newly occupied by the Via Advertising Agency. This one's in the basement, referencing the old library, history, roots, poltergeists...
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1.31.2011
1.28.2011
Fletcher's room
Like many things in our place, our one-year old son Fletcher's room is furnished with from yard sales, thrift shops, flea markets, and hand-me-downs.
The dressers and cabinets are old George Nelson for Herman Miller- the long glass case originally meant for record albums. The Mickey Myers crayon prints and signed ("For Amanda") Bil Baird Marionette Theatre prints were bought years ago at the Carousel thrift shop in Southport, Ct., which funnily enough is located in the church where I went to nursery school. We found the Stokke crib on Craigslist, from the local window-washer who washes the windows of the local Scandinavian Shop. The mobile has since moved away since I took this photo a few months ago.
Linda's old Eames rocking chair was from the 26th St. flea market and is now home to a Freudian-looking Keith Kustard. The teak monkeys are hanging around a teak floor lamp by Laurel, from a garage sale.
The Kodak Instamatic X-15 camera was a store display from the 60's. The flash cube is actually an electric light.
The wooden sail lamp was made by our friend Fidi. Over to the left is a giant Marimekko beanbag, and an unphotogenic mass of stuffed animals and books.
The hi-fi system with fun-for-Daddy records including Harry Nilsson's The Point! and my brother's and my old Jim Copp and Ed Brown records, inscribed by them when we were kids and our mother took us to see them perform at Bloomingdale's in Stamford, Ct., in the shadow of the giant Bjorn Wiinblad ceramic fountain.
For more on his room and our inspirations click over to the super nice and extremely patient Jenny Dalton's site: LittleBig Magazine
Below is his room in its previous state as our guestroom:
related:
Julie Merz's room, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, January 1978. From the incredible, fascinating Nooney Brooklyn Photographs, 1978-1979. From the NYPL Digital archive.
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1.25.2011
1.22.2011
Braun Aromaster KF 20
Without a doubt the best designed coffee maker ever made.
Designed by Florian Seiffert for Braun in 1972, it was immediately a classic of design and technology, with its vertical automatic drip system, dual heaters, and stunning aesthetics. We bought ours from a man who bought it new at Zabar's in 1972, made 2 pots of coffee and then felt that it was too nice to keep using, and kept it as a design object instead. When he told us that I said, "That's exactly what we were going to do with it!" We made one pot of perfect coffee and then cleaned it up and put it back in its box. Occasionally it'll come out for an admiration, usually after (or during) watching Alien (it was the spaceship Nostromo's coffee maker).
Braun design links:
http://radio.gort.dk/braun/
http://www.braun.com/global/world-of-braun/braun-collection.html
http://www.braun.com/global/world-of-braun/braun-design.html
http://gizmodo.com/343641/1960s-braun-products-hold-the-secrets-to-apples-future
Alien (1979) trailer:
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1.17.2011
Apartment tweakery
-back door-
Farewell old gradient rug (below) from Bloomingdales, 1965 (via a yard sale)- you served us well.
Hello new rag rug (above) from the Crate & Barrel outlet in Kittery.
Also goodbye dangerous little Saarinen table (below) and hello old Giotto Stoppino tables (above), which are empty for climbing on/making into forts.
And hello new (old) track lighting, 46 more of which are in the basement.
.
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1.14.2011
The mental balm of Souvenir d'Oceanie
Souvenir D'Ocean, 1953 Color lithograph derived from the cut-paper original maquette by Matisse, 1952/54. Created and editioned at the Mourlot Studio, Paris 1954, under the supervision of Matisse. Signed in the stone. Lithograph plates erased after the edition.
Matisse Lithographs after Cut-Outs
Between 1950 and 1954, the year of his death, Matisse created some highly innovative, brightly coloured gouache paper cut-outs. Illness had confined him to a wheelchair and severe arthritis made it difficult for him to paint. Some of the resulting colours were so strong that Matisse’s doctor was said to have advised him to wear dark glasses. In 1953 it was decided to reinterpret these works as lithographs. Matisse personally directed and supervised the first ‘pulls’ during 1954, in collaboration with the renowned lithographers Mourlot Frères of Paris. Founded in 1921, Mourlot worked with many of the great artists of the 20th century, including Picasso, Miró, Vlaminck, Bonnard and Dufy. Matisse’s joie de vivre was unimpaired by old age. He wrote, “What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or disturbing subject matter ... like a comforting influence, a mental balm - something like a good armchair in which one rests from physical fatigue”.
From an estate sale. It's nice to have something from one of the greats, in their own time, even if it's just a lithograph. And in this case Matisse conceivably could have actually touched it, having supervised its printing. Another draw was the offset Hermes-orange matting. Below is the ocean-size Souvenir d'Oceanie in situ, at the MoMA.
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1.12.2011
1.08.2011
Louis Vuitton Polar Bears
The large one was found in the dusty attic of the old Louis Vuitton house/atelier in Asnieres (above) after the last of the Vuittons moved out in 1984. Along with the giant Arcticscape painting, it was probably for an old Polar Travel diorama at a long-ago exposition. The big bear was subsequently made into a small pull-toy for another stylish-Arctic-expedition ad in 1985 (top, which looks like it could be the luggage of an actual polar bear).
I don't know if they ever made more than these two, but they should. And if the big one didn't have a seat inside, it should.
Top: From the book Louis Vuitton: The Birth of Modern Luxury
Bottom: Jean Lariviere's photos of Asnieres from French Vogue (the Hockney Issue) Dec. 85/Jan. 86
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1.07.2011
The Adventures of the Three Colors
Neat!
Day Glo printed acetate pages make magic in the 1971 kids' book The Adventures of the Three Colors, by Annette Tison and Talus Taylor (of Barbapapa fame). It tells the tale of a boy named Herbie and his dog Angelo, who are out one day and see a rainbow, which inspires Herbie to want to paint some pictures, but the only colors he has are red, yellow, and blue. And he soon finds out those are all he needs, as he has a penchant for painting his animals much too close to each other- actually always overlapping.
Like too many other things, we have two of these- the original edition and the clunkily revised, definite article-free 1980 edition.
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1.06.2011
1.04.2011
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