I would kill for the boomerang desk (in any color!!!) ....... it was designed in 1969 by Maurice Calka and manufactured by Leleu-Deshays. Made of molded fiberglass and plastic the unique desk was produced in a limited edition of 35. The iconic piece has 3 drawers on the right and one hanging file drawer on the left. Molded chairs were also produced to go with the desk. French President Georges Pompidou was so impressed by the minimal desk, that he had a white version placed in the Elysée Palace. The desk's modern "fantasy" shape and unusual material was a bit in conflict with the rest of the Palace's "classic" decor ...... a collection of baroque French antiques!!!! Now, that is a fabulous "accessoration"!!!! Today the stylized, late 60's desk is highly desirable to furniture collectors ...... in 2008 Christies sold one at auction for $480,000!!
March 2010 Archives
My friend "art-diva" TDL had this fabulous yellow notebook, and as a "adit" (art-diva-in-training) I had to have one too!!!
ARTISTS I MET AND LIKED, is the appropriate notebook for the art world's gurus, groupies, and pundits!!! It is a chic gift for lovers of: galleries, art fairs, auctions, Biennale's, and museums!!! But, art is not the only category available from Swedish company Archie Grand, there is a collection of 62 titles, each covered in a fabulous fashion color ........ something for everyone!!! Titles include CHEFS I KNOW AND LOVE, POLITICIANS I KNOW AND LIKE, WIVES I HAD AND LIKED, LAWYERS I MET AND LIKED, CAPITALISTS I MET AND LIKED, etc.. The books are bound in a rigid leather-like laminate covers, contain 120 blank pages, and are 160x115 mm ......... a perfect fit for a jacket pocket or a small evening bag!!!!
I adore these notebooks ...... they are charming "accessoration's" for sublime "accessorator's" ........ let's pick which ones we want!!!!!
There is no question that I love a good "accessoration" .... particularly one I have never seen before!!!
Friday, I was walking in Chelsea with my friend WR and we came upon this fabulousness...... a "construction-site accessoration"!!!!!! With all of the building in my 'hood and all of the new places to accessorate, it was only a matter of time!!!!
Here it is.....paper flowers wired to a scaffolding .... "Scaffolding Accessoration" .... DIVINE!!!
Godspeed, a small conceptual furniture design studio was founded in 2008 by Dutch artist Joy Van Erven and Swedish designer Finn Ahlgren, in Tel Aviv, Israel. Their work reflects their commentary on current design ...... they use an unconventional approach, focusing on recapturing "overlooked and undesirable materials that end up in the trash." Embracing waste, salvaging & appropriating materials, and giving them a second life ...... results in unique, one-off pieces that are grounded in wit, humor, honest, fun, and playfulness. The designers are "anti-high design," and work with an immediacy that is similar to performance art, using 1 hour or less to create their pieces. By skipping the sketching phase and going directly into building the furniture by hand, their work is uninhibited, loose, and original. The pieces reflect a wide range of influences including baroque, contemporary, and experimental.
I think this trend of being "the anti-designer" is a major part of the design dialogue and Godspeed certainly speaks loudly!!!! In addition, the universal ecological message of appropriation and salvaging materials is a strong concept from this generation of designers. This theme continues growing in importance ....... as designers continue making something out of "nothing"!!!!!!
Suitcase shelving, created by Dutch designer Lotty Lindeman presented at 2009 Design Miami (see blog 11/23/09) were a harbinger of things to come ...... Now, 10 year old Belgian design studio Quinze & Milan has teamed up with bag manufacturer Eastpak to create a limited edition collection of "backpack furniture" to be featured during the 2010 Milan Design Week. The "Built to Resist" collection combines special pocket-padded versions of the designer's classic furniture silhouette's, with the authentic product characteristics of the bag manufacturer; zippers, bags, pouches, handles, and colorful strong fabrics.
