Posted: March 26th, 2012 | Author: artintolife | Filed under: design | Tags: architecture, design, environment, home, humor, modernism, trends
Since I was in high school, I have been drawn to architecture which has been designed to interact with nature, and taking its position in nature into consideration in giving it form. That means that — I know, like millions of other teens — I went through the obsession with Frank Lloyd Wright phase, and the accompanying obsession with Ayn Rand phase. And like many (although by no means all) of those teens, have struggled with the disillusionment when I was able to understand Rand’s political view ever since.
The longer I looked at photographs of a couple of recent homes built to blur the line between inside and outside, gorgeous and brilliantly designed homes, the more they began to look not so much contemporary, as Modern (insofar as that defines a decidedly twentieth century aesthetic ). The interiors particularly are not so far from something Frank Lloyd Wright might have designed. They are a distillment of a number of twentieth century architectural greats from the 1930′s through the 1960′s. But as I say, that’s only after looking for a really long time, since on the face of it — and again, in their bones — these two homes are absolutely contemporary and innovative.
The Belvedere Residence by Anastasia Arquitetos, located in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, takes advantage of the temperate climate by allowing outside and inside to flow almost seamlessly into each other. Since aesthetics are my thing, mostly I’m just drawn to how exquisite the first floor patio is. But the reality is, that the home was designed taking into thoughtful consideration how to maximize space in an urban context, how to take maximal advantage of light and air and manipulate them to make the house efficient and comfortable.
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Posted: March 24th, 2012 | Author: artintolife | Filed under: design | Tags: decorating, design, environment, fashion, popular culture, trends
In case you missed the announcement, the Pantone color of the year for 2012 is Tangerine Tango (Pantone 17-1463). I never tire of professing my love for all things Pantone, no matter how sick everyone is of hearing it, and yet even I find the color of the year thing a bit odd. I have always found trend forecasting to be a curious art, and Pantone’s nearly universal ability to define color is nothing short of phenomenal. For years now Pantone has been declaring its color of the year, but it seems like this year Tangerine Tango is getting more than the usual coverage.
Lest you think Pantone’s choice of color of the year is random, let me assure you, it is not. The Pantone color of the year is meant to capture the zeitgeist of the times. I do believe that color is a powerful tool, that it can shape our mood and behaviors, and yet I find the claim that I single color can encapsulate the essence of a society at a particular moment is kind of ridiculous. But maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about — it happens on occasion. In 2011 the color of the year was Honeysuckle (Pantone 18-2120). The press release announcing the 2011 color of the year explained the choice saying , “In times of stress, we need something to lift our spirits. Honeysuckle is a captivating, stimulating color that gets the adrenaline going – perfect to ward off the blues.” Fair enough.
So this year it’s Tangerine Tango. This deep red orange is meant energize and reboot society.
“Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.”
With Tangerine Tango, it seems that Pantone is striving to break out of the constraints of the fashion, design and trend worlds, and to reach out to the broader masses. Everybody is talking about it — the Chicago Tribune, Britain’s the Independent, the Washington Post. One of the opening spreads of the April issue of In Style magazine offers a range of ways to incorporate this all important color into your wardrobe or home decor.
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Posted: March 12th, 2012 | Author: artintolife | Filed under: art | Tags: art, artists, chinese art, economy, environment, politics
In contemporary painting, how to make “realism” relevant and engaging, is a particular challenge. So it is a pleasant surprise when you come across an artist who is able to transport the form to another level. Liu Xiaodong is a Chinese artist who was trained in the Socialist Realist style of oil painting. And Socialist Realism, while often vibrant and uplifting (as in the Moscow metro stations), as the sanctioned art form under Communist dictatorship, often tends toward kitsch. Part of its political mandate means that it is not allowed to be self-critical or self-reflective, and so its optimistic joy and exuberance easily reads as ridiculous (and, given the irony of that optimism, as heartbreaking). Liu Xiaodong, however, has managed to manipulate his socialist realist teachings to develop a new form which is incredibly powerful and moving, and provides a compelling critique of contemporary Chinese issues.
A number of terms have been applied to his artistic style and to the movement in which he plays a central part: Neo-Realism, Cynical Realism, and Neo-Academism. I particularly like Cynical Realism — I’m not entirely sure why, but it is such a blunt assessment of facts, and yet so barely scratches the surface of what’s going on in his painting, that I think it perfectly suits his work.
Two recent paintings capture the complexity of Liu Xiaodong’s approach in all of its fabulousness.
Liu Xiaodong, Out of Beichuan, 2010
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Posted: January 11th, 2012 | Author: artintolife | Filed under: design | Tags: decorating, design, economy, environment, fabric, furniture, home, rugs, shopping
Oh crap. So, yesterday’s post has made me rethink my entire new year’s plan. January 1 arrived and I was overcome by the need to do a complete overhaul on our house. One major problem with having strong feelings about the aesthetics of things – you get tired of them really fast. As much as I might like to, I’m not completely redoing our home every year or two, so I came up with a list of fairly low cost projects that would give some of the more tired parts of the house a very necessary facelift.
