Mickalene Thomas

New York-based artist Mickalene Thomas is known for her elaborate paintings adorned with rhinestones, enamel and colorful acrylics. Her depictions of African American women explore notions of black female celebrity and identity while romanticizing ideas of femininity and power. Reminiscent of 70s style Blaxploitation, the subjects in Thomas' paintings radiate sexuality. Women in provocative poses sprawl across the picture plane and are surrounded by kitschy decorative patterns inspired by her childhood. - Lehmann Maupin press release 2009




Douglas Kelley, New York art world commentator, visits Mickalene Thomas' first NY exhibit "She's Come Undone", at Lehmann Maupin gallery on W. 26th St.

Mag+ by Bonnier

Mag+ from Bonnier on Vimeo.

This conceptual video is a corporate collaborative research project
initiated by Bonnier R&D into the experience of reading magazines on
handheld digital devices. It illustrates one possible vision for
digital magazines in the near future, presented by our design partners
at BERG.

The concept aims to capture the essence of magazine reading, which
people have been enjoying for decades: an engaging and unique reading
experience in which high-quality writing and stunning imagery build up
immersive stories.

The concept uses the power of digital media to create a rich and
meaningful experience, while maintaining the relaxed and curated
features of printed magazines. It has been designed for a world in
which interactivity, abundant information and unlimited options could
be perceived as intrusive and overwhelming.

The purpose of publishing this concept video is first and foremost to
spark a discussion around the digital reading experience in general,
and digital reading platforms in particular. Thus, we would be more
than happy to hear what you have to say regarding the concept and
ideas expressed in the video: the magazine reading experience, digital
browsing, text versus images, as well as hear about your own digital
reading experiences and thoughts. We are all ears.

Follow the discussion in the Bonnier R&D Beta Lab:
bonnier.com/en/content/digital-magazines-bonnier-mag-prototype

Ran Hwang

Ran Hwang creates amazingly large installations using buttons and pins. When you view her creations up close, they appear to be a pile of pins, but from a distance the installations transform into amazing images of birds and cherry blossom trees. (More images after the jump!)

"My immense wall installations are extremely time consuming and repetitive manual work. This is a form of meditative practice that helps me find my inner peace. Pins are used to hold buttons onto the surface to form a silhouetted image, or to disintegrate such image. No adhesive is used so the buttons are free to stay and move, which implies the genetic human tendency to be irresolute. I use buttons because they are common and ordinary, like the existence of human beings."

- Ran Hwang

Artsworld :: Coffins to die for in Ghana

About 50 years ago, a Ghanaian angler started a trend when, upon his death, he was buried in a wooden coffin shaped like a fish. Today, cab drivers are buried in wooden taxis, preachers in Bible-shaped boxes and smokers in coffins shaped like cigarette boxes. Artsworld explores this macabre but colourful art form in the Ghanaian capital, Accra.

Vinyl Art by Daniel Edlen

Willard Wigan

An amazing micro-artist. Most of his work can't be seen with the human eye. As a matter of fact his sculpture uses pin heads as their foundation. Start watching around 7:00 minutes to get the gist. He has sculpted the statue of liberty in the eye of a needle.

Void LP player

Void LP player

-concept-
not on sale

The record player uses a carrier and dock outfitted with a magnetic and auto-calibrating control
system which carries the LP into thin air as it is playing music. a self-running record player shaped
in the form of a red sphere, contains a needle, amplifier and speaker, spins around the record,
bringing the music to life. the sphere that plays the vinyl was technically influenced by the 'vinyl killer',
currently the world's smallest LP player that has a built-in motor, amplifier and speaker.

Simple colors and shapes express a kind of astronomical movement between the object and space.
The levitation is managed electronically. once turning the player on, you can manage the elevation
levels through the touch sensors on the front side of the base unit.

Raphael Saadiq//Staying In Love

Piece by selfburning

Piece from selfburning on Vimeo.

Joint project with an artist Igor Skaletsky and a drummer Evgeniy Labich. Stop motion animation is based on photos representing every stage of making collage. Parts of the drummer’s live performance are arranged and mixed in one track.

:: BBC :: Philippe Starck's Design For Life ::

Episode 1: http://www.vimeo.com/6604817

Episode 2: http://www.vimeo.com/6942733

Episode 3: http://www.vimeo.com/6944872

Episode 4: http://www.vimeo.com/6924360

Episode 5: http://www.vimeo.com/7088473

Episode 6: http://www.vimeo.com/7232828


Watch them soon, before they're removed from vimeo!

