we must insist on and the choices we must make by personalizing them first and only thereafter universalizing them. In so doing, Bourgeois gives license to an uncanny utopia whose foundation is laid within the self and whose force pours continually out.[8]


[1] Guggenheim Museum online, "Selected Works: Fabric Sculptures," from the exhibition Louise Bourgeois (June 27 - September 28, 2008), http://pastexhibitions.guggenheim.org/bourgeois/exhibition.html, (accessed January 12, 2012).


[2] Ibid.


[3] Ibid.


[4] Special thanks to Katherine Bowman for bringing Louise Bourgeois' fabric drawings to my attention. I'd already decided on Bourgeois as January's Designer of the Month, but these made me even more eager to write these posts.


[5] Hauser & Wirth online, "Introduction," from the exhibition Louise Bourgeois: The Fabric Works (October 15 -December 18, 2010), http://www.hauserwirth.com/exhibitions/743/louise-bourgeois-the-fabric-works/view/, (accessed January 26, 2012).


[6] Christian Leigh, "The Earrings of Madame B...:Louise Bourgeois and the Reciprocal Terrain for the Uncanny," from Louise Bourgeois: The Locus of Memory, Works 1982-1993, ed. Charlotta Kotik, Terrie Sultan and Christian Leigh, (New York: The Brooklyn Museum in Association with Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 1994), 51-2.


[7] Guggenheim Museum online, "Biography," from the exhibition Louise Bourgeois (June 27 - September 28, 2008), http://pastexhibitions.guggenheim.org/bourgeois/exhibition.html, (accessed January 26, 2012).

[8] Christian Leigh, "The Earrings of Madame B...:Louise Bourgeois and the Reciprocal Terrain for the Uncanny," from Louise Bourgeois: The Locus of Memory, Works 1982-1993, ed. Charlotta Kotik, Terrie Sultan and Christian Leigh, (New York: The Brooklyn Museum in Association with Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 1994), 69.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

colorblocked boards





Never underestimate a good cutting board. Not only are they functional, but a good cutting board can look just as great serving its intended purpose on the table as it can decorating your walls. And while I've seen some beautiful cutting boards in my life, these colorblocked versions - made from Pennsylvania-grown sycamore and finished with milk paint - are almost too gorgeous for words. Handmade by Lostine, you can find four stunning versions for sale through Anthropologie.

(Via Design*Sponge)

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

the boathouse

It may be cold and grey outside, but that's all the more reason why this stunning Norwegian summer getaway, by TYIN tegnestue Architects, is just what I need on a day like today. Modeled on a mid-18th century boathouse that used to reside on the land, the simplicity of the old building, its good placement and honest use of materials were key sources of inspiration for the building's redesign.




And what an incredible place they created! Don't you just love the way the back-lit cotton canvas gives off that beautiful glow? And the cladding, made from Norwegian pine, was pressure treated so that it will give the boathouse a silvery grey patina over time, with no maintenance needed. As the architects explain:
An adaptable design approach and flexibility in the building process coupled with a high degree of presence on the work site have been crucial for the final result of this project. Rational choices in regards to material use, method of construction and detailing have given this boathouse its distinguished architectural features. The building remains true to the historical and cultural heritage of Norway's coastal regions while catering to new modes of usage.

(Via desire to inspire)

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Emily Rothschild

I came across industrial designer Emily Rothschild's work over the weekend and was really impressed by her work. As her bio explains, Emily aims to "identify areas of our lives that are often overlooked in order to create new, lasting, and often humorous design solutions," a goal that, judging by her portfolio, I'd say she accomplishes very well. Take these lockets, for instance.




A re-design of turn-of-the-century mourning lockets, Emily's USB lockets are a beautiful as they are functional. Rather than a place for photographs, these necklaces contain USB flash drives instead, serving as a creative and unexpected place to store multiple photographs and memories. Her medical locket serves a similar function, but is meant to keep medical records safe and easily accessible, with the USB drive itself able to be engraved with vital information.



I also really love her take on the ubiquitous seven-day pill cassette. By creating a brass version and adding the option to wear it as a brooch, unlike its disposable plastic predecessor, these pillboxes become cherished and even humorous objects.

You can see more of Emily's designs, many of which are available to purchase, as well as her larger projects, on her website.

Monday, January 23, 2012

the bark side + shit new yorkers say

It seems that this past week was a particularly good one for clever videos, because both of these required multiple viewings made me laugh in their own special way.



First up, dogs dressed as Star Wars characters barking out the Imperial March? Um, yes, please. The subtle use of props to distinguish the dogs is fantastic, but the ending with the AT-AT is what really got me. Way to go, Volkswagen.