Item 1: Re-do the mistress of the house
AKA, lose ten pounds. Fortunately, that one’s free, although significantly easier said than done.
Item 2: Re-cover dining room chairs
This is what our dining room chairs look like right now.
I can’t believe I just showed you that. The point is, as one might imagine, under the circumstances my husband is more than happy to let me give a go at upholstering them myself. I found a how to video that looks pretty doable, so it seems worth a shot. Clearly we don’t have much to lose.
There is a gorgeous fabric that I have been eyeing for ages which I thought I would use. I saw it in a different colorway on a chair in Elle Decor a number of years ago and have been looking for an occasion to use it ever since.
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Posted: January 10th, 2012 | Author: artintolife | Filed under: design | Tags: architecture, decorating, design, designers, environment, public art, public spaces
Different strokes for different folks I guess. My grandmother’s favorite expression – “that’s what makes horse races” – comes to mind. In case you couldn’t have guessed by now, I have fairly strong feelings about eating spaces. I prefer clean simple spaces in cool tones for a kitchen. I’m convinced that in warm colored spaces – especially yellow kitchens – one tends to overeat. I see this as an obvious point, although I’ve been told by people I know (even people whose aesthetic tastes I respect) that they prefer warm colored eating spaces, so clearly this is a matter of personal taste. I do get the warm, dimly lit, cozy restaurant thing, and enjoy it for a night out. So even though this elegant restaurant model goes against my aesthetic inclinations, I am open-minded enough to see the appeal and enjoy such restaurants. But this amazing new (relatively new) restaurant, Twister, in Kiev is beyond me. Cool design, no doubt. I don’t mean to disrespect the design team’s creativity – because it’s a phenomenal space that surpasses anything I could possibly conceive. But how this is someplace anyone would want to eat, is beyond me.
The dining section, which was apparently modeled on the idea of tornados and rain, is straightforward. The metaphor seems a little strained if you ask me. But the space is lovely and pleasant enough.
But the bar …
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Posted: January 4th, 2012 | Author: artintolife | Filed under: design | Tags: design, environment, home, innovative design, repurposing, shopping
Recently, I have been struck by products which cleverly repurpose old newspapers. In general recycling has become so de rigor that it’s hardly exciting. But these products still managed to catch me slightly off guard — apparently the actual term for these re-uses of materials is “upcycling”. (Just go around talking about upcycling and see how people react. I’m thinking it could be pretty funny.)
My favorite, because it’s so simple and obvious, yet so clever, is the NewspaperWood Log designed by Mieke Meijer for Vij5. Instead of burning logs in your fireplace, you can burn this recycled newspaper styled to look like a log. Layers of newspaper have been glued together to form a substance which is hard and solid and can be used like wood. Cutting through the stack of papers reveals a cross section that has the effect of wood grain.
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Posted: November 11th, 2011 | Author: artintolife | Filed under: art | Tags: art, art exhibitions, artists, christo, environment, over the river, performance art, politics, public art, public spaces
The artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude have sparked an enormous amount of controversy with the plans for his latest public art project. Over The River – a proposed project for the Arkansas River in Colorado – was originally planned to open in the Summer of 2010. The projection is now August 2014. It has been held up in it’s effort to gain the approval of a number of agencies at the federal, state, county and town level as well as facing a large grass roots opposition movement calling itself “Rags Over Arkansas River”. This week the project finally received Federal approval, but still awaits permits at the local level. The plan is to suspend 962 panels of fabric over a 40 mile stretch of the Arkansas River. This is not the first time that the pair have faced controversy over their work. This project in particular seems to raise a number of crucial questions about the role of art as a public endeavor.
Left: Christo, Over the River (Project for Arkansas River, State of Colorado), Drawing 1999, 22 x 28" (55.9 x 71.1 cm), Pencil, charcoal, wax crayon and pastel // Photo: Wolfgang Volz // © 1999 Christo; Right: Christo, Over the River (Project for Arkansas River, State of Colorado), Drawing 2010, 13 7/8 x 15 1/4" (35.3 x 38.7 cm), Pencil, charcoal, wax crayon and pastel // Photo: André Grossmann // © 2010 Christo
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Posted: November 9th, 2011 | Author: artintolife | Filed under: art | Tags: architecture, art, design, economy, environment, heidelberg project, home, humor, politics, public art, public spaces, street art
It is easy, when talking about art in our daily lifes, to forget the powerful role art can play in inspiring and shaping social change. I was moved when I came across this piece in MutualArt, 25 years of The Heidelberg Project – MutualArt, exploring a project which it calls, “part political protest, part art promotion campaign, part catalyst for social transformation.” The Heidelberg Project, L. Meir writes, “is working toward a larger purpose – to heal the community and enrich the lives of its members – through the world of art”. It’s worth a read.