Gil Scott-Heron// Originals BBC

Studio ISO50

http://studio.iso50.com

How do you build a chocolate brand

OPTIMAL DESIGN | The (Art) Vault wins AA award!

renderings courtesy of Oppenheim Architecture+Design

© 2009 Oppenheim Architecture+Design

| project | Art Vault & Valuables Services (The Vault) |
| design by | Oppenheim Architecture | Project Architect: Chad Oppenheim | Project Designer: Gianpaolo Pietri |
| location | Miami, FL, USA |
| typology | Art Storage Facility |
| scope | 140,000 square feet |
| date of estimated completion | 2011 |
| website | www.oppenoffice.com |

It was just announced today that the (Art) Vault has been awarded an American Architecture Award for 2009. This 11-story monolith packs 140,000 square feet of the most-highly secured and luxurious storage space you will find in the market of storage spaces.  Art services company Artemundi &Co. call it the Art Vault and Valuables Service (but industry insiders refer to it as The Vault).  The program includes a conservation laboratory, showrooms, a sculpture garden (located on the roof), a helipad (for emergency evacuation and those looking to make a grand entrance). The coup de gras, however, is a state of the art mechanized parking tower, which will house rare collectible cars.

The exterior facade of the building (a.k.a. the boxes) will serve as an important public art installation welcoming visitors traveling on I95 into the city of Miami.  The panels will be commissioned to both emerging and established artists on a rotating basis so as to project a facade that is always changing, always showcasing the latest talent, and beloved masters. This prototype will be unlike any other storage facility in North America.

With that said, I am particularly proud of this award having served as project designer for The Vault under the direction of Chad Oppenheim while working in his studio in Miami.  For almost a year I was solely responsible for all design work as well as production drawings for the project, with Chad dropping in every now and then to keep me in line and offer his extremely valuable insights, ideas, concepts, sketches, etc.

For me at the time, this project was a useful study in blurring the line between maximum efficiency and optimal beauty.  The most important question we had to answer was how to challenge established parameters for traditional storage facilities, mainly large swaths of solid, and therefore blank, surfaces on the facades.  You could say that the entire design process was centered on how to solve this problem in the most efficient, yet elegant way. After countless hours, days, and even weeks of coming up with quick-fire solutions (last tally was up to over 50 variations), the final result was to break up the massive exterior surface area into smaller modules determined by a grid where the modules are divisible by five. After determining the size of the ‘canvases’, it was matter of pushing (in) and/or pulling (out) the smaller modules so the facade would read more like a series boxes stacked on top of one another, much like would exist inside a storage unit.  So the facade became a metaphor of the activities that were going on in the interior of the building.

Although it is my understanding that the project is on hold for the moment, it would be a special addition to the city of Miami and its emerging skyline. So without further a due, here are some images to fill the appetites of all you design-lovers out there.

OPTIMAL DESIGN | The (Art) Vault wins AA Award | the Optimalists
URL: http://theoptimalblog.com/2009/11/optimal-design-the-art-vault-wins-aa-award/

Robes of the Earth

Robert Mars

Graffurniture By Luis Alicandu

I have to say, If placed wrong in ones interior these could make your house resemble something from Dr. Seuss. But given just the right placement and consideration, wow.

Philippe Stark

Design for Life from design on Vimeo.

If you love design, if you love creativity like I loooove design and loooove creativity the you may really dig this film. Not art for art sake, but design. Design for the people, not for the critics is the bottom line.

MWM X ALMOND X CORDUROY

Portland, Maine Artists KATE CLEAVES and MATT W. MOORE have come together to create CONVERGENCE – an ultimate collaboration series (Now showing at CORDUROY GALLERY). The five month endeavor to create a completely blended, completely unique series of paintings has lead both Moore and Cleaves down a path neither of them has been down before - resulting in work unlike anything either of them has ever produced. When viewed separately, both artists seem to go about painting in a very different manner: Moore often works with non-objective shapes and geometry, with hard lines and strong brushstrokes, and the occasional area of representation – Cleaves generally works with a narrative and imagery inspired by nature, blended colors, and soft brushstrokes. Both artists share a passion for pattern, sacred geometry and eye-popping color – making the perfect common ground to blend their different techniques together.

The end result was the perfect balance with an aura of seamlessness between the two styles. From day one, it has been a true collaboration – literally working on the same piece at the same time – almost in some sort of call and response dance via color and shape. The artists met a few times a week for five months to work together on the series. The layers are almost endless, and every piece has transformed a multitude of times. As weeks and layers went by, Moore and Cleaves still worked side by side, but would switch off and take turns with the pieces that they worked on. The whole process had a very natural flow to it – nothing was planned ahead of time, but everything unfolded exactly as it should have. Space, nature, and symbols of consciousness and the underlying perfect beauty of the universe are all part of the inspirations for the visual aspects and compositions found in this unique series of paintings. The two also collaborated on a 5 window Mural directly on the glass at Corduroy in the days leading up to the Opening Reception. Enjoy!

THE CONVERGENCE WINDOW MURAL WAS PRODUCED IN 2 DAYS DIRECTLY ON THE GLASS USING THE SAME MATERIALS FROM THE PAINTING SERIES.

THE CONVERGENCE OPENING RECEPTION WAS A GREAT PARTY – BIG THANKS TO CORDUROY & DJ BOONDOCKS & SANTOS & ALLAGASH BEER.

- MWM X ALMOND X CORDUROY - ALMOND SURFBOARDS BY MATT W. MOORE – PRESS PACKS & INFO SOON!

Please CONTACT MWM for Press Packs & Artwork related questions. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -