School of Seven Bells: Painting a Memory 2014 started off with the sad news of musician Benjamin Curtis passing at the young age of 35 after a battle with cancer. The distinctly talented artist began as a drummer in Dallas-based bands UFOFU and…
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There’s no denying that the Lego Architecture series serves as an excellent excuse for big kids to get their hands on a classic children’s toy. Just like those days of Lego Star Fighters; you diligently follow each step, patiently trying not to…
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Insight from Charlotte Perriand’s photography on the design legend’s life and work
Even design dilettantes will know Charlotte Perriand as a famous architect, pioneer of 20th-century interiors design and as the designer behind some of Le Corbusier’s most iconic furniture. But taking on a less-known side of the legend, the exhibition “From Photography to Design” at Paris’ Le Petit Palais explores her creation process, narrowing in on her body of photographic work.
Ordered by Le Corbusier himself, Perriand began using photography for her preliminary studies before moving on to the still images as a means to observe the “laws of nature,” and the urban context in which she found ideas for her experiments with forms, materials and spatial arrangements. The exhibit consists of beautiful photographs—of natural objects like driftwood, bones, stumps and stones, as well as compressed metals and other industrial fragments sourced from scrap metal dealers—shown side by side furniture pieces inspired by the shapes or materials pictured. Suggestive of the muse Perriand found in nature, a method she called “the shapes lab,” examples include a smooth round pebble found on North Sea shores that gave way to the organic forms of her wooden tables.
This approach led to efficient, ergonomic and outstandingly simple work, explained by Perriand’s assertion, “beauty must come out of rational organization of elements; it doesn’t need any additional decoration.” She always kept it simple, proving that less is more, in particular when it came to the materials that defined her career. Equating wood and iron used in her furniture with cement in architecture, Perriand established the tradition of the “machine age” aesthetic with minimal, bent chrome steel tube and leather furniture.
Perriand’s photographs bear the mark of her distinct approach to modernism too. Though beautifully black and white and minimal, pictures of simple objects—such as an ice cube lit up by a sunbeam, fishing nets and boat sails or crackled desert earth—feel warm and feminine. A collecter of everyday objects from Japan, she saw no hierarchy among things; from the most humble to the most complex and sophisticated, they all deserve the same attention. The result of her democratic designs were pieces of furniture that she said were made for people to live in and be comfortable, rather than reflections of her own behaviors.
She designed her famous series of relaxing chairs (chaise lounges and swivel chairs currently in production by Cassina) after observing relaxing bodies. In the show the ergonomic seating is displayed along with the photographs she took of dozens of portraits of resting people, including lying-down fishermen in ports, a Corsican grandmother at siesta, or friends napping on tree branches.
Drawn to social commitment, the exhibition also takes a look at the survey she made of slums and other poor unsanitary areas in Paris in the early ’30s, helping to drive home a central point of the show. Positioned, as the major part of it is, within the permanent collection of the museum consists in dispatching Perriand’s unassuming pieces of furnitures among Louis the XVIth or older historical pieces from the permanent collection.
The strategy, introduced by the Louvre museum’s new initiative inviting contemporary artists to play with the permanent collections, isn’t just a smart way to have the permanent collection re-visited. In this case, the move elegantly highlights how starkly different Perriand’s populist style and influence was from the past—and how similar it is to today.
Images at the top: “Banquette Tokyo” 1954, © AChP_ADAGP, Paris 201; “Arête de Poisson” 1933, © AChP_ADAGP, Paris 2011
Masterpieces of Ralph Lauren’s legendary car collection on display in Paris
Starting today seventeen of the world’s finest classic sports cars from Ralph Lauren’s legendary personal collection will be on show at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. “The Art of the Automobile” features select cars from the designer’s prolific stockpiles, one of the most extensive in the world.
Acting as a visual timeline of the evolution of European automobile design through the 20th Century, the cars on display—among them Bugatti, Alfa Romeo, Bentley, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Porsche and Ferrari—are among the most exceptional in the world and have been infrequently shown to the public. Each one, all created between the 1930s and the 1990s, stands as a masterpiece of both technological innovation and impeccable design.
The result is a show of some of the rarest and most beautiful cars by the greatest names in automobiles, including four (a ’31 Alfa Romeo Monza 8C 2300; a
Jaguar XKSS from 1956/1958; a ’60 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Scaglietti and a ’64 Ferrari 250 LM) that have never been exhibited before.
To commemorate the exhibition, a limited run book features each car, its historical and technical significance and an explanation by Lauren himself on what guides his passion for car collection. The book will also showcase many of the same images seen here, all exceptionally shot by renowned automobile photographer Michael Furman.
The show runs through 28 August 2011 and is open to the public for a small fee of €9.
