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Manuscript Mash-Up:
Kerouac's manuscript of On the Road (1957), unfurled and on public display [via Eyebeam reBlog]
+/&/vs.
Robert Rauschenberg with John Cage, Automobile Tire Print (1953). I believe I recall something in the display text mentioning John Cage driving his truck back and forth over the pages on Rauschenberg's deserted SoHo street. [via SFMOMA]
Related from the LL Archives: On the Surface of Things (Tabletop Mash-Up).
Tabletop Mash-Up:
"The tablecloth draws attention to the flow of objects over a surface in the home by signalling how long things have been left upon it. If an object is left on the table for a while, a glowing halo forms beneath it that grows slowly over time, until the object is moved..." [via Core 77]
+/&/vs.
"Monogrammed silver adds an aristocratic touch to the table, and it doesn't matter if the initials are not your own -- it will create the appearance of an interesting, albeit imaginary, family tree. When setting the table, take into account whether your flatware is Continental, English, or American. If the silver is English or American, the hallmarks are on the back of the pieces. That's why the silver is set upright and monograms appear on the front. Silver that is French or Italian will have hallmarks on the front and therefore should be placed downward." [Entertaining with Southern Style, pg. 34]
I'll be out and about all day Tuesday, in the office working on four different high-profile projects, and then off to interview this chap for this publication.
While I'm downtown, I plan to swing by St. Mark's Bookshop to pick up the Architecture Newspaper so that I can read Raphael Sperry's protest call for a boycott of prison design. Details tk.
In the meantime, have you perused the new Smart Set? In the mix this week: Channeling Jackie O, Punk founder Legs McNeil, Warhol Superstar Taylor Mead, (Hipsters Heart) Dave Eggers, and some Brazilian Girls.
I've finally settled on a valentine, and just in time. Sorry fellas, but I'm saving all my kisses for my favorite bag from Paris. If you've seen me lately, you know the one: the stylish tote with plenty of room for the radical feminist on the go. It says, "QUE SERAIT LE MONDE SANS LES FILLES?" on the side, and it has absolutely stolen my heart. 'Cos it's true. Hope you find love, too. Have a gorgeous day.
Tibet House has an appealing exhibition currently on view that I just noticed is closing this week. I'll probably go out of my way to check it out. Several stunning examples from the show, "Photographs from the Roof of the World," which "highlights more than 40 striking images of Tibet and the Himalayas, including spectacular landscapes, by five noted international photographers" are online. It closes Friday, February 18, and Gallery Hours are 12-6 p.m. weekdays. Tibet House is located at 22 West 15th St. (btw. 5th & 6th), and admission is free.
The only time I ever went into the library in high school was to check out the one book of Japanese heraldic crests because I desperately wanted a bold and striking tattoo of one of them (which I never got; chain smoking and regularly cutting class were already too much commitment for me). Noted as an aside: Is there anything in the world cooler than the sixteen petal chrysanthemum?
Five years ago, I was living alone in a three-bedroom house. Two years ago, I moved from a studio to one bedroom in an apartment. It's been a learning process to adopt the spare aesthetic required for living large in a lesser footprint.
Fortunately, ReadyMade magazine has just released "the small space issue." [via FC Now] Also of interest is MoCoLoco's recent entry on The Very Small Home, examining successful applications of sophisticated architecture in Japan.
Some favorite books I look to for inspiration on a budget with limited space (grouped by era and/or focus):
Feng Shui for Apartment Living, Feng Shui Demystified, and Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui
Underground Interiors, Interiors in Color, Your Space, and Living in One Room
The Thrifty Decorator, Zen Interiors, Bloomingdale's Book of Home Decorating, and Terence Conran's Small Spaces
Tokyo: A Certain Style, Paris Style, and Modern Finnish Design
From the archives: Toward a New Opulence, De Stijl (Heart No. 1), Sustainable Design at Every Level, The Hierarchy of Material Needs, The Best-Laid Plans, Trading Spaces, My Beautiful Laundrette, The Charms of Small Collections.
