The curious made extraordinary

All Visual Arts presents The Age of the Marvellous

Inspired by the Wunderkammer, or Cabinet of Curiosities, popular in the late Renaissance through the Baroque period (ca. 1550–ca. 1700). An era characterized by a revival of learning, the sum of all of man’s knowledge could be represented in rooms filled with natural wonders, artificial exotica and relics or art works concerned with the supernatural.

The Wunderkammer‘s particular ability to evoke the marvellous, to incite the emotions of awe, wonder, surprise and astonishment leading to curiosity and then learning was based on its ability to draw parallels and unify seemingly unrelated fields of human knowledge like Science and Art. The brilliant evolutionary biologist E.O. Wilson considered the unification of knowledge – or what he labeled ‘Consilience’ in his eponymous book published in 1998 - nothing short of imperative for the survival of the human species.



Adam Fuss’s photograms
Alastair Mackie's Metamorphoses




Polly Morgan's At the Beginning, inspired by a Victorian proposal for a flying machine.




Kate MccGwire's sculptural works made from crow and jackdaw feathers.



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There will be times when the trees will be bare

Winter Landscape, 1972. Etching on paper.



Two Trees, 1999. Etching on paper.


Stanislav Nikireyev (1932-2007), one of the most remarkable masters of modern Russian fine arts. Experts consider his works a unique phenomenon in current landscape art and his etching techniques follow the legacy of the old masters, such as Albrecht Duerer, Rembrandt van Rijn and especially Pieter Brueghel the Elder. - Oleg Nikireyev



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Saint or sinner?

Rob Forbes founder of Design Within Reach, the furniture company that made modern design accessible to a wider general public.

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Smart

Koji Hatakeyama (b. 1956)
2006, bronze, 7 1/4" x 7 1/4" (18 x 18 cm)
A cast bronze polygon box and cover patinated in mottled reds, browns and black, the inside with gold leaf




Molecolo - Ritsue Mishima (b. 1962)
2005, glass, 10" high x 9" wide (25.5cm x 23cm)
A tall oval glass vase applied with random attachments




Circuit Bird - Ayumi Shigematsu (b.1958)
2006, ceramic, 14" x 14" (36cm x 36 cm)
A large organic shaped clay sculpture




Naoko Serino (b. 1962)
2005, jute, 8 3/4" high x 10" wide (22cm x 25 cm)
An abstract sculptural roundish form made from jute fiber


Many of the dealers who have abandoned Notting Hill have done so to exhibit at the more prestigious art and antiques fairs. One such gallerist is the brilliant Katie Jones, a forerunner in the field of contemporary Japanese crafts.

Aside from her regular appearances at the June Olympia, Ms. Jones can also be found at The International Asian Art Fair in New York (which has been canceled this year) and the recently launched Collect at London's Victoria and Albert Museum.

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Send and give

Why don't you join ChristmaSee and send a video message for free. With every message 20 pence is donated to charity.

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Dorothy's new look

Writer and collage artist Graham Rawle has visually reinterpreted the L. Frank Baum classic for a new generation.

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Mary, please!

Skip ahead 9 minutes 3 seconds



Shazia (to Preston): ....Why don't you go do that because it's not so labour intensive. I thought that was the most disgusting thing you could have said to me!

Jeff: Shaz, did you call him an a-hole?

Shazia: I probably did.

Jeff (condescendingly): Isn't that the most disgusting thing you could say to somebody?

I shall say no more as this will undoubtedly only turn ugly. But, what a prig...


P.S. As for the exchange between Eddie and the dealer, if that had been me (in the role of the dealer, of course)... now that would have been some D. R. A. M. A.

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A perfect example of how it is not just about lamps and cushions

In Episode 3 of Top Design, five design teams are asked to create window displays for five different fashion designers. Fairly simple and straight forward. That is, if the designers are able to share a common frame of reference, or at the very least be able to interpret an abstract concept. This is where everything becomes interrelated and relevant.







Blade Runner

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Shoot not the messenger

Apis

The sacred bull, was worshipped at Memphis from the earliest period, having probably been introduced into the religious system as early as the 2nd dynasty by the king Kaiechos, who instituted the worship of Apis and the bull Mnevis.



