Sunday, October 31, 2010

ghost building

I got down to Moss in Soho yesterday and saw the "Butch-Craft" show. The work is interesting because to me its a kind of "Brooklyn" look but as you get closer you see that the craft is super polished and fits nicely in the oh so zipped up tight Moss shop. Peter Marigold's work stands out because of his interest in molding the opposite to form the mirror of the work-the result is a "Rachel Whitheadesque' cabinet

Saturday, October 30, 2010

building pictures

A pop in from the a senior field trip to New York. I got to see last night at a favorite tradition of Friday Metropolitan visit aka" Drinks on the Roof". I visited an old friend the beautiful wood inlaid room from the 15th century from the Ducal Palace of Gubbio designed by Franceso di Giorgio Martini.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

cloud building

I think this is the manufactured version of the chair/cloud that I spied in the photographers portfolio months ago. This is a Poliform product by the ultra chic french designer Jean Marie Massaud. I like how its a homage to the Eames Le Chaise and its works with the current trend toward quilted,knitted upholstery...

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

building resources

The last month has been a whirl wind of exhibitions, lectures and field trips...which makes life quite fun but for me unfocused. Thinking back on last week-a highlight was visiting local furniture manufacturer
Tupolo Manufacturing. Specializing in commercial custom work,with there minimum order being #1-this company is a great resource for designers as well as inspiring.......

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Monster building.............

While checking out a new favorite blog(thanks erin!) The Jealous Curator, I came upon this chair done by student Anni Arnefjord, a student at a new favorite school-Beckmans College of Design in Stockholm. I am loving these monster chairs......

Monday, October 25, 2010

"designer meets artisan"

Spotted on Style-Files, Claire Anne O'Brien knitted stools are all the rage. I love the scale difference from the bulky knitted seat to the delicate legs. Now for us middle aged types do stools really work in interiors? They are great vehicles for ideas but are they used?

Friday, October 22, 2010

Story building

This little lady has her dress on to go to Oxford in the morning for a
"One Night Stand at the Ole Miss Motel"-don't judge. I wanted to make a piece to talk about Sargent's Madame X. and Amelie Gaureau's life. The map on the seat shows her ancestral home of False River, Louisiana, the map then moves to her birth place of Toulouse Street in New Orleans and then the walk from John Singer Sargent's studio to The Academie De
Beaux Arts to hang the famous Madame X portrait and then a map showing the route from Amelie's home to Sargent's studio where she begged him to take down the infamous painting.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

blank building..........

C&B will be a bit dormant for this week as we get ready for One Night Stand in Oxford....follow the buzz on Erin Abbott Kirkpatrick's blog Afterschool Oxford.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

exhibition building

here is a tour of the Julia and Varina show if you did not get to Starkville..........

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Building for big

Just back from a morning at Kentuck in Northport Alabama. The bravest stuff is from the seasoned artists like Butch Anthony; one seeing his work was the first time I have uttered" I wish I had a space large enough" to acquire one of these giant entities and I really want to check out his annual Doo-Nanny next March.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Building Pink

These takes on the Hans Wegner Wishbone Chair range from using lots of imagination to using almost none the most successful is this Sara Rotman creation. The Sea anemone is always an appropriate muse......The project is in an effort to raise money for breast cancer-the wishbone chair is a beautiful starting point.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Building Infinity

The Ai Weiwei project at the Tate looks breathtaking. One Million porcelain sunflower seeds covering the great hall floor. The material has multiple meanings in the cultural narrative of Weiwei's work. I find myself alittle disappointed that they are not real sunflower seeds-I can work through the functional concern, three months of stepped on sunflower seeds-yuck. I can also follow the porcelain industry as key to China's economy and the gesture toward 100 million as a potent number in China. I can even work through the real/fake thing. But wouldn't have smelled great in there????

Monday, October 11, 2010

Public building

We are in the "could the week have more stuff going on???season". On Thursday at 2:00pm artist Erin Hayne and Nuno Goncalves Ferreira are coming to Mississippi State to lecture! Studio NunoErin is breaking new ground in Jackson, producing haptic furniture and installing this large scale public art work at the Jackson Convention Center. The lecture is at Fowlkes Hall in the Student Union-open to all. Please come.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Value building

Get to a copy of Fast Company this month some very good insights into the design world. In particular the cover story article on Patricia Urguilo with ideas like sustainability is about longevity and that water taps should be designed to evoke the preciousness of the water available not the excess.......

Saturday, October 9, 2010

furniture ideas


So I look at art because I do generally feel that art is at times doing a better job of interior design. The art world, whether its money or chutzpah, just seem to get at ideas in furniture rather than just fill in the space. I have yet to work out the work of Tom Sachs.....his subject manner is too judgemental for me but his struggles regarding craft in the New York art world are struggles to learn from. I found images of his studio on the Selby and the most interesting things were the ad hoc/remade chairs about the studio. There is another discussion on Design verses Craft verses DIY?????

Friday, October 8, 2010

Life building

A couple of more weeks of high production mode but frankly I need alittle C&B inspiration too! So I wandered around and came upon the work of Tanya Aguiniga. I posted about her breakout felt folding chairs at the advent of C&B but had not looked at her work since. A couple of things stuck me-a bold move to "Felt" a Eames DCM chair is true to message a found chair......right on. And reading her "about" statement; her work is more activist than design diva-very nice. This inspired me to keep on the path of the inverse career...........

Thursday, October 7, 2010

I heart my graphic designer......

I am in big change mode as well as generating alot of work.........I have decided to make Chairs and Buildings" more of a "thing". So I asked the very talented Jamie Runnells to think through what Chairs and Buildings might need if it were at "thing". First of all, she dealt with my ambitious vagueness with great elan and then proceeded to knock me out with some of the clearest, sweetest ideas around. See the best business card ever. Thanks Jamie-and stay tuned for more identity.
Italic

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Its time

Erin Abbott has sent out the beautiful poster for the One Night Stand Show and I am excited about my comrades in the show! If your in Oxford on the 23rd-come on by!

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Thought building

There is a heated debate in design schools as to whether the academia is following industry and whether it could be reversed. What I have found is the general curriculum of design schools is behind the times but if you look deeper into the colleges you see this trend toward small centers that are leading the way in design thinking. See the Aridlands Institute at Woodbury College in LA for an prime example. This fall's lecture series will lead the way in understanding water scarcity as a catalyst in the climate change discussion.

Monday, October 4, 2010

seeing some good work-

Its a couple of weeks away but this year I get to go to Kentuck Arts Festival in Northport, Alabama. Evidently, the folk art heroes of the south, Amos Kennedy, Butch Antony and Charlie Lucas converge on this festival site and make it a must see event.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Clean-work


Okay, the first show is almost up and now to clean the studio. I am using this image of Betty Goodwin's studio as clean studio inspiration and I hope to learn more about this upcoming show-entitled At Work: Hesse, Goodwin, Martin promises some valuable insights into the process of these three great artists.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Working more


If your in Starkville the opening for this is October 14th, 5:30pm.