Hasta La Ideas

Roughshod elegance marks a designer’s handmade jewelry

In Albert Zuger‘s jewelry you can see Aphrodite taking Hephaestus’ hand; it is a heavenly marriage of beauty and the forge. The Toronto-based designer hammers out earrings, necklaces, rings and bracelets in bronze that carry an unpretentious elegance, marks of the hammer, and the spirit of the American craftsmanship.

Zuger’s involvement with jewelry began with an actual wedding—his own. As a metalworker since high school and a sculptor by trade, when he proposed to his wife, Sasha Suda, he didn’t feel it was right for them to wear rings he hadn’t made himself. What he produced, and what now rests on both of their fingers, features hundreds of layers of several steel alloys, with a lining of gold peeking out around the edge. Those who saw the ring went mad for it, and Zuger—who was leaving his metal fabrication outfit in New York for Suda’s hometown of Toronto—saw an opportunity to start a new career that combined his love of sculpture, jewelry and traditional metalwork.

“I’ve been a metalworker since age 15,” says Zuger, who moved to Kansas City as a teenager and volunteered with historic blacksmith shop there. Meanwhile, he took every jewelry design class his high school offered and learned to weld in a metal fabrication studio before driving his 1950 Ford pickup to the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where he studied sculpture. After college, he opened his own metal fabrication business in an 1850s warehouse in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, fabricating elements of artists’ large-scale sculptures, ornate arch metalwork, and unique structures like a pair of giant bronze doors for an Upper East Side mansion.

Zuger works all of this experience into his jewelry design, citing Samuel Maloof, and the revival of the American Arts and Crafts movement in the 1950s as his inspiration. “I see myself more than anything else as a sculptor,” he says. “I wouldn’t call myself a jeweler.” Whether sculptural pieces or jewelry, the resulting golden bangles, rings and collar necklaces befit strong women from Gramercy to “Game of Thrones” (there are also shoehorns, keychains, and cufflinks for all). Their details and refinement speak to a marked sophistication, but their hand-hammered shape and construction speak to a deep connection to the process in which they were crafted.

“I’m inspired by Calder, Noguchi, Hans Hofman. It’s a cultural exploration of form and surface in a wearable sort of way,” says Zuger.

For Zuger, the key is in the craftsmanship. “Every surface has been changed from what it started out as. It’s a transformative process that creates these objects that are both and very sculptural,” he says. “The most important thing to me is to have my hands in the stuff, to be actually making it. Having studied sculpture and making things all these years, that’s what I enjoy most. It’s all hand-hammered. I don’t have other people cast stuff. I don’t have other people do my stamping.”

With no disrespect to David Yurman or Chanel (fine, some disrespect), or even the smaller, trendy jewelry-makers—the Pamela Loves, the Philip Crangis—I believe this is what is called a labor of love.

Artist Tofer Chin shrinks his trademark stalagmites for a set of rings befitting Bijules

Artist Tofer Chin‘s signature stalagmites have taken many forms over the years—as massive installations popping off gallery walls and planted in parks, and as the geometric force breaking up mathematically-derived Op Art patterns in mind-bending paintings. But the LA-based artist’s sharp expressions, on view in his current solo show “Totally“, are about to receive a fashionable change-up from Bijules‘ NYC-based jewelry designer Jules Kim.

For one night only, the collaborative duo will present “TC+ BJ = 23 Art Intervention“, shrinking Chin’s stalagmites to serve as stands for a limited-edition set of Bijules gold rings. The elegantly irreverent designer explains, “I am excited and honored to have a respected contemporary allow me into his sacred space and to trust my direction wholeheartedly.” Perpetually “collaborating in spirit and friendship” since meeting in Chin’s LA studio years ago, the pair pull off a seamless exchange between art and fashion.

Each of the 23 gold rings is signed and numbered by the two artists and comes with a Tofer Chin miniature stalagmite. Check them out at NYC’s Lu Magnus Gallery 10 February 2012, where they will be on view as part of Chin’s exhibition through 17 February 2012, or pick one up now from the Bijules web shop for $600. RSVP for the opening through Good People.

Photos courtesy of BHP

En utilisant une vitesse d’obturation lente, des lucioles ont pu être photographiées à divers endroits autour du Japon, notamment dans les préfectures de Maniwa et Okayama. Un rendu simple et très réussi à découvrir dans la suite de l’article.

Previously on Fubiz

• House O Architecture
• Photos of the Year 2011 by Reuters
• Pincel de Zorro

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American movie director David Lynch has completed a nightclub in Paris that’s inspired by and named after Club Silencio from his 2001 film Mulholland Drive.

Members descend six flights of stairs to the basement of 142 rue de Montmartre, a former publishing press where Emile Zola printed his famous headline J’accuse in 1898. The location is steeped in history: 17th century playwright Molière was reportedly buried there and socialist leader Jean Jaurès was murdered just across the street in 1914.

The curved walls are lined with wooden blocks coated in gold leaf and Lynch has furnished the bar with his own chair designs. The venue incorporates a cinema, a stage, a forest-like smoking room and a library. It will host films, art and performances in a program developed with Lynch.

Silencio opens to members on 6 October and membership will cost between €420 and €1500.

Here are some more details from the club’s owners Savoir Faire:

Situated in the heart of historic Paris, 142 rue Montmartre is a mythical address that was once home to two influential leftist newspapers, L’Humanité and L’Aurore, which was famous for printing Émile Zola’s “J’Accuse.”

Today, Arnaud Frisch, manager of the Social Club and the music production company Savoir Faire, endeavours to give this abandoned landmark back its soul with the opening of SILENCIO, a club whose interior was designed by multidisciplinary artist David Lynch.

While its name offers a sly allusion to the club from the director’s 2001 Academy Award nominated film Mullholland Drive, SILENCIO in Paris stands alone as the realisation of his vision for a unique club experience.

The 2,100-square-foot space consists of a series of intimate rooms, each dedicated to a certain purpose or atmosphere, including a live stage with a reflective dance floor, an intimate art library, a cocooned sitting lounge, a spacious 24-seat cinema scheduled by MK2, and more.

Each room evokes Lynch’s visual style through an incisive composition of architecture, furniture, artwork, texture and lighting, a look he achieved working with designer Raphael Navot, architectural agency Enia and light designer Thierry Dreyfus.

Lynch also created three original furniture designs showcased at SILENCIO: “Black Birds” a series of asymmetric faceted black-leather seats and tables; “Wire” a collection of welcoming seats and sofas; and an ergonomic cinema seat that refines the movie-going experience. In addition, the main entrance hall, bar and lounges all feature carpeting with edging designed by Lynch. All furniture and materials were made-to-measure especially for SILENCIO by craftsmen from prestigious firms such as Domeau & Pérès and Ateliers Gohard.

SILENCIO is open daily from 6pm to 6am. Until midnight, the club is reserved exclusively for cardholders and their guests, who can enjoy unlimited access to concerts, films and other performances.

See also:

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Dude Cigar Bar by Studiomake	M.N.ROY by Picault and Godefroy	Paramount by Tom Dixon

A bottle of scotch so expensive you’ll probably never taste it

Crafted by Royal Salute as a liquid homage to the oldest crown jewels in the British Isles—The Honours of Scotland—Tribute to Honour is a blend of some of Chivas Brothers‘ oldest and finest whiskey in an over-the-top package.

To create the Tribute, Master Blender Colin Scott selected a few casks of very well-aged whisky, all at least 45 years old. Individually, they’re probably among the best you’ll ever enjoy; blended, they achieve an even higher intensity.

A liquid this rare deserves more than a plastic flask, so they commissioned Garrard, “the world’s oldest jewelers,” to craft a bottle made from black porcelain, adorned with 413 flawless black and white diamonds, as well as 22 carats of other gemstones, set in gold and silver. (Pictured above, L-R: Colin Scott, Royal Salute Master Blender and Stephen Webster, Creative Director of Garrard)

Alas, luxury this rare—only 21 numbered bottles were created—comes at a price. The bottles run $200,000 a piece. Contact Giaia [dot] Rener [at] pernot-ricard [dot] com for more information.