Damien Hirst's The Golden Calf


Even my signature's worth £200… does that make me the new Picasso?
By Lucy Cavendish for The Scotsman

Of all the press coverage, I like the piece in The Scotsman best. It gives an insight into the man behind the artist. Hirst states, Art can be about money as long as the art outweighs the financial side.

I wonder what the collectors of his work would make of that?

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Somehow we have managed to skip spring

And have gone straight into summer. I for one hate summer. For so many reasons. Not least of all because all and sundry feel at liberty to:

1. Put their ugly (and more oft than not, this is an insult to ugly) trotters into a pair of flip flops, or, my all time favourite, a pair of Birkenstocks.
2. Wear unconsrtucted and all too unflattering "summer" clothes.
3. Eat as they walk along.

One could understand if this were a seaside resort or one of those summer towns. It's not. It's L O N D O N. This is probably just a reflection of my very colonial upbringing, but it all just a bit too shanty town for me.

Flogging's too good for them.


Woman with parasol in the village of Sainte-Anne, Guadeloupe.
Why is this degree of self respect and respect for others so elusive to those who reside it what is considered to be the developed world?

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This is none of my business, but

it does rankle the hell out of me. And it is an excellent example of how a certain type debases, for what ever reason, what was once regarded as a learned perspective.


Magnaverde's Chicago Living Room 2002

Two anonymous comments were left on Decorno's post Status Anxiety: outsized social ambitions in response to magnaverde's comment:
Here's Charles Dickens bemused take on the whole process in Our Mutual Friend:
And now, in the blooming summer days, behold Mr and Mrs Boffin established in the eminently aristocratic family mansion, and behold all manner of crawling, creeping, fluttering, and buzzing creatures, attracted by the gold dust of the Golden Dustman!

That's the nice part about not having any status worth mentioning: you also have no obsequious hangers-on. And if you also have no particular interest in climbing the status ladder in the first place (and here's Andrew Marvel's "me lusteth no longer rotten boughs to climb" comes to mind) it's pretty easy to be happy with where you are in the status food chain. And to me, that's the secret of contentment: setting your standards really low.



Anon April 16, 2008 9:54 AM
Status anxiety is part of competition, and competition is an inescapable fact of life.

Whether you're competing over the number of things you know about someone named Mrs. Fish or how many Famous Writers you can quote (Dickens, Marvel, etc.), it's all competition.

ESPECIALLY claiming you're above it.


AnonApril 16, 2008 11:09 AM
Anonymous 9:54, THATS the way to smack the clawing knuckles of classics quoting social climbers. You go, girl!! Money isn't the only thing we need to defend against intruders.

Ah, the joys of visual aids. Though, quite frankly, I think the two Anons would benefit greatly from a different kind of aid...


Shiny Happy People

Stop the presses

This just in from the Feast of Fools.
The Crayola crayon company announced this week that they are re-launching their famous box of crayons line, by renaming seven colours.

OLD: laser lemon, NEW: super happy
OLD: wild tangerine, NEW: fun in the sun
OLD: screamin' green, NEW: giving tree
OLD: beaver, NEW: bear hug
OLD: turquoise blue, NEW: happy ever after
OLD: hot magenta, NEW: famous
OLD: orchid, NEW: best friends.

I find this really irritating. Pass the sick bag Alice.
I wonder what colour Bite Me would be?

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This is interesting...

The Age of American Unreason is Susan Jacoby's critique of modern culture. Listen to her reading, which took place in February of 2008, at the Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington, D.C.

Could this (her premise) be a contributing factor to the indiscriminate rise in popularity of mid century modern? The reason for the proliferation and the justification of counterfeit goods? The lack of discernment? Why elitism is the new bogeyman?

Who are you?

Just to be clear. This is not about bashing either the architect or the couple, or the magazine, for that matter. It is an observation of something that use to be random, but is now occurring with far greater frequency, to the point of almost being acceptable. It's not.

The spread on the Venezuelan house in April's Elle Decor illustrated everything that is wrong with contemporary interior design and possibly, today's culture.

First and foremost there was no connection between the decor and the architecture, and, I suspect, its inhabitants. Every bit of the furniture could have been purchased from any design store anywhere in the world. The interiors could have been anywhere and belonged to anyone. That is not a house, that is an hotel.