Imagine sitting on your backpack, and at the same time being able to store all your "stuff," books, magazines, laptop, ipod, glasses, headset, and remotes for everything from your TV to the lights!!!! This is about as cool and contemporary an "accessoration" I have ever seen!!!!! Soooooo hip, soooooo cool!!!!!!!
Bouroullec Brothers (left) ..... Masimilian & Doriana Fukas (right)
Alessandro Mendini (left) ..... Matteo Thun (right)
Michael Graves (left) ..... Hella Jongerius (left)
I love the unique book projects created by Moleskine (see blog 10/16/09) and "The Hand of the Designers," curated by Francesca Serrazanetti and Matteo Schubert, and design expert Doia Giovanola, is no exception. The book is a collection if 462 reproductions of original designs and never--before-seen works by 150 internationally celebrated designers, including Karim Rashid, the Campana Brothers, Jaime Hayon, Pierro Lissoni, and Alessandro Mendini. It will be presented next month during Milan Design Week 2010, and is a fund-raising project to support the Italian National Trust.
The book," is an intimate look into the creative process of the designer, and a celebration of the everlasting power of free hand sketching even in the AutoCAD era. The general look has the familiar look of a Moleskine notebook, which indicates a visual connection to the sketchbooks often adopted by designers. The dimensions are those of the A4 Folio collection, with all the iconic features of the Moleskine brand: Hard rounded corner cover, elastic band, ribbon place markers. The only (and most noticeable change):the cover is white." The book also includes a 120 blank drawing pages for notes and sketches.
"Collections" and "accessorations" go hand-in-hand and I think a complete collection of the "special" books published by Moleskine would be fabulous .... and something we should all have on our bookshelves!!!!
This wonderful photograph was sent to me yesterday from San Francisco by my friend WB, a transplanted New Yorker, who clearly knows what turns me on!!!! It is the wall outside SF "garden guru" Flora Grubb's eponymous garden store. The divine 2800 sq. foot shop features an enormous selection of plants, palms & flowers, as well as a charming collection of garden accessories ..... especially these fantastic colored chairs!!!!
In my world, this wall is a fabulous "accessoration" ...... the rough taupy-grey barn wood background, the eye catching color assortment, and the clean, contemporary graphic pattern ....... all creating a fabulous "invitation" into the world of Flora Grubb Gardens!!!
I saw crocuses this past weekend ...... or maybe I just wished that had happen!!!
Either way, I do know spring is coming and with it, an abundance of spring flowers ....... so, I began thinking about these fabulous antique cups that I had seen from antiques dealer & garden guru Ani Antreasyan. Ani, owner of Ani Ancient Stone, is an excellent "shopper," who travels endlessly to find the "perfect" thing!!! She found these cups at an antique shop in the oldest neighborhood in Istanbul. The Uzbekistani owner, who specializes in tribal antiques, told her he had found them at a flea market in Kazakhstan. He said they had been used for festivals and ceremonies. Each cup is unique, with a different pattern etched into the metal. They make stunning small vases, and a collection of them would look wonderful down the center of a dinner table ..... a "major accessoration!!!"
In response to the recent opening of the Chris Ofili Retrospective at the Tate Britain a collective of young British artists were asked to create art inspired by the exhibition. Anonymous UK artist, graffiti painter, and shoe designer INSA created this fabulouuuuuuuus pair of 10" heels by incorporating Ofili's signature elements - beadwork, elephant dung, and hot, bright color & pattern!!!!!
"Using similar techniques and materials, beading, resin and painting, INSA pays homage to the style and significance of Ofili's early work. To produce the shoes INSA retraced the footsteps Chris Ofili made over fifteen years ago and sourced dung from the same family of elephants that produced the dung used in Chris's iconic paintings of the nineties. As a not to their shared influences, INSA's heels are entitled Anything goes when it comes to (s)hoes... a play on a lyric from the classic Big Daddy Kane track Pimpin Ain't Easy which is referenced in Chris Ofili's painting of the same title." Wall text - Tate Britain
This combination of my two favorite "accessorations," shoes & art, is outrageous!!!!! I adore Chris Ofili's work and am completely in-love with the permanent "chapel" installation at the Tate Britain. And next month, I get to visit it, and the retrospective ........ and now I get to see these shoes too!!!! STUNNING!!!
