I'll be back at the end of the week...

...with interesting news!!

SIDEWALK FINDINGS: WILLIAMSBURG EDITION

Last night, in an attempt to soak up one of the last remaining summer nights, I joined a few friends for dinner at the new Caracas restaurant that opened up in Williamsburg.

On the walk over, we passed a striking window display that immediately caught our attention.

It contained Amy Von Harrington's collection of copper molds, that as a whole, created quite an image. We had to stop for a few minutes, and found ourselves dissecting each mold, and trying to figure out which was each of our favorites (I was torn between one of the large roosters and the pineapple).

There were some pretty great ones in there: a lounging cat, a Victorian-esque house, a patch of mushrooms, various lobster claws...

On such a dark and empty street, to happen upon a display that drew us in with its golden-bronzy glowiness...what an unexpected treat!

HOW TO BECOME A SAINT

How to Become a Saint, By Bombo

....tee hee :)

FUTEBOL IS LIFE

Anyone who's ever been to Brazil, knows that there, soccer (or futebol in Portuguese) is life, and life is futebol, and nothing else really matters.

When I traveled there last year, I had the luck of scoring tickets to the championship at Maracanã Stadium....and simply said, it was the CRAZIEST THING I've ever seen. Grown men sobbing, stomping, screaming...well, you get the point. I'm lucky I didn't get trampled!

Mostly known for his fashion and celebrity photography, Nino Muñoz also does work like the shot above, which seems to say in one breath, everything I was able to experience that afternoon.

See more of his work here.

CIGAR ART

Fun Fact #1: Before cigar boxes, cigars used to be sold in bundles covered with pigs' bladders. Smoke on that!

Fun Fact #2: Cigar bands were invented by the Dutch in 1850, to eliminate the problem of getting one's gloves dirty while smoking at the opera.

I've never been a smoker, but all it takes is a faint whiff of cigar smoke and I'm weak in the knees. It's not just the smell...it's everything that's associated with it. A dark and smoky club on a hot Habana night. A black rusty fan buzzes above. A man, tall dark and handsome (of course), enters the room. His hat is pulled over his eyes, and a thick trail of smoke is released from underneath the rim.

OK! So, maybe I've been watching too much Casablanca.

Even more intriguing, perhaps, is the cigar box and label art that accompanies this world. Is there anything more beautiful than these miniature works of art? Gold leaf, heavy embossing, brilliant colors, stunningly detailed patterns, intricate typography....AHHH! And that border on the upper right-hand corner one...

...speechless.

EVEN A ROBOT HAS A HEART

Illustration by Slovenian designer, Tomaz Plahuta.

SIDEWALK FINDINGS: DUMBO EDITION

I found this makeshift altar mounted to the side of a building one magical night wandering through DUMBO. It contained so many random items: tiny rubber duckies, a mini Persian-rug-mousepad, foriegn currency, business cards, small photo frames...even tiny, tiny Matroyshka dolls. I wasn't sure, but it seemed to honor someone's dog.

So precious.

I love Brooklyn.

NAZCA LINES

The Nazca Lines are a series of giant drawings (sketched onto the earth) that exist in the Nazca Desert of western Peru. They date back to 200 BC–AD 700, and were created by the Nasca society that inhabited southern Peru at the time. There are hundreds of individual drawings, that range from simple lines to more complex but very stylized plants, animal and human figures, the largest of which is about 900 feet long (!)

They were accidentally discovered in 1927 by a plane in flight. No one really knows what the drawings were used for, although many believe them to be of a spiritual/religious nature. One theory is that the drawing were intended to point towards locations on the horizon where the sun, moon, stars rose and set.

The interesting thing, is that these ancient artists couldn't have possibly seen the entirety of some of these drawings--which can only be seen as a whole from high above.

I haven't traveled to Peru yet, but between Macchu Pichu and the Nazca lines...I'm so intrigued! MIght have to tap into my Sky Mile reserve...

PLUS, is anyone as drawn to that bird's feet as I am?? So odd and adorable at the same time!

YUKEN TERUYA...

...magically returns paper to its birth place.

I saw Yuken's work at PS1 back in 2005, and it has stuck with me ever since.

By using the method of papercutting, he creates miniature tree sculptures inside paper bags. In the above example, he used a McDonald's bag. The only material used is the paper itself. The trees are incredibly intricate, delicate and they put my grade-school dioramas to utter, utter shame.

See more here.

WASSILY KANDINSKY

It's called Gravitation, and it simply blows me away.

CANDY LAND meets LOMBARD STREET

...and in the same spirit as yesterday's post, Hasbro Inc. transformed San Francisco's famed Lombard Street into Candy Land, to celebrate the game's 60th Anniversary.

Just makes me love that city even more. And I didn't think that was possible!

See more pics here.

JENGA HOUSE

That's right, I said it. J-E-N-G-A H-O-U-S-E. Some geniuses at Sou Fujimoto Architects built a house inspired by the game, Jenga, in Kamakura, Japan. It's essentially a 13' x 13' x 13' cube that's meant to be rented out as a vacation or weekend house, and has a view of the River Kuma.

My inner hippie is smiling ear to ear right now.

Anyone that knows me, knows that I'm a sucker for wood, glorious wood. Preferably raw, unfinished, and slightly irregular. I love it in all its forms...furniture, jewelry, crafts, etc. So, for me, this is heaven. PLUS, it's made of cedar, which means that it must smell sooo good inside! It's like spending a weekend inside a sauna, minus the sweltering heat and a bit of the claustrophobia.

