A New Direction in Anti-Modern Architecture Criticism

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Just this weekend, we were talking to a friend who hadn’t heard about Prince Charles and all this anti-modernism business, which we’d explained felt like it was more a movement to “return to a rose-colored past” and a fear of moving away from the familiar. Granted, it’s not just that, with anti-modern critics like Leon Krier and John Silber having some genuinely meaningful things to say about the absurdity and wastefulness modernism has wrought, but it does always feel that there are pangs beneath the surface for “the architecture of our idyllic-yet-in-truth-non-existent past.” So we found it interesting when we ran across Eric Felten‘s op-ed in the Wall Street Journal this weekend, “Banish the Bland: The Glass Box Is So Last Century.” It’s something of an anti-modern piece, but in a direction we hadn’t considered during all of this debate: instead of wanting to return to the architecture of our past, Felten is asking why we haven’t started moving past modernism and into something altogether new. Though he does slide a little into the past, wondering if a return to ornamentation is in order, it’s an interesting read and a new perspective to think about. Now if you’ll excuse us, we’ll need to call our friend up to continue the conversation, what with all these new thoughts to discuss.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

sit:up by iidee

minimalistic balcony set for the urban open-air breakfast: Foldable table, rotatable seats, integrated umbrella-holder

Print Collection by Josh Brill

Des excellentes illustrations extraites de “Flora Fauna: Birds Editions” par Josh Brill, un artiste diplômé du Maine College of Art. Disponible sur la boutique : une collection d’animaux en provenance du monde entier, et en éditions limitées à 50 exemplaires.



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Previously on Fubiz

LemonDrop Shows Us How To Fake It In The Trenches

imageDon’t let a fall downpour rain all over your style. Instead, slip into this season’s top topper: the gray trench. A chicer alternative to the khaki raincoat (too preppy) or the bright yellow slicker (too Dick Tracy), this one by Bamford will transition easily from day to evening. Wear it belted over a pair of wide-leg trousers to the office or throw it over a silk party dress for a night out. If $2,800 is a little over budget (a pretty safe bet, unless your name happens to be Oprah), you can pick up this lower-priced version by Mike & Chris. All the details (snazzy wide collar, waist-cinching belt and fold-over button cuffs) are there. In fact, the only thing that’s really missing is the price — this trench is only $198! For more winter looks for less, visit our friends at LemonDrop!

Maison Hermès Window Display by Tokujin Yoshioka

Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka has created an installation in Tokyo for fashion brand Hermès, where a movie of a woman appears to blow on a scarf hanging in the window. (more…)

Chicago book signing and meet and greet

After lots of amazing planning work on the part of my stellar publicist and sales team at Simon and Schuster, my book tour is becoming a reality. The final details on the later stops (LA, NY, KC, DC) are still being ironed out, but I can go ahead and announce the first event since it is confirmed and ready to go:

Chicago

December 28, 2009. 4-7 p.m. The Book Cellar. 4736-38 N. Lincoln Ave.

Technically, this is the first stop on my Unclutter Your Life in One Week book tour. However, I’m thinking about it as a book signing and an Unclutterer meet and greet. Unclutterer team members PJ, Brian, Gary, and I will all be able to make it to this event. You can hang out with us and other Unclutterer readers, grab a drink, have your book signed (if you’re into such things), and enjoy a post-holiday happy hour in Lincoln Square.

Don’t feel that you need to be at the event right at 4:00. I’m not giving a formal presentation of any kind — just getting to know our delightful Unclutterer readers. If you’re in the area, we would love for you to come by and say, “hi!”