Inspiration is all around us ....... in 2006, for her graduate degree show at the RCA London, Mexican designer Liliana Ovalle presented a collection of furniture, the Mugroso Series. Inspired by the "improvised" furniture created by the homeless in Mexico City, she continued working on the series when she returned home.
"The Mugroso Series are based on photographic research where I explored the hectic historical centre of Mexico City, portraying scenarios of improvisation and poverty, where people find the ways of putting bits and rubbish together in order to compose functional everyday objects. The objects grow in what appears to be random and sometimes absurd compositions, following no planning or safety concerns. The results are beautiful collages of bright plastic colors and filthy bits of different materials, each one connected differently."
I saw this recent addition to the collection at Design Miami. The theme touched my heart, and I found the piece visually stimulating and beautiful. Starting with a metal frame, adding wooden slats as the base, Liliana "upholstered" the chair by randomly knotting and tying feather stuffed "bean bag pillows" and assorted textiles to the frame. Pillows are one of my favorite "accessorations" and "flooding" this chair with them looks stunning to me!!!! Another amazing piece for a beach house!!!
Drawings of the 7 light objects
"Light Bulbs" from Pieke Bergmans
Dutch designer Pieke Bergmans (see blog 12/3/09) joins Dutch design studio, Studio Job (see blog 12/3/09) to create Wonderlamp, a collection of 7 light objects. The pieces were done in associate with Milanese gallery Dilmos and will be presented next month at the 2010 Milan Furniture Fair.
Studio Job is known to create fantasy, over-sized cast bronze objects and Pieke Bergmans, who works with a wide variety of materials, has used handblown glass to create amorphous shaped objects, including vases slipping off a table (see blog 12/3/09) and "melting or deflating" light bulbs. Their current collaboration combines a variety of her large blown-glass light bulbs with the monumental "ordinary" objects (including a teapot, a flash light, and a pipe) made by Sudio Job. Combining fantasy and reality, these pieces will definitely be among the most interesting and imaginative works in Milan.
I can't wait to see these "design/art accessorations" and look forward to showing you images of the actual pieces from Milan!!!
Best Made Company. was founded by designer and author Peter Buchanan-Smith, and outdoorsman and environmental entrepreneur Graeme Cameron, boyhood friends who met in 1984 at legendary boys camp, Camp Ahmek, in Northern Ontario. They say that, "it was there they learned- with love & respect- to wield an axe."
Thirty years have passed and both boy's have grown into men. They have families and children, live urban lives in Manhattan & Toronto, and are surrounded by the "must-have toys," imperative to our fast-moving lives: i-Pods, iPhones, nanos, flat screen TV's, cell phones that take pictures & videos, apps, and more!!! They realized, time is moving incredibly fast and "toys" need updating almost monthly. Slowing down and catching their breath, Peter & Graeme began thinking about timelessness, true happiness, real satisfaction, honesty, and simplicity. They talked about their boyhood, where they had been, what they wanted, and what they needed ....... and realized "all we really wanted was just a good axe- so we got to work."
Working from small workshop in downtown Manhattan each axe is made to order. The 29" long handles are made of Tennessee Hickory, each is hand-painted, varnished, and polished. The heads are fine-grain steel and are exactly 71/4" deep. One of the most important elements in the design process is naming each axe!!!! According to "axe artists" Peter & Graeme, "the naming process is crucial: it's where we give the axe the beginning of it's story, albeit a very short story (we purposely do not caption the axes, just give them names) because we know our customers are inventive enough to create the real ongoing story." Finally, the axes are packed into hand-made wooden crates and this "timeless instrument" begins it's "adventure."
