Sunday, May 11, 2014
"Across The Sea" by The KVB
The KVB (Nicholas Wood and Kat Day) perform "Across The Sea" from their EP "Out OF Body". The Guardian said of the pair, "...this London duo mix and match New Romantic synths, motorik rhythms, and narcotised voices." Sounds good to me...
https://www.facebook.com/thekvb1
https://www.facebook.com/thekvb1
Thursday, May 8, 2014
"Midnight Moon Pt. I and II" by Kan Wakan
Wow. I am kind of blown away by this song and the video...
Kan Wakan are a new L.A.-based group, a trio consisting of composer/producer/multi-instrumentalist Gueorgui I. Linev, vocalist Kristianne Bautista, and producer/guitarist Peter Potyondy. At this point, they have only released four songs but a full-length release entitled "Moving On" is scheduled for June of this year, 2014. Visit their website for more information or to pre-order.
This video is eleven minutes long, so watch when you have some time, but it is definitely worth it. It's a rather mysterious story which seems to be describing a psychological state more than actual events. But having said that, there is an actual central event that is rather distressing and relentless...which offers a reminder that we can't always prevent bad things from happening, but we can be present and offer comfort and compassion when they do. Watch in full screen mode.
The band list their influences (a fascinating mix,and I think they can almost all be heard in this single grand, ambitious, sweeping, jazzy/orchestral-symphonic, and at times ambient track):
Bill Withers, Pink Floyd, Wilco, Nina Simone, Nick Drake, Brad Mehldau, Leonard Cohen, Philip Glass, Jim O'Rourke, Brian Eno, Moondog
http://www.kanwakan.com/
https://www.facebook.com/KanWakan
Kan Wakan are a new L.A.-based group, a trio consisting of composer/producer/multi-instrumentalist Gueorgui I. Linev, vocalist Kristianne Bautista, and producer/guitarist Peter Potyondy. At this point, they have only released four songs but a full-length release entitled "Moving On" is scheduled for June of this year, 2014. Visit their website for more information or to pre-order.
This video is eleven minutes long, so watch when you have some time, but it is definitely worth it. It's a rather mysterious story which seems to be describing a psychological state more than actual events. But having said that, there is an actual central event that is rather distressing and relentless...which offers a reminder that we can't always prevent bad things from happening, but we can be present and offer comfort and compassion when they do. Watch in full screen mode.
The band list their influences (a fascinating mix,and I think they can almost all be heard in this single grand, ambitious, sweeping, jazzy/orchestral-symphonic, and at times ambient track):
Bill Withers, Pink Floyd, Wilco, Nina Simone, Nick Drake, Brad Mehldau, Leonard Cohen, Philip Glass, Jim O'Rourke, Brian Eno, Moondog
http://www.kanwakan.com/
https://www.facebook.com/KanWakan
BEAUTY: Interior--San Francisco Decorator's Showcase 2014
Last weekend I attended, as I do every year, the San Francisco Decorator's Showcase which takes place at a different mansion, usually in Pacific Heights in San Francisco. This year, the Showcase is situated in the Classical Revival house that was built for legendary San Francisco resident Alfred Sutro and his wife Rose in 1908. The six bedroom, six and a half bath mansion just sold for $18 million and boasts amazing views of The Presidio below and to the San Francisco Bay beyond. Some standouts from the amazing collection of interior design talent follow.
The entry reception area by Jonathan Rachman features a mind-boggling floor covering: a custom area rug composed of brick-sized pieces of hair-on-hide stitched together and dripped with melted gold paint. The otherwise neutral space had touches of gold almost everywhere. The inspiration for the space, says, Rachman, was Kate Moss and the Lorde song "Royals." I liked the whimsical white and gold ceramic anatomically correct heart sitting on some books on a console table!
This living room by Heather Hilliard is deceptive... it looks plain in this photograph, but in person it is full of texture and light, looking out into the green backyard, the blue skies, and the blue of the Bay itself. Hilliard's design does not compete with the view but only serves to enhance it. The walls are done in a delicious lime paint which is burnished to a glass-like finish, much like Venetian plaster. The color of the paint changes in layers, giving the stunning impression of geological strata.
The Music Room by BAMO features an incredible, modern chandelier (Le Pentagone by Jonathan Browning Inc.) anchored to a golden-bronze-y ceiling. I attended the Showcase this year with some clients and we all fell in love with the very simple but effective window treatments in this room: roman shades made of a very loosely woven linen banded with fabric tape of a Greek key design. I will be designing a version of these for said clients soon!
When SageraBrazil Design proposed their design for the dining room, they were instructed to retain the hand-painted wallpaper that is original to the house! Other designers may have seen this as an impediment to their design, but George Brazil and Cecilia Sagera-Hill embraced the garden-theme of the paper and created a delicately verdant dining room that feels like one is dining al fresco.
The wooden library which features an original carved coat of arms for the Sutro family was done by Geoffrey De Sousa in a neutral palette to let the wood and views of the Bay sing. The massive blown glass shade over the library table is the draw in this space.
I love art hung salon-style and this Artist's Home Studio by Matthew MacCaul Turner uses art to great advantage. Since the space was imagined to be used by an artist, the raw wood floor was splattered with paint, as a real studio would be, which became an art piece in itself.
Lisa Bakamis created what she calls The Soaking Lounge, a bathroom sanctuary for a teenage girl. This space was full of disparate elements that puzzled me... I am not sure how a teenage girl would respond to the heