Zaha Hadid's Chanel Pavilion

The New York Times wrote up Zaha Hadid's Chanel Pavilion in Central Park yesterday, criticizing the excess and self-importance of such an undertaking in light of the current economy. The pavilion was conceived of as a mobile gallery to house artwork inspired by Chanel's quilted chain-strap 2.55 handbag. Chanel paid $400,000 to the Central Park Conservancy, and donated an undisclosed sum to the organization, so while the timing might not be great for an exhibit revolving around a luxury brand, I can't complain about anything that brings art to the masses (tickets are free, but are given out at 8AM each morning) and interesting architecture to New York (of which there's too little!). Whether or not the art is any good I have yet to see for myself, though critics are panning it. If you're in New York, go and see for yourself! The pavilion is located at Rumsey Playfield, near Fifth Avenue and 69th Street and will be up until November 9th, after which it will be traveling to London.

What are your thoughts?

Photos by Michael Falco for The New York Times.

Banksy's Village Petstore and Charcoal Grill

NOTCOT: Banksy's Village Petstore & Charcoal Grill from Jean Aw on Vimeo.

Jean/Notcot commissioned Seth Brau to make a video of Banksy's Village Petstore and Charcoal Grill. Check it out to get a great view of the store/installation, for those of you who can't visit yourself!

Black Lark Gallery - Creature Feature

The Black Lark Gallery is opening Creature Feature - a plush toy exhibition - this Friday, October 10th through November 2nd. Participants include Sandra Monat (I love her Viking men!), Donna Wilson, Udder (Little Green Walking Hood shown above) and Hop Skip Jump. Black Lark Gallery is documenting the installation process, which you can check out on their blog. Once the show opens, you will be able to purchase the toys here.

Thanks, Sarah!

Urban Play - Sagmeister

I received an email yesterday from Scott Burnham, the curator for Droog Design's Urban Play, an international project that promotes creativity in the public domain. Stephan Sagmeister's typographic installation "obsessions make my life worse and my work better", made out of 250,000 Euro cent coins was removed overnight by the Amsterdam police. While it was anticipated that the installation would be interacted with and portions disturbed and removed over time, the full and swift removal of the installation was unexpected. The story behind the removal is even more unexpected (in Scott's words):

"It seems that the Amsterdam police were called by a resident of one of the overlooking buildings early Sunday morning to report that someone was "stealing an artwork". As the story goes, people were pocketing a few of the coins, which was also expected, but things got a bit out of hand when a resident saw this happening. So the police responded, and, in a rather bizarre instance of police efficiency, they proceeded to "secure" the artwork, by sweeping up the entire installation."

It's a shame that the piece met its end this way.

All photos via Anjens.

Panos 2013

Panos 2013 is a collaborative project where various artists created fake road signs that were installed around Lyon, France. My favorites (left to right from the top): Cart One, Emil Kozak, Cody Hudson, Stereotype, Kozyndan, Naoshii, both by Mothi.

Via Josh Spear.

Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony

In case you missed China's AMAZING opening ceremony for the Olympics on Friday, here are some images of my favorite moments, via Boston.com. London has some big shoes to fill, in my opinion! The New York Times also did a feature on the fashion exhibited at the opening ceremony. I thought that several of the African nations had the nicest costumes, and that most of the western countries had outfits that made them look like airplane stewardesses.

Susan Benarcik

One other exhibit to check out - Susan Benarcik's Collected Response exhibition at the Maiden Lane Exhibition Space (125 Maiden Lane, New York, NY). The show will be up through September. The artist's statement:

My sight-responsive installations stand as three-dimensional visual metaphors evidencing both societies manipulative properties and mankind's adaptability. The elements utilized in my work are reminiscent of objects found in nature or in environments used to direct or inhibit natural growth ie; greenhouses, laboratories, libraries, gardens. By re/assembling these collections of forms, the installations metaphorically contextualize the way environments, consciously or unconsciously, affect our being. Bent, forced, loved, nurtured, discarded, etc., are forces we constantly battle or embrace. Through material choice and structural manipulation, my installations strive to evidence (our) continuous adaptability.

byAMT and Jan Habraken exhibition

Alissia Melka-Teichroew and her husband Jan Habraken recently opened a great exhibition of their work at the Peel Gallery in Houston, TX, this weekend. If you are in the area, I think it would definitely be worth a visit. The exhibition runs from July 11th to August 29th.

Dan Funderburgh at Riviera Gallery

Kitsune Noir has a preview of Dan Funderburgh's show Fellow Traveler at the Riviera Gallery in Brooklyn. The show showcases the work of three Midwestern transplants to NYC - Justin Fines, Dan Funderburgh, and Kevin Devine. According to the gallery's website: "Like many immigrants, they celebrate their shared origins, but are also interested in where their individual paths diverge. Fellow Travelers are not adherents to a school or aesthetic, they are sympathetic allies with a shared perspective that refuse to be limited or defined by geography." Looks like a good show! If you are in Brooklyn you can check it out at 103 Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg.

kozyndan

I've long been a fan of most of kozyndan's illustration work. They have a new show opening on May 30 at the maxalot gallery in Amsterdam called "Beneath the Surface". If you're in the area, check it out! Via Designboom.

Also - because Sean and I are so busy finishing up our prep for the NSS we weren't able to make it to BKLYN Designs this year. But check out Inhabitat for great coverage of the show...