(Via The Fox Is Black)



And then, of course, there's the one video that all of NYC has been talking about lately. I already loved Ilana Glazer for Broad City, but I'm happy to find out that her brother Eliot is hilarious as well.

(Via kottke)

Friday, January 20, 2012

Designer of the Month: Louise Bourgeois

Week 3: sculptures and installations

Louise Bourgeois, Dagger Child, 1947–49. Painted wood, 76 1/8 x 5 3/8 x 5 1/8 inches (193.4 x 13.7 x 13 cm). © Louise Bourgeois Trust/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Courtesy of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (92.4001).

In 1949, Louise Bourgeois had her first sculpture exhibition at New York's Peridot Gallery, showing work made from wood that had been carved, assembled and stacked, with the resulting figures symbolically representing family members and friends.[1] "Even though the shapes are abstract," Bourgeois explained, "they represent people. They are delicate as relationships are delicate. They look on each other and they lean on each other."[2] Known as Personages, the 17 thin, freestanding, vertical forms that were shown at the Peridot Gallery were displayed in such a way that suggested movement.[3] As a result, this exhibition may be considered Bourgeois' first installation piece, with Charlotta Kotik explaining:
In these early sculptures, Bourgeois created a special brand of animism that continues in her work to this day. The figures or objects represent personages close to her not in appearance, but in spirit; they constitute, in fact, a surrogate family. Bourgeois' approach to her art at this time displayed an unprecedented fusion of the rational and intuitive. She concentrated on the spiritual function of her sculpture, using form, materials, techniques, and scale to give tangible expression to the traumatizing experiences of her own life in a heroic attempt to exorcize them.[4]
Louise Bourgeois, Cumul I, 1969. White marble on wood base, 51 x 127 x 122 cm. State purchase 1973, attribution 1976. AM 1976-933. © CNAC / MNAM dist.RMN / Philippe Migeat. © Adagp, Paris 2008. Courtesy of the Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris.

In 1951, Bourgeois became an American citizen.[5] Although this was a period during which she largely withdrew from the commercial art world, she spent much of the 1960s teaching in public schools, at Brooklyn College and at Pratt Institute, continuing to lecture at various institutions through the 1970s.[6] The end of the 1960s signaled a new period for Bourgeois, defined a pronounced shift in form with the creation of biomorphic sculptures through experimentation with materials such as latex, resin and plaster.[7] It was during this period and into the 1970s that Bourgeois' work became much more sexually explicit, exploring the body, gender and anthropomorphism, as well as a frequent use of marble as a sculptural material, which she liked to work with because it gave the illusion of the softness of skin.[8] Bourgeois also became appreciated by a wider public during this time as a result of the change in attitudes wrought by feminism and Post-modernism, with her work expanding to include larger three-dimensional work and environmental installations, and expanding yet again after the acquisition of a large Brooklyn studio in 1980.[9]

Louise Bourgeois, Cell (Choisy), 1990-1993. Pink marble, metal and glass, 306 x 170,20 x 241 cm. Ydessa Hendeles Art Foundation, Toronto. Photograph by Peter Bellamy. © Adagp, Paris 2008. Courtesy of the Centre Pompidou, Paris.

The expansion of Bourgeois' workspace in 1980 coincided with a desire to create larger environmental installations - physical spaces capable of signifying memory, time and recognition.[10] In particular, Bourgeois' Cells pieces from the 1990s - self-contained installations that deny entrance to their interiors - serve as manifestations of complex psychological narratives.[11] "Each Cell deals with fear," explains Bourgeois, "Each Cell deals with the pleasures of the voyeur, the thrill of looking and being looked at. The Cells either attract or repulse each other. There is this urge to integrate, merge, or disintegrate."[12] Like much of her work, Bourgeois' Cells serve not only as narratives of a personal history, but the cathartic representations of a lifetime of emotional struggle.


[1] Charlotta Kotik, "The Locus of Memory: An Introduction to the Work of Louise Bourgeois," from Louise Bourgeois: The Locus of Memory, Works 1982-1993, ed. Charlotta Kotik, Terrie Sultan and Christian Leigh, (New York: The Brooklyn Museum in Association with Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 1994), 18.


[2] Ibid., 18.


[3] Guggenheim Museum online, "Selected Works: Personages," from the exhibition Louise Bourgeois (June 27 - September 28, 2008), http://pastexhibitions.guggenheim.org/bourgeois/exhibition.html (accessed January 19, 2012).


[4] Charlotta Kotik, "The Locus of Memory: An Introduction to the Work of Louise Bourgeois," from Louise Bourgeois: The Locus of Memory, Works 1982-1993, ed. Charlotta Kotik, Terrie Sultan and Christian Leigh, (New York: The Brooklyn Museum in Association with Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 1994), 18.


[5] Guggenheim Museum online, "Biography," from the exhibition Louise Bourgeois (June 27 - September 28, 2008), http://pastexhibitions.guggenheim.org/bourgeois/exhibition.html (accessed January 19, 2012).


[6] Ibid.


[7] Guggenheim Museum online, "Selected Works: Biomorphic Forms," from the exhibition Louise Bourgeois (June 27 - September 28, 2008), http://pastexhibitions.guggenheim.org/bourgeois/exhibition.html (accessed January 19, 2012).


[8] Centre Pompidou online, "Metamorphosis as a Principle of the Work: The Ambiguity of Materials, Shapes and Meaning," from the exhibition Louise Bourgeois (March 5 - June 2, 2008), http://www.centrepompidou.fr/education/ressources//ENS-bourgeois-EN//ENS-bourgeois-EN.html (accessed January 19, 2012).


[9] Guggenheim Museum online, "Biography," from the exhibition Louise Bourgeois (June 27 - September 28, 2008), http://pastexhibitions.guggenheim.org/bourgeois/exhibition.html (accessed January 19, 2012).


[10] Terrie Sultan, "Redefining the Terms of Engagement: The Art of Louise Bourgeois," from Louise Bourgeois: The Locus of Memory, Works 1982-1993, ed. Charlotta Kotik, Terrie Sultan and Christian Leigh, (New York: The Brooklyn Museum in Association with Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 1994), 39.

[11] Guggenheim Museum online, "Biography," from the exhibition Louise Bourgeois (June 27 - September 28, 2008), http://pastexhibitions.guggenheim.org/bourgeois/exhibition.html (accessed January 19, 2012). 

[12] Louise Bourgeois, artist's statement in The Carnegie International, reproduced by Terrie Sultan, "Redefining the Terms of Engagement: The Art of Louise Bourgeois," from Louise Bourgeois: The Locus of Memory, Works 1982-1993, ed. Charlotta Kotik, Terrie Sultan and Christian Leigh, (New York: The Brooklyn Museum in Association with Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 1994), 41.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

I could eat a horse


An ingenious tool for the whole family by Icelandic designer Stefán Pétur Sólveigarson, I could eat a horse allows you to measure out the perfect amount of spaghetti for whoever's eating, from child to adult, up to a family of four with the horse (of course). Available at the Reykjavik Corner Store.

(Via The Fox Is Black)

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

lately

My other handsome fellow and socked feet.

blackfield

What looks like a sheet of botanical wallpaper is actually Blackfield (2008), an installation by London-based artist Zadok Ben David.


And while the concept of black steel flowers and plants blooming out of a floor of sand is pretty remarkable looking in itself, just wait until you see the other half of this installation.



That's right, the black field burst into full, vibrant color just waiting on the other side.

(Via The Jealous Curator)

Monday, January 16, 2012

water installation



I've seen some incredible fountains in my life, but never have I seen water used in quite this way before. This Osaka Station waterfall clock/signage/intricate floral pattern maker is a completely fascinating use of technology. I could sit and watch this thing all day, or at least for a few more minutes.



(Via The Kid Should See This)

Friday, January 13, 2012

moonrise kingdom



At this point, I'll go see absolutely any movie made by Wes Anderson, even if I know nothing about it and regardless of the reviews. Luckily though, this looks like it's going to be awesome.

Designer of the Month: Louise Bourgeois

Week 2: Painting and prints

Rather than going through a straight biographical history, I decided to focus on three specific aspects of Louise Bourgeois' work this month not out of any specific desire to categorize a lifetime of artistic expression, but more simply because when looking at such an incredible range of artistry as Bourgeois displays, it can be both helpful and fascinating to look at like objects. So, while Bourgeois is best known for her sculptures and installation work, we're going to stay away from those for now, focusing entirely on her works on paper this week.

Louise Bourgeois, Femme-maison, 1946-1947. Oil and ink on linen, 91.50 x 35.50 cm. Private collection. Photograph by Rafael Lobato, © Adagp, Paris 2008. Courtesy of the Centre Pompidou, Paris.

