You cannot deconstruct unless you know how to construct. - Alexander McQueen

archive for the 'Design' department

When They Start Taking Requests from Beyond the Grave

Friday, September 5th, 2014

Requests will be granted as follows:

1. Imagineers John Hench and Marc Davis will design and oversee the making of my very own Jungle Room.

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Disneyland restaurant concept art by John Hench

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John Hench’s concept art for Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room

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Marc Davis’ concept art for Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room

2. Charles McPhee will paint Dr. Jacoby on black velvet for my Jungle Room:

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Dr. Jacoby from Twin Peaks

3. Amy Winehouse will cover Barbara Dane’s “I’m On My Way” dressed in leopard print for the grand unveiling of my Jungle Room to myself and possibly a few others:

It will look as if Amy has materialized from my Witco barstool because it’s covered in the same leopard print:

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A Witco bar set

Before she sings she’ll ask for a strong kava drink. She likes what it does to her voice. I will have a vat prepared for just such an occasion, this being my fantasy, and serve it up in a sedate Mr. Bali Hai tiki mug. I will tell her to drink it down all at once. Fast. She’ll say yeah, she knows, she loves the stuff, and it’s only then that I’ll notice that a giant tiare flower has sprouted from her beehive.

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Mr. Bali Hai

4. Henry Mancini will persistently but respectfully appear to Abe Laboriel in his dreams and convince him to perform the bass solo from Mancini’s arrangement of “Barretta’s Theme” in my Jungle Room, under the glow of neon swampfire.

5. Stanley Kubrick will direct the as yet unwritten screen adaptation of Jack Vance’s Abercrombie Station. Not in my Jungle Room. There’s no place for a Jungle Room in the film.

Sebastian Masuda’s Colorful Rebellion

Thursday, February 27th, 2014

Not much of a heads-up, but kawaii evangelist Sebastian Masuda’s exhibit, “Colorful Rebellion” opens tonight at Kianga Ellis Projects in NYC and runs until March 29th. According to the gallery, “From March 6 - 9, 2014, Masuda-san’s alter ego and female self will inhabit the gallery during open hours”.

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Sebastian Masuda and his “kawaii anarchy”.

Masuda designed the set for my guilty pleasure. Oops, couldn’t resist a period there. By guilty pleasure I mean NHK’s Kawaii International (yay for Tokyo Photo Book!), co-hosted by extraordinary local gal, Misha Janette.

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Still from Kawaii International’s intro. Set by the show’s art director, Sebastian Masuda.

And while we’re on the subject of kawaii, these Manish Arora high tops are awesome:

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Manish Arora, Fall 2014.

Cocktail Culture and Cthulhu

Sunday, July 31st, 2011

Was on a Lovecraft pilgrimage in Providence, RI today when, summoned by air conditioning, I drifted in to the Rhode Island School of Design’s Museum of Art and overheard that today is free day. So the elevator breezes me up to the third floor, the doors open, and to my left there are blown-up 1954 René Bouché illustrations for Vogue and on the wall ahead are cycling movie clips of stylish people drinking. Whoa. Ok. It’s the museum’s “Cocktail Culture” exhibit. It’s outstanding, and tomorrow’s the last day (10am-5pm).

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Red silk dress with cartridge pleats from the “Cocktail Culture” exhibit at the RISD Museum of Art. Designed by Norman Norell and Anthony Traina (under the Traina-Norell label), ca. 1949. From InStyle’s great slideshow of the highlights. The exhibit ends tomorrow (July 31st).

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Donna Rhae Marder’s Lace and Wire Teapots

Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

For folks near Cambridge, MA, the Mobilia Gallery is showing “The Teapot Redefined 2010″ now until at least November 6th. Donna Rhae Marder’s sewn lace and wire teapots are included in this exhibit, which “explores the possibilities of the teapot form” using a variety of techniques and materials.

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“Oval Geometric Lace Teapot”

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“Oval Geometric Lace Teapot”, detail

Marder’s teapots are an homage to her mother, who passed away earlier this year. They are brilliantly crafted from her lace garments.

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“Steaming Lace Teapot”

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“Beige Lace Teapot”

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“Beige Lace Teapot”, detail

The Fall 2010 Collection from Renata Morales

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

I am so impressed and inspired by Renata Morales’ Fall 2010 collection. The output from her Montréal atelier over the last three seasons shows a delightfully idiosyncratic and highly technical style. It is a rare treat to find designers who aren’t slaves to the trend weathervane; who blaze their own trail. Below are some looks from her Fall 2010 collection.

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From the Renata Morales Fall 2010 collection modeled by the stunning dancer, Mistaya Hemingway.

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The Paper Architects (Real and Fictional)

Friday, February 5th, 2010

I meant to write about Lois Nesbitt’s Brodsky & Utkin: The Complete Works sooner, but until recently it was buried in one of my “to be processed” stacks of reading material (easily confused with my “to sit and collect dust” stacks, but I know the difference). Russian paper architects Alexander Brodsky and Ilya Utkin formed a partnership in the late Seventies that lasted roughly a decade. Their fantastic work, according to Nesbitt, “constitutes a graphic form of architectural criticism” of the dehumanizing effects of Soviet utilitarian architecture.

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Doll’s House 1982
from Nesbitt’s Brodsky & Utkin: The Complete Works (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2003)

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