Ideas and Sponsors...

So! New month, new ideas column...Sorry for the shameful delay in leaving up the valentine's chocolates - it's sort of like leaving your Christmas decorations up until June, huh? Anyway, springtime = shoe time, so if you know of any shoes that would fit our Ideas column, send them on over to us!



We are also very happy to welcome Nervous System and Artstream as sponsors this month. I've posted about Nervous System's gorgeous jewelry before and am a huge fan.



As for Artstream, they are a fantastic gallery up in Rochester, New Hampshire (we were lucky enough to have an exhibit there in Nov-Dec of last year). Artstream has a great show called Stories and Tales going on right now, exhibiting the work of Abby Glassenberg, Darryl Berger, Alena Hennessy, and Tara Hogan.

Cai Guo-Quiang: I Want to Believe

I am not normally excited to see what's coming to nyc museums, but the Cai Guo-Quiang: I Want to Believe opening in two days at The Guggenheim looks so interesting that I will make a point to see it.

More than seeing the finished works themselves, I wish I could have seen the month-long installation process of the works. The museum staff documented the process and there are photos and a short video of the process for Inoportune: Stage One . I enjoy these because it reflects the idea that the pieces are part of a whole process and not just a final product. The documentation emphasizes the incredible theatrical nature of the complex installation. If only they had opened to the public during this, it would be far more exciting than the final show.

Photographs by David Heald and Kristopher McKay, Guggenheim Museum Photography Studio

Kirsten Hassenfeld

Kirsten Hassenfeld is a Brooklyn-based artist who works with paper, creating super detailed, sculptural light objects. Her Dans la Lune exhibit just closed at Rice University's Rice Gallery, but I thought it was worth a mention here. Dans la Lune is a French idiom that references daydreaming, which is a great description of Kirsten's over-the-top sculptures of imagined opulence. From a distance her sculptures look like chains of gems and crystals, but as you get closer, detailed images emerge.

Yvonne Fehling and Jennie Peiz

My mom sent me a link to Yvonne Fehling's and Jennie Peiz's exhibition at the Arp Museum in Remagen, Germany. I love the dynamic ChairStoolBench and how it reads as one long plank of wood with traditional chair shapes emerging and disappearing from that plank of wood. Gorgeous! I would love to see this in a city park somewhere.

Artstream Mapping the Way

Sean and I are back from a lovely weekend in New Hampshire. We went up to Rochester to attend the opening of the Mapping the Way exhibit at Artstream gallery (and to get out of the city for the weekend). Thank you Susan and Rainer for making us feel so welcome!

I was really impressed by the other artists work - the pieces were all so beautiful (especially in person!), so I wanted to take a moment to highlight some of my favorite pieces from the show. Clockwise from the top:

Heather Smith Jones' "A Cottonwood Seed", which is so gorgeous in person. The colors are really vivid and the bird was so detailed. This was my favorite piece in the exhibit.

Edibeth Farrington's "Years of Travel". Her pieces were very quiet and subtle. I loved the repeated type and the super white canvas.

Susan Schwake's encaustic handmade paper pieces were lovely. She made the paper herself, and each piece was so layered and textured. Occasionally pieces of text from the recycled paper would show through.

Another piece from Heather Smith Jones. The pieces in this series are super affordable ($40, so I bought one!) and are really beautiful. I love her limited use of water color, and the way the shapes relate to one another. The piece we bought had text poked with pins in it, which was a very nice, subtle touch.

Check out the artwork online here!

Mapping the Way Exhibit

Sean and I are very excited about this weekend - we are heading up to New Hampshire tomorrow to attend the opening of our show at the Artstream Gallery. We are so thrilled to be in the company of these great artists - Susan Schwake, Heather Smith Jones, Edibeth Farrington, and Stephanie Levy. You can check out more images of the show here, and also on our process blog, Submerge.

Roger Arquer

Fish Bowls by Roger Arquer is an exploration in reprogramming and redesigning the fish bowl. From left to right: Do Not Piss Me Off, Pure Life, and Private Matters. You can see all fifteen projects at Dezeen. Fish Bowls will be part of the Conversational Spanish 02 exhibition this September, curated by Hector Serrano and running in conjunction with the 2007 London Design Festival.

Greetje van Helmond

Greetje van Helmond is a student at the Royal College of Art, where, for the RCA summer show, she exhibited a line of jewelry called Unsustainable. The pieces in Unsustainable are made from sugar crystals that are "grown" in a solution right onto the cord.

Greetje's interest is in taking banal, everyday products and turning them into beautiful, seemingly valuable objects.

From the artist:

In present day life we can say that we consume a lot. Durable materials are often used for the production of goods that are typically replaced or thrown away quickly. Contrary to this I use everyday, basic materials to create products that appear valuable and sustainable. Because of the materials I use, the products won’t last long, but long enough to stay "new".

Via Dezeen.

Tal Gur

I got an email this morning about an interesting exhibit of Tal Gur's work at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. The artist's statement:

The exhibition space contains several objects which reflect a laborious production process: "Reading" tables, "Alata" light fixtures, "Mesh" chairs, and a "Bamboo" partition. The objects, with their entire range of materiality, sprawl, outline their course in the space, dissolve mass, allowing a glance through― through the object, the place, the space.

If you are in Tel Aviv, you can check out the exhibit from June 14 to September, 2007.

Thanks, Tal!