What if you had a plane ticket, and a freelancer's budget, and you were hoping to make the two go together like chocolate and peanut butter before the ticket expires in April? Where would you go? I'm looking to spend three or four days in a major, cosmopolitan city, and I'd love suggestions if any of you jetsetters have tips or ideas. Last night I checked out my site traffic by time zone, and I was thrilled to discover I have a truly global audience...so please, don't be shy - I've only been out of the States twice, and went to Paris both times, so I could use some fresh insight!
Earlier this afternoon - like almost every Saturday - I stopped by a church in my neighborhood that operates a thrift shop that's open once a week for three hours. It's sort of odd as a business model, as new things appear but most of the stock doesn't really move. Luckily, I can always go back for things the next time and fresh gems are always waiting to be discovered. Most of it is kind of generic, but as with almost every charity shop uptown, stylish people have often been quite generous with their giving.
Today I stopped in to nab a quirkily charming vintage textile that I had passed on but adored in retrospect. It's not extraordinary - Ikea, from the '80s it looks like - but the design is clean, sharp, and modern, with full white buds and branches against a gently worn, baby blue cotton background. I'm going to drop it off at the dry cleaners on my way out tonight, and we'll see what comes of it. It's a twin duvet (not the right size for my bed), but I think it may make a fine throw or an even better tablecloth.
While I was making my way to the checkout counter, a brilliantly patterned design on the dress rack caught my eye. I took a closer look - it was made in Greece for the late, great B. Altman & Co. (which holds a fond place in my heart, due to the two fabulous art parties I helped throw at the Altman Building with Emerging Arts in 2003). The designer's name, which is also scattered across the pattern, Pucci-style, is Tseklenis. It's wool, long-sleeve, and knee-length, with a collar and several buttons down the front, and looks like a perfect fit. The best part is the hidden snaps, so you can keep it buttoned way down low. I wavered for a moment, thought better of my hesitation, and snapped it up, as it were.
Related from the LL Archives: Hello, Zandra (sheer, black & gold, with a ruffled collar covered in pearls; I wore it over a black silk nightgown to my birthday party last year); Hello, Calvin (perfect to wear this summer with my black & white Marimekko hat, the one with the floppy brim that I found at the divine outpost on 3rd Ave); and, of course, It's Psychedelic, Baby.
A couple of years ago, I checked out the "Art Nouveau, 1890-1914," exhibition at the National Gallery of Art. Art nouveau has been beaten into the ground as an artistic movement, and some aspects of the show were so familiar that they seemed derivative (stained glass by Frank Lloyd Wright, anyone?). I was tranfixed by the graphic design section, featuring seductive posters advising young women of the dangers of morphine and debauchery.
One of the more memorable things I saw in the show was a tearoom designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh:
Called the Ladies' Luncheon Room, the dining space was part of a fashionable Glasgow tearoom established by Kate Cranston, the daughter of a prominent tea merchant and the Mackintoshes most generous patron. Originally located on Ingram Street in Glasgow, the room was dismantled in 1971, removed to a warehouse, and restored by the Glasgow Museums from 1992 to 1995.
The room is a brilliant example of Mackintosh's use of elongated lines, highly stylized plant forms, and an ethereal palette. This light, airy space was a complete departure from the dark, stuffy gentlemen's clubs, dining rooms, and pubs of the period. Here women, unaccompanied by men, could enjoy light refreshments in a dining room designed in the latest style.
I feel like I'm always searching for that cafe; haven't found it yet in New York.
It's a good thing, then, that Cafe Baroque stocks six kinds of tea from Mariage Freres in the meantime. Their tea salon and shop is well worth a stop if you find yourself in the Marais district of Paris. I savor every cup of my "Bouddha Bleu."
Related: The Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society.