I saw the axes originally at Partners & Spade, a well-curated design emporium, and knew I had to write about them!!!!!!!! They are stunning objects- good design, wonderful colors, & great packaging too. But, definitely the most unusual "accessorations" I have found yet!!! I think they are fabulous ........don't you adore them too!!!!!!
Rachel Whiteread
Jack & Dinos Chapman
Barbara Kruger
Tracey Emin
Damien Hirst
Tom Friedman
As a "baby accessorator," I adored visiting my "city grandmother" ...... the original "accessorator supreme" ...... Nana, as I called her, had fabulous taste, style, & chic ...... and an enormous influence on me!!!! She taught me perfection was in the details, and she was right!!! One of the most stunning pieces in her NYC apartment was an antique English game table. It sat on an Edward Fields rug, beside a silk damask upholstered wall, and stood under an English hunting painting, but there was one quirky detail ...... it was never used!!!! But, Nana knew it was an accessoration supreme and she used the "set-up" again!!!! Mimicking the "look" in a more southern setting in Palm Beach, but with a twist ....... this time it was lucite (remember it was the 60's& 70's) and it was for backgammon, a game we really did play!!!
All this is to say that ......... according to the "greatest accessorator" of all times, game tables and the games that sit on them can be perfect "accessorations"!!! Sooooo, keeping that in mind ......... April 14th in Milan, Project B Gallery will be showing a collection of chess sets created by seven contemporary artists. The exhibition is in conjunction with the Milan Furniture Fair and is at the Fuori Salon. Artists include Tom Friedman, Tracey Emins, Barbara Kruger, Damien Hirst, the Chapman Brothers, and Rachel Whiteread.
So I thought this "accessoration" deserved a re-think!!!!! These chess sets are wonderful pieces of art, by amazing artist's ....... and as Nana taught me ....... they would make great "accessorations"!!!
I want to make it really, really clear .... up front & honestly ..... I am not pushing Jamin Puech handbags!!!! If you want one, that's fine with me, but what I do care about is color & design and this store screams ......COLOR!!!
We just had 3 spectacular days of warm, spring-like weather in NYC and the world went outside again!!! Gloves & hats came off, outdoor tables & umbrellas emerged overnight at my favorite restaurants, and the High Line was buzing again!!! Everyone had a smile ........
To celebrate my friend TDL and I took to the streets too!!! We had lunch at my new hangout, the Crosby Street Hotel (see post 1/19/10) and then we took a walk in Nolita. And once again ....... COLOR followed me down the street!!!! It's back again or maybe it never left ...... it was tough this past winter to see any color other than grey, too much snow, ice, and cold ..... but soon we'll be back at the beach and on our terraces & decks ...... I can't wait for color to come back....CAN YOU??????????
And even if it rains the next 4 days ........ spring is really coming ......I promise!!!!!!!!!!
This innovative clock, created by Catalan designer Marti Guixé (see post 2/18/10) was designed for Italian company Alessi (see post 1/22/10). The 24H Sentence Maker is a white aluminum wall clock, with a blank face and a dry-wipe surface. You can write or draw anything you can think of on it's face ....... including numbers, if you must!!!!! Using a wipe-dry pen and any thoughts, ideas, emotions, etc ...... you can create your own "exclusive" clock. Guixé, is a multi- talented genius; performance artist, writer, product designer, and thinker. He looks at objects with fresh eyes, "thinking about them and methods that can encourage peoples' active participation and spirit of reinvention."
"Objects have become tools for perceiving reality of every day, and also for communicating not only with objects, but also with other people through objects." Marti Guixé
I adore the idea of "emotions" instead of numbers and I can't wait to get my hands on one of these clocks ...... maybe 4 or 5 ..... one for each room ..... that way every room can reflect my different emotions inherent to that space!!!!! That really is "over-accessoration", even for me!!!!
- “It all comes down to the accessories.....
- It’s not the first thousand dollars that make the room, it’s the last hundred!!”
- - judi roaman
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