In 1938, Louise Bourgeois and Robert Goldwater moved from Paris to New York City. During her early years in New York, Bourgeois studied at the Art Students League, and soon began to display her paintings, with her work shown in the Brooklyn Museum Print Exhibition in 1939.[1] Bourgeois' early work, such as the femme-maison (house-woman), above, takes much of its inspiration from the Surrealist art movement, but this was just one of the many artistic styles that would attempt to claim Bourgeois throughout her life. As Charlotta Kotik explains:
Befriending a number of expatriate realist artists during the Second World War, she participated in the rise of Abstract Expressionism, shared the legacy of the New York School, and through her early working methods anticipated the practices of Process Art and the discipline of Minimalism. She readily comprehended all, but accepted none. Fiercely independent, she charted her own territory instead, traveling a solitary path and sustaining the isolation that so frequently attends such a road. Motivated to express deeply autobiographical content, Bourgeois followed her own rhythm. Although her work explores abstraction, allusion to organic form permeates most of her pieces, naturally strengthened by the suggestion of fragments of human anatomy.[2]
Bourgeois was given her first solo show in 1945, during which she exhibited 12 paintings at the Bertha Schaefer Gallery in New York.[3] It was also during this time that Bourgeois became involved in printmaking, working at Stanley William Hayter's printshop, Atelier 17, in the mid-to late 1940, where she met WWII European exiles such as Le Corbusier and Joan Miró.[4]

Louise Bourgeois, Untitled, plate 9, third version, state II, from He Disappeared into Complete Silence. Engraving and drypoint over photogravure with watercolor additions from an illustrated book with eleven engravings, ten over photogravure, six with drypoint, five with aquatint, and five with watercolor additions, plate: 9 1/8 x 4 1/8" (23.2 x 10.5 cm); sheet: 10 1/16 x 6 3/4" (25.5 x 17.2 cm). Gift of the artist. © 2011 Louise Bourgeois Trust. Courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art, New York (1277.2008.9).

And although Bourgeois both exhibited with a wide range of artists during this time, including, most notably, the Abstract Expressionists, drawing on the unconscious as subject matter, she refused to be labeled under any one category. Instead, according to Rina Youngner, "she created symbolic objects and drawings expressing themes of loneliness and conflict, frustration and vulnerability," such as in the above image, from He Disappeared into Complete Silence (1947), her best-known printed work.[5]

Louise Bourgeois, Untitled, plate 2 (facing page 4), only state, from Homely Girl, a Life, Volume I, 1992. One drypoint from an illustrated book with ten drypoints, one with roulette and one with punching, plate: 7 3/8 x 5 3/8" (18.7 x 13.6 cm); page: 11 1/2 x 8 3/4" (29.2 x 22.2 cm). Gift of the artist. © 2011 Louise Bourgeois Trust. Courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art, New York (29.1993.A02).

So it's incredible to consider that all of Bourgeois' prints were created during two periods: 1938-1949, and again from 1973-1993, with none made at all during the time in between, when she focused entirely on three-dimensional works.[6] As for her painting, which so defined her early life both in Paris and New York, this was abandoned entirely in 1949 in favor of installation and sculpture.[7]



[1] MoMA online, "The Collection: Louise Bourgeois," from Grove Art Online by Rina Youngner, © 2009 Oxford University Press, http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A710&page_number=2&template_id=6&sort_order=1 (accessed January 12, 2012).


[2] Charlotta Kotik, "The Locus of Memory: An Introduction to the Work of Louise Bourgeois," from Louise Bourgeois: The Locus of Memory, Works 1982-1993, ed. Charlotta Kotik, Terrie Sultan and Christian Leigh, (New York: The Brooklyn Museum in Association with Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 1994), 13-16.


[3] Guggenheim Museum online, "Biography," from the exhibition Louise Bourgeois (June 27 - September 28, 2008), http://pastexhibitions.guggenheim.org/bourgeois/exhibition.html, (accessed January 12, 2012).


[4] Ibid.


[5]  MoMA online, "The Collection: Louise Bourgeois," from Grove Art Online by Rina Youngner, © 2009 Oxford University Press, http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A710&page_number=2&template_id=6&sort_order=1 (accessed January 12, 2012).


[6] Deborah Wye, "A Drama of the Self; Louise Bourgeois as Printmaker," from The Prints of Louis Bourgeois, ed. Deborah Wye and Carol Smith, (New York: The Museum of Modern Art in Association with Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1994.), 11.


[7] Holland Cotter, "Louise Bourgeois, Influential Sculptor, Dies at 98," The New York Times online, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/arts/design/01bourgeois.html?scp=2&sq=louise+bourgeois&st=nyt (accessed January 12, 2012).