The DVD release of the ’90s eco-superhero cartoon
by John Ortved
Can you name the early ’90s TV show that featured appearances by Whoopi Goldberg, Martin Sheen, Meg Ryan, Malcolm McDowell, Phyllis Diller, Neil Patrick Harris, Danny Glover, Jeff Goldblum and Elizabeth Taylor? Pop-culture aficionados will recognize the line-up from “Captain Planet and the Planeteers,” a Saturday morning cartoon, conceived by Ted Turner in an attempt to marry environmentalism with superheroes. Only spanning a few seasons (it turned out kids were more into the capering of “Darkwing Duck” and the violent noir of “Batman: The Animated Series”), Captain Planet managed to achieve cult status, predating many of the green trends of today. A timely launch, beginning mid-April 2010 the first season will be available on DVD.
The plot is stupidly simple: Gaia (mother earth), concerned by the devastation wreaked on her planet’s environment by the world’s polluters (the bad guys have names like Duke Nukem, Sly Sludge and Looten Plunder), gives rings to five lucky teens, each representing a force of the environment. The rings are distributed along hilariously politically correct lines (and the dialogue follows suit): the African Kwame has earth; Wheeler, from North America, gets fire; Linka, from the Soviet controls wind; from Asia, Gi has water; and Ma-Ti, from South America, owns the somewhat nebulous “heart.” When the Planeteers combine their rings and shout their “Go Planet!” war cry, they summon Captain Planet, a shiny superhero sporting a mullet, whose ability to harness the environments seems unlimited—his only weakness is, naturally, pollutants.
While Captain Planet and the Planeteers’ writing or animation is campy at best, its aim of delivering a positive message to kids—other than the normative, Christian, didactic fare otherwise available—was certainly remarkable.
And while Captain Planet doesn’t have Spongebob’s laughs or Sesame Street’s smarts, if your kids are going to cheer for an animated superhero, it might as well be Captain Planet. Season One is available for pre-order from Shout! Factory and Amazon.
Four experimental fashion designers’ hand-built reinterpretations of classic Benzes
Berlin’s fashion week might not have the glitter of other fashion capitols, but then again Milan and Paris don’t have Recollection Quartett. The project, under the supervision of art director Frederik Heyman, tasked four of fashion’s more indie designers—Henrik Vibskov, Bernhard Willhelm, Mikio Sakabe and Peter Pilotto—with visually exploring how four cars from Mercedes-Benz’ “Young Classics” collection play against the contemporary context. Sponsored by the luxury automaker and Antwerp’s fashion museum MoMU, Heyman helped execute each designer’s unique vision with hand-built sets.
Henrik Vibskov‘s interpretation of the Mercedes S 123 expresses its popularity as a family car thanks to its spacious trunk. First released in 1977, the model is regarded as one of the first “lifestyle” models and a precursor to the wagons seen on streets today. Vibskov’s take on the car sees an interesting use of the anarchist’s palette of black, white and red.
Bernhard Willhelm was given the SL-Class Roadster 107 from 1971 (later updated in 1985) as his source material. An accessible sports-mobile with a powerful engine and a removable hardtop made this a big hit in the States. At the same time it enjoyed a nice slice of the limelight as the go-to car for bachelors or ladies of leisure. Willhelm’s installation sees two happily buff mannequins towing the car and a goddess-warrior-like woman in front of a large frothy wave.
Mikio Sakabe revisits the W 115 Saloon, which still operate on many European and Asian streets as taxis. Reliable, yet considered rather uninspiring, it’s a cultural icon in its home country and is typically found in the hands of company carpool drivers. Sakabe’s vision takes the business dimension of the car quite literally, save for spidery wooden legs sprouting from the windscreen like creepy typewriter arms.
Peter Pilotto gets the diplomat’s favorite to play with—the S-Class Coupé from the W126 series. While the straight lines scream ’80s urbanity, this was a subtle masterclass in quiet luxury with the long hood hiding a small coal factory of an engine. A bent-wood canopy adorns the car in Pilotto’s installation while horse silhouettes take the place of shadows in the work, hinting at the concealed pulling power under the hood.
The exhibition is open during the Berlin Fashion Week, from 19 to 23 January 2011 at the Stiftung Oper in Berlin.
An Amsterdam offshoot puts a modern twist on a denim legend
Borrowing their logo from a sample piece of denim a salesman could leave with a customer in the early 1900s, Levi’s Made & Crafted is “a journey to define what modernity is within Levi’s,” explains M&C’s Samuel de Goede. At its core is history over heritage with garments that look to the future while retaining elements of the past—qualities that come through mostly through hidden details or particular stitching styles. Since launching in the spring of 2010, the Amsterdam-based brand has been perfecting its pared-down approach and its current digital launch shows just how strong simple can be.
One of the two brands by Levi’s XX (extra extra strong), features of the experimental label’s collection include buttons made from the same cotton as the oxford shirt it’s sewn out of (they just compress it), signature curved pockets sewn free-hand, cinching in various places like the hip and, of course, selvedge twill fabric.