While the couple's choices appear to be informed, they do not appear to be heartfelt. How can they be? How does that house reflect the where, the who, and the why? It doesn't and it can't. The house screams for some Nakashima and some Latin American art. Instead of all that Panton, Saarinen, and Linge Roset they should have looked at contemporary and vintage Latin American designs. Then, and only then, would the Scandinavian pieces have made sense. Within the larger and more relevant context of where and who, they would have served as exclamation points rather than big question marks asking why?

Wanting and having something is not always enough. There really needs to be a deeper connection between us and our possessions, otherwise it's all just Disneyland.

Here is the link to the spread -
http://www.pointclickhome.com/elle_decor/articles/perfectly_clear

BTW : Coffee + Schnauzer + Laptop = No pictures and a new Dog Rug

Blog Action Day: The Environment

Imagine how many trees it takes to produce your favourite five monthly magazines. I am willing to reduce my number of magazines from ten to eight; maybe seven. What are you willing to do? As there is no such thing as a free lunch, and it is highly unlikely we will all stop purchasing our beloved periodicals, let's at least try to eliminate all the junk mail and those insidious magazine inserts from our lives. It is the small things that make a difference. Americans get 42 billion pieces of junk mail a year, the equivalent of 100 million trees. Say No To Junk Mail.

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Why, House & Garden? Why?

Of all the recent posts on Gwyneth Paltrow, which to my eyes is tantamount to a drive by shooting with bullets of smugness, this has to be my favourite; succinct and to the point. Though Decorno's post ran a very close second; but ultimately too forgiving.

An excerpt from the article written by Jay McInerney with my comments interspersed.

You don't expect someone like Gwyneth Paltrow to posses the normal domestic virtues, Ah, why not? but the Oscar-winning actress was intimately involved in the creation of her serene new Hamptons home. Oscar or no Oscar, isn't everyone intimately involved with the creation of their interiors? "I've become an encyclopedia of design for my friends," she says. And I suppose if she said the moon was made of cheese, we are meant to believe that as well? I am not sure which is harder to swallow the 'friends' part or the 'encyclopedia of design' part.


Paltrow, in a Marc Jacobs dress, sits on Thomas O'Brien's Farra cocktail ottoman for Hickory Chair, in front of her Odessa sofa by Les Migrateurs. The art is by Andy Warhol.
With all those names on the floor who needs flooring?

Clearly a member of the neo-trendsetter tribe; if not its queen.

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Mary, Mary quite contrary...

Today on the Peak of Chic the talk was all about fashionable flowers.
Everyone loves them, everyone has them, but no one really needs them. A true luxury, but at what cost?
Do we know where and how they were grown? Do we care? If not, we should; this is a hundred billion dollar industry that impacts not only the environment but also impacts entire communities. That inexpensive bunch purchased from the supermarket? Will undoubtedly have a higher price to pay somewhere down the line. When possible, be a part of the process by supporting the smaller specialist local growers, and the florists who support them. You will notice the difference and be rewarded with more natural scented blooms.

Country Roses
Local, and my absolute favourite.


The Organic Flower Company


California Organic Flowers

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The times they are a changin'

Ron Arad's Misfits Seating for Moroso


Karim Rashid's Koochy Sofa for Zanotta


Zaha Hadid's Moon System for B&B Italia

The three designers cited above have not been restricted either by geographical or intellectual boundaries. Though the designs are not revolutionary they are certainly not derivative, and are therefor original and worthy of note. Interestingly, all of these designs are produced by Italian companies.
Though these are atypical of what I would normally choose, I like their boldness of form and admire the concepts behind them. As I mentioned in Moody Design I am looking for something with a post-apocalypse feel and I think in the correct material any of these would work beautifully. I do, however, have a preference for the new Zaha Hadid design - it is the closest to what I had envisioned.

Lil' Man's Mate

No, its not what you think - dirty bird!
My friend Little Man, who I happen to think is a very talented artist, drew my attention to the work of Lucy Merchant.
I must say, though I was already familiar with her designs, I knew nothing about her. After visiting her web site, www.lucymerchant.com, I can honestly say I adore what she is doing. Her designs posses a lyrical quality that is vaguely reminiscent of the works of Christian Berard and Jean Cocteau; and would not look out of place amongst their creations.
In fact I can see her pieces working anywhere - from the grandest of drawing rooms to humblest of kitchens.
The image, which is a photograph and not a line drawing, is of her Mommy's Chair - distilled to its very essence and constructed from coated recycled steel.