09-12-09
How I’d like to meet someone. Happily Ever After, mediocre movie, but has a few great scenes, like this one! Charlotte Gainsborg is beautiful.
09-10-09
Augmented Sand Sculpture
Wieden + Kennedy does it again.. They do work that I can only wish to ever achieve. It is an augmented sand model of the new Dutch Filmmuseum in Amsterdam building designed by Delugan Meissl Associated Architects. I love it!
Found at todayandtomorrow
09-10-09
Mercedes-Benz FashionWeek NYC 2009
FashionWeek kicks off this year today in New York City. This year promises to be one blow out featuring one-hundred designers as well as for the first time, a Fashion Night where celebrities and guest designers are sure to be in attendance. Fashion Week in NYC is one of the biggest Fashion events of the year, certainly more pronounced than it’s Los Angeles equivalent. Someday I’d like to attend just one. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get into grad school in the East Coast and this won’t just be wishful thinking. Anyhow, as usual, runway shows are still invite only. However, attendees, New Yorkers and tourists alike can still bask in the various booths during this week of lush couture, designer lines and high-fashion hedonism here on until next Thursday. Some of the actual runway shows will be posted online, which I think is also a first. You can check them out at the YouTube link below.
(Roundtrip plane ticket donations to NYC would be greatly appreciated.)
09-09-09
Ronen Kadushin - “Hack Chair Prototype”
“Hack Chair” was designed by German designer, Ronen Kadushin. It is a single piece of laser cut 6mm aluminum which can be hand bent into a chair. The malleability of the sheet metal used for the chair comes at the users advantage, as based on the distribution of weight the back end of the chair supports a slight recline. The template for the chair can be found at the link to Designboom at the bottom of the post. I’m curious to see what materials I can use aside from metal to test the structural integrity of this design! I’m glad I have an apartment, and lots of free time on my hands before the hellishness of Fall quarter begins to stifle me >.<
Found at Designboom
09-08-09
Aakash Nihalani
I love interventionist work, especially when they are as simple as alternating one’s perspective of space and architecture. It’s so wonderfully unexpected! Aakash Nihalani works in New York City (obviously) creating isometric shapes which are placed throughout the city–mostly rectangles and squares using tape. For the last two years Nihalani has worked in the streets of New York City assumably in high traffic areas to create her art. These outdoor installations are easily removed by authorities but their resonance is lasting on its viewers. Works of this nature have an incredible effect of stopping the pedestrian, questioning their commute, routine and for that split second, forgetting their ties to urban city life.
Read more at It’s Nice That
More images at http://www.aakashnihalani.com/
09-07-09
Adidas “Limited Edition” Tee
I really believe that Adidas has some of the most clever designers out there. The SLVR line which I have blogged about in the past, a more affordable Y-3 collection has playfully discussed the dialogue between bespoke spokeswear and chic. Yet this latest, Unlimited Edition t-shirt speaks to consumer culture, specifically materialistic novelty. The shirts themselves read “Limited Edition” but the release is in fact, unlimited. The idea that clothes have become a collectors item, thereby ascribing them a kind of ‘relic’ value becomes a topic for this release. Moreover it also underscores the nature of fashion trends and their affect on consumer culture.
09-06-09
b.
Do you like rounded edges? How about rounded everything? Architectural design company b. based in Athens, Greece seems to be more interested in curves than the harsh reality of corners. Personally, I find that rounded edges are far less abrasive. In living and dining space they are preference, but for the office environment, I still have an affinity for 90 degrees. There’s something about a right angle that commands efficiency.
http://www.behance.net/thisismybworld
09-05-09
Iain Crawford
Fashion photographer from London, UK creates these beautiful splashes of pigment mimicking coutour dresses. Be sure to check out the other works in his portfolio at his website.
09-04-09
Mew - No More Stories Are Told Today I’m Sorry They Washed Away, No More Stories The Worlds is Grey, I’m Tired, Let’s Wash Away
Okay, I know there has been a lot of advertising on my part for the new Mew album, but it’s just a wonderful release!! I can’t help it. I really regret missing their show at the Troubadour last week :\ But anyhow, let me take a bit of my time to review the new album, “No More Stories Are Told Today I’m Sorry They Washed Away, No More Stories The Worls is Grey, I’m Tired, Let’s Wash Away” or “No More Stories…” for short.
After more light hearted, poppy album of “Half the World Is Watching Me” (2000) and its re-release entitled, “Frengers” (2007) , Mew release a much darker heavier album “And The Glass Handed Kites” (2005). The new album was critically acclaimed (although, I’m not much of a fan of it). The tone of both albums are vastly different with “Half the World Is Watching Me” a far more accessible, not overly abstract album; and “And The Glass Handed Kites” far more layered relying heavily on intricate layering of progressive guitars and drums. “And The Glass Handed Kites” did less to highlight lead singer’s Jonas sensitive vocals, rather, it made attempts at illustrating the cohesiveness of a band that attempts to sound highly experimental. I had a personal problem with the 2005 release because it just did not feel very accessible to me. I was sad that a group with as much potential as Mew, would not be able to live up to their true sound while they matured as artists.
Well, all that changed when I had a chance to hear the unreasonably long titled album, “No More Stories Are Told Today I’m Sorry They Washed Away, No More Stories The Worlds is Grey, I’m Tired, Let’s Wash Away” which is a poem in itself! I so impressed with the almost limitless atmosphere of this album. The artistic liberties and risks that band members, Jonas Bjerre, Bo Madsen, Silas Utke Graae Jørgensen have taken has paid off as this album itself balances the honesty of Mew’s earlier release with the complexity of their recent albums. The first track “New Terrain” does not attempt at setting any particular mood or tone of the album rather, it makes it’s precedence clear from the beginning. Progressing, reversing, the song reverberates like a saw.
The next track deserves a special mention because it appears as the first part of the series of videos which will be released. The video is viewable in previous posts on this blog. “Introducing Palace Players”. I feel this track particularly, is influenced a lot by shoegaze music, but still very much executed in Mew’s style. “Beach” and “Repeaterbeater” rip into more hard rock much like “And The Glass Handed Kites”. The highlight track for me is “Silas the Magic Car”, it’s a very genuine song sung well by Jonas’ high voice.
Overall, it’s hard to find too many problems with this album. I’m not too found of the track “Hawaii” but the last few tracks redeem it very quickly. I’ll post the new videos as they come.
09-03-09
“Bending Spaces” Trailer
Trailer for “Bending Spaces” a documentary on the monumental installation artist, Georges Rousse and the works he created in Durham, North Carolina. I feel like I’m going to have to do one at UCLA now 