Constantly refining, de Goede explains “As with the brand, this is just the beginning. The site is a work in progress, which will evolve with time, but as a team we felt that we wanted to tell the story to a broader audience.” The Amsterdam team worked closely with multidisciplinary think-tank Brooklyn United to develop the website, but as for each collection de Goede says “we aim to keep things close to the heart, doing as much as possible ourselves, in house.”
Made & Crafted sells at specialty stores through Europe and Japan, stateside at Barneys New York stores and online at Net-a-Porter.
Holland’s new museum paying tribute to some of the world’s rarest classic cars
A 1914 Dodge Type 30 was the initial inspiration for the Louwman Collection of classic cars and automotive art housed in the newly-constructed National Automobile Museum of the Netherlands in the Hague. Located near the Queen’s Palace, the collection dates back to 1934 when a Dutch car importer happened upon the 20-year-old Dodge that was already vintage classic. The Louwman family continued to expand over the years to its current size, boasting over 230 cars.
The cars are divided up into sections consisting of Dawn of Motoring, Motoring, Racing and Luxury. Highlights include a 1900 Georges Richard, which is rumored to have been found in a Parisian side street and “Genevieve,” a 1904 Darracq from the 1953 film. Rare 1948 Tatra T87 and a Spatz Victoria bubble car with central tube chassis, are both designed by the legendary Hans Ledwinka.
The collection includes an impressive range of vehicles, ranging in year and stature from 1944 Willys Jeep Model MB to a 1875 Thirion Modele N 2 Horse Drawn Steam Fire-Engine and 1922 American Lafrance Hook and Ladder Aerial Type 31/6.
Conceived by architecture firm Michael Graves & Associates, the 185,000-square-foot structure with its peaked roofs and woven brick facade, consists of temporary and permanent exhibition galleries, a reception hall, an auditorium and workshops for conservation and car repairs.
Eero Aarnio launches an update to his renowned 1968 Pastil Chair on a new private-sale site
Getting a “do-over” usually only happens in video games, and it’s even rarer still in the world of design. With Eero Aarnio‘s molded fiberglass Soap Chair, he’s improved on his own classic design, creating a version of his revered 1968 Pastil Chair for today’s lifestyle.
The designer says, “I like to keep my design range as wide as possible. For example, the smallest object I designed is a tooth pick for Finnair and the largest one is my studio home.” For the chair he added an integrated handle for easy transport and a built-in cup that holds mobile phones or remote controls—updates that allow for spontaneous furniture rearranging for those always-on-the-go. Also in keeping with current sustainable thinking, Aarnio explains that to “confirm the quality and trust that my new chair lasts for generations to come and thus be part of sustainable development,” the seating is produced in Finland at the same factory where his arguably more famous Ball Chair was made.
Like Ball and his other furniture, the living legend (he’s worked for five decades as a photographer and furniture and interior designer) derived the Soap Chair’s name from its shape. Drawing by hand in full 1:1 scale before forming a model in wood, Aarnio then studied the shape from every angle and test sat to ensure it’s balanced and ergonomically correct. The new design features soft corners and only comes in two colors—white because “it always looks good in fiberglass” and light blue because that is one of the colors typically occurring in Savon de Marseille (although he may add more soap colors to the collection later).
The Soap Chair (photographed at Aarnio’s home in Finland) launches today exclusively on the new members-only site DesignStory (joining is a snap). Available for one week only alongside other notable works, each of the ten on offer is signed by Eero Aarnio and sells for $1,850.
The charms of Coastal Maine embodied in a local label’s rustic flagship shop
Now that we’re fully in Fall’s grip, it seemed like a fitting time to check out the rugged gear sold at Rogues Gallery‘s rustic flagship shop in Portland, ME.
Tucked away on a cobblestone alley that runs parallel to two of the busiest streets in the Old Port area, the tiny brick storefront is marked only by a pair of ancient-looking wooden signs, making it perfectly easy to miss. Historically reserved for lobster-trinket-seeking tourists, stores like Rogues Gallery, along with an outcropping of excellent restaurants and local breweries, are giving the district a much-needed reinvention.
Once inside, we found exactly what we were looking for—staples like worn in tees, plaid button downs, navy sweaters and rugged leather belts compliment a range of outdoor gear, crisp jeans and a surprising variety of sneakers, boat shoes and boots.
The nautical theme is ever-present, but refreshingly different than the shops that surround Rogues Gallery. Metal anchor belt buckles and bracelets, antique model ships and buoys, dark plaids and wool sweaters, all set against the dark wood beams and brick walls, perfectly evoke the convergence of the ocean and the woods that defines coastal Maine.
While browsing and snapping pictures, a collection of bottles caught our eyes. Last year, Rogues Gallery collaborated with Delaware’s Dogfish Head Brewery to produce Squall IPA—a robust, strong beer that “brings together the hard-worn New England port town perspective of Rogues Gallery and the artisinal brew-mastery of Dogfish Head.” Luckily for us, the shopkeepers recommended Novare Res, a biergarten right around the corner that still had some left.
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