Designing Outside the Box

August 22nd, 2010

By the time you hear the third or fourth song on the Top 40 countdown, you begin to wonder if the programmers have had their finger on “repeat” the entire time. After a while, all the beats and melodies begin to sound the same, and you’re left uninspired — and unimpressed.

Such is the case with many furniture companies nowadays. The idea of minimalism and “modern” design, often means simple and conventional; lightweight in both materials and approach. But every so often, a piece comes along that sparks your curiosity, heralding a more creative and unpredictable vision, and blurring the lines between artistic form and function.

Allow us to introduce you to the “Deuces Wild Chair,” produced by Benjamin Rollins Caldwell of BRC Designs. A new company to the furniture market, BRC fuses mid-century modern architectural philosophies with inspired design ideas, juxtaposing contrasting forms and textures in new and novel ways. This creative concept can be seen in the “Deuces Wild Chair,” made of 350 decks of retired, authentic Las Vegas playing cards. The chair is at once an art piece and conversation piece, subtle enough to blend into the room’s decor from afar, but comical and whimsical when seen up close.

In addition to the chair, we also love the company’s “Spider Sofa,” which showcases wood inlays between welded and hand-brushed steel, set in a more traditional rectangular shape. We’re told it’s more comfortable than it looks, and, we’re hoping, more comfortable that it sounds as well.

Made from predominantly sustainable materials (see: used playing cards) and with an eye for timeless design, each piece is handcrafted by a small team of skilled craftsmen located in BRC’s studios in tiny Spartanburg, SC. They may be a small company, but we think they’re making a big impression with their unique pieces and work. For more details, check out brcdesigns.com.

Hassla Books Warehouse Sale

August 19th, 2010

This Saturday marks the first ever warehouse sale from Hassla Books — an independent publishing company that specializes in small, low-run art and photography books. Many of Hassla’s artists have been featured in gallery shows and magazines (including previous issues of Corduroy).

The one day only sale takes place this Saturday, with books offered at more than half off. Titles included selected works by Anne Collier, Sam Falls, Marcelo Gomes, Takashi Homma, Dan McCarthy, David Schoerner, Leslie Shows and Kate Steciw.

The Hassla warehouse sale takes place this Saturday, August 21 from 12-6 PM. 171 Avenue C, Unit 2D in New York. Details online at hassla.com.

A Dynasty in Paris

August 15th, 2010

Neighbor Institutions, Le Palais de Tokyo and Musée d’Art Modern de Paris joined forces earlier this summer to open an exhibition dedicated to young emerging artists called Dynasty. After a long search, the two curatorial teams selected 40 French artists — including those living abroad and foreign artists living in France — to produce a work for each venue. The result is one exhibition with two, almost mirror exhibits.

With the same infatuation for the next young artist-du-jour as The Whitney and The New Museum’s recently-curated Biennale and “Younger Than Jesus” Triennale in New York, Dynasty’s premise is a fashionably hyped one. But their duo object and duo venue idea gives it a structured feel the other two shows lacked. The approach also offers a more comprehensible introduction to the artists’ work and is an apt reflection of one of contemporary art’s overarching themes: the agency of the institution on the production of art.

Amoung many other things, you’ll get to see a coagulation of a year’s worth of ominously hanging museum dust (Yuhsin U. Chang’s “Poussière dans le Palais de Tokyo,” photo at left), a beautiful film on impotence (no joke) filmed in Angola (“Liberdade” by Gabriel Abranted and Benjamin Crotty), cell phone-quality videos of everyday life in Paris (Mohamed Bourouissa’s “Temps Mort”) and a taxidermized hyena (“untitled” by Nicholas Milhé). In other words, there’s something for every taste, form and medium.

The exhibition runs until September 5th in Paris. For more information, check out the “Dynasty” website at www.dynasty-expo.com.

- Chloe Roubert

Poketo Debuts Exclusive Collection for Target

August 3rd, 2010

We profiled LA-based designers (and artist collective) Poketo in Issue 2 of Corduroy and we’ve been fans of theirs ever since. Ted and Angie have — dare we say — launched the careers of many local and international artists, by inviting them to collaborate on exclusive tees and accessories under the Poketo banner. Now they’re extending their collaborative spirit in a big way, with a limited-edition line of wallets, tote bags, and umbrellas set to launch exclusively for Target stores this month.

We spoke to Angie to get the scoop on the new project and to find out how a tiny company built by friends and artists got to design a coveted collection with one of the nation’s largest and most desirable retailers.

How did this collaboration come about?
We actually started talking to Target a couple of years ago. There was a lull and once we finally got the go ahead, it happened so quickly. There are 21 different artists that are involved with 40 different artworks in a 52-piece collection. Between gathering the artwork, designs, silhouettes and talking to all 21 artists involved, we’ve worked very hard in the past year to get this all together!

Read the full interview and get a sneak peek of some of the products featured in the collection, after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »

Dom Pérignon Pays Tribute to Andy Warhol

July 25th, 2010

When Andy Warhol went to write in his diary on March 8th, 1981, the pope of Pop Art and a leading figure of the New York underground art scene had just returned from Munich where he had had a show, and was recounting what the glorious sights he had seen. And while he had been to thousands of parties in his life (the wildest of which are well-documented in the late 1970s at New York’s Studio 54), it was neither the music nor fashion nor people that he recounted in his diary that night…

“Went to the gallery where they were having a little exhibition of the glittery Shoes, and had to do interviews and pics for the German newspaper and then we had to go back to the hotel and be picked up by the “2,000” people – it’s a club of twenty guys who got together and they’re going to buy 2,000 bottles of Dom Pérignon which they will put in a sealed room until the year 2,000 and then open it up and drink it and so the running joke is who will be around and who won’t…”

And so the entry continued: a nostalgic, if not endearing, ode to Dom Perignon and fine champagne and the night he wouldn’t soon forget.

Now, some 30 years later, Dom Perignon is hoping to re-capture some of that magic — as well as some of Warhol’s iconic work with culture, codes and color — through a limited-edition Warhol-inspired bottle. The creative team at Dom Pérignon commissioned the Design Laboratory at Central Saint Martin’s School of Art & Design to reinterpret its timeless bottle in homage to the artist’s iconic color games. The result is a unique collection of three bottles, each with its distinct label in bright red, blue or yellow. The bottles will be available to the public starting October 15th at a suggested retail price of $150 and can be found at fine wine purveyors nationwide.

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