Stylehive’s Stylescopes Help You Destress With Pampering Products!

imageTis the season to be jolly! Friends, family, shopping, parties, gift-giving, delicious foods; all these bring joy and laughter… and sometimes tears and nervous breakdowns. While this time of year is full of merriment, sometimes the more the merrier is in fact the more the scarier. Besides all the festivities and fun times going on, this season is also known to be one of the most stressful. While some signs handle the holidays a little better than others (like stubborn Taurus vs. laid-back Libra), we’re all going to be a little stressed in the coming couple of months. A quick consultation with the constellations help see what stresses may befall us and let us know what pampering spa product would be best suited to help us relax and rejuvenate! So don’t be caught being a Scrooge this holiday season and check out the slideshow to see what the stars have to say about finding the perfect spa product to help you de-stress!

view slideshow

The Rock Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC Announces Closure

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If you were planning a trip to New York, you might want to start thinking about reconsidering, perhaps instead going to someplace where there are things to see and do, like Toledo or Guam. You haven’t been able to see massive amounts of sports memorabilia in New York since this February when the Sports Museum was forced to shut down (followed shortly thereafter in Los Angeles, too), and now you won’t be able to see piles of pop music collectibles either. It’s just been announced that The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC, an off-shoot of the Cleveland-based museum, will be shutting down in just under a month, after just over a year of existence, apparently due to very sparse visitor numbers. Here’s the announcement from the Annex’s site:

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC will conclude its stay in New York on January 3 at 8PM. The Rock Annex is exploring opportunities for a tour that would bring exclusive artifacts to music fans and rock enthusiasts around the world. Fans have just one more month to experience the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC, showcasing rare artifacts from legendary artists including Springsteen, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson and its featured exhibit, John Lennon: The New York City Years.

The Cleveland Leader, who predicted the Annex wouldn’t work when it was first opened, now writes “Don’t Say I Didn’t Warn You.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

My Deer by Jeroen Wesselink

Dutch designer Jeroen Wesselink has created a stool that can be hung on a wall to resemble a deer’s head when not in use. (more…)

Artist Jason Yarmosky

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Direct and intensely intimate, Jason Yarmosky’s figurative paintings are emotional studies of his subjects. On the heels of “Orpheus”, a painting we took a look at here earlier this year and that Yarmosky recently showed at the 25th annual “New Directions” exhibition at The Barrett Art Center in Upstate NY, Yarmosky moved into a new studio on the Lower East Side. He invited me over to check out the new space, and we talked about painting yoga poses, his support of the Visual AIDS benefit, and having Pete Seeger sit for a portrait. (Click first two images for detail views.)

What was it like to hang out with Pete Seeger?

After a rally for the Green New Deal, Pete came over to lunch at my grandparent’s house. I drew him there, naturally, as he ate and told stories. The portrait you see draws on his natural movement, with an addition of the neck of a banjo, which felt appropriate.

Pete Seeger truly deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. Growing up in the Hudson Valley I saw him on many occasions. He’s been friends with my grandparents all the way back to the beginning of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. Pete has accomplished so much, and at 90 years of age he continues to work to make the world a better place. The words inscribed on his banjo say it all: “This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender.”

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So you’re really connected to the Hudson Valley.

Yes. I grew up here, and the area is home to many fine artists. Recently, it was an honor to have my work chosen for New Directions, an annual juried show curated by Joan Young of the Guggenheim Museum. The Barrett House is a local treasure for artists not only in the Mid-Hudson Valley, but also across the country.

I remember that for “Orpheus” you painted with tea. What other mediums do you like to work with?

I like to combine many materials including charcoal, gesso, acrylic and oil, sometimes collage elements and even tea. After working on large-scale canvases for some time, I am becoming more interested with working on wood. Wood is a very durable surface that can hold dry and wet mediums. Drawing and painting go hand in hand.

How did you get involved with the Visual AIDS benefit?

I was given a blank postcard by artist, Sherry Camhy.
Sherry is an extremely talented artist and I was honored when she invited me to create an image and submit it for this event. Since it is a no-name concept show, the public will bid on the cards without knowing the artists who created them.

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What are you working on lately?

I am working on a new series called “Swimming.” (Pictured, in-progress, above.) I like the idea of taking kinetic laws that the eye is used to seeing one way and flipping them. Like taking the female form swimming in the deep end of a bathtub and painting it as though it were standing up. I am interested in the role gravity plays with the form and flexibility of the body. When you’re lying on the ground and you arch your back, the weight in your body shifts in areas like the rib cage or pelvis. This could never happen as dramatically if standing on your feet. Yoga comes to mind when trusting your body and releasing on habitual patterns of movement. It is a very Yogic approach to construct a body of different weight shifts and gravitational pulls.