Sure, it has received criticism for not being the most functional space. Waste of wood, waste of space, blah blah. BUT COME ON. Who wouldn't love to explore all of its hidden nooks and crannies for even an afternoon? Personally, I would love to design an office inspired by this space.

Check out more photos here.

ANTHONY BURRILL...

...makes me giggle. I had the pleasure of hearing him speak recently, at one of AIGA's "Small Talks". Intimate gatherings in cool locations (and cocktail hour is included in the price!). They're pretty great. Check out some of their past guests here.

And of course, check out his work here. I love him. *Sigh*

NEO DECO

I'm not one for fussy type. I'm usually drawn to simple, raw, unadulterated, clean, honest type. Overly stylized type scares me to pieces.

Then I met Neo Deco. I can't place my finger on it, but there's something undeniably seductive about this typeface. I LOVE the high contrast between the black and the light gray that the stripes help to create. I mean, come on, who can NOT love that Q? It's so lovable!

Of course, it has its faults (The E, F and 5 turn me off slightly)...but who doesn't?

It was created by German designer, Alex Trochut, who has also done some work for Beautiful Decay, that has gained some recognition.

You can buy Neo Deco here.

HAPPY HAPPY MONDAY

Italy #8, Palermo, Sicily, 1947

Richard Avedon

There's a dialogue happening at the International Center of Photography (ICP) called Avedon and Fashion on

9/10 @ 7pm. It's part of the Avedon Fashion 1944-2000 show that's up until 9/20. Check it.

YINKA SHONIBARE MBE @ THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM

Yesterday, New York was hot, hot, hot. With the seemingly incessant rain we've been getting all season, I was looking forward to a day of abundant sunshine. I grabbed a book and planned on planting myself in front of the Brooklyn Museum for the afternoon (I have the pleasure of living around the corner from it).

I decided to stop in. The first major exhibition of British artist, Yinka Shonibare MBE, is on display right now. I was unfamiliar with his work, so I was looking forward to it.

Yinka was born to Nigerian parents in London. When he turned three, the family moved to Nigeria. In his work, he explores current African identity, as a result of European colonialism of Africa, primarily between the 1880s and the First World War – an era dubbed the "Scramble for Africa".

This subject is especially pertinent to me, as I've been reading Eduardo Galeano's Mirrors (which is the best, most interesting, most informative, best, best book ever...a must-read), which delves into this topic at length.

The piece above is called "Scramble for Africa", 2003. It consists of 14 life-size fiberglass mannequins, fourteen chairs, a table and Dutch wax printed cotton. It highlights the exploration and territorial expansion of England into Africa during the late 19th century. European powers essentially "carved up" Africa, "an act that was formalized at the Berlin Conference of 1884-85".

Their clothing is typical 19th century Victorian dress, but ironically made of Dutch Wax Fabric – which is actually the formal name for what generally referred to as "African print". A lesser-known fact is that these fabrics were originally mass produced in the Netherlands and England and then marketed to buyers in West Africa.

His headless characters (he has said, "It amused me to explore the possibility of bringing back the guillotine in the late 1990s...") at first seemed slightly comical and joyful to me...perhaps due to the explosion of pattern and color. Then I took a second glance and realized his message.

I'm SO glad I stopped in. The show was FANtastic. If you're in NY, or will be visiting, you MUST see this show! It's up until September 20.

Take a look at more pieces from the show here.

INK CALENDAR

This may go down as one of the coolest things EVER. British product designer, OSCAR DIAZ, came out with the Ink Calendar in 2007, but I'm still talking about it!

So, get this: 

There are 12 jars of ink – 1 for each month. At the beginning of each month, a jar is placed on the paper, with the days of the month embossed in one continuous line. Day by day, by capillary action, the numbers absorb the ink. 

Using time to display time. A modern-day adaptation of the hourglass. Still pretty genius, yes? 

BTW, I'm also just a sucker for beautifully embossed paper. Gets me every time.

Diaz chose the ink colors according to the general temperature/weather of that month. For instance: winter = dark blue, summer=red. 

And if you happen to be in Madrid within the next 2 months, it will be on display as part of "Sueños de un Grifo", an exhibition about water and design at the Circulo de Bellas Artes de Madrid (July 17 - October 11, 2009).

"OUR LATE FISH, HOKUSAI"

I've really been wanting to redecorate the apartment lately. Since repainting the living room seems like a very daunting task, I've decided that the next best thing is to replace all of the art. Currently, I have a lot of my own art on display, which after all these years, I've decided is pretty narcissistic. Time to share the spotlight.

Recently, I've really been into fish and birds. I was flipping through a book of Hokusai's work (of which I will devote an entire post to him later. He certainly deserves more than one) and came across a black and white drawing of a fish in water that was absolutely STUNNING. I decided that I'd search online for a print, and I came across this.

Isn't it cute? I really love this style of illustration. Flat, stylized shapes, bold color. Quirky and funny. Mixed media on board. My favorite part are the bubbles right below the surface of the water and the hints of old post cards that have been painted/gessoed over, but still make a slight appearance on the surface. Like old, not quite-forgotten memories.

It's called Our Late Fish, Hokusai and it's done by Plankton Art Co., a NJ-based illustration studio. Some others that I like:

This,

this

and that.

ENJOY.

And lastly,

WELCOME TO MY BLOG.

Hope you'll find in cozy in here. Check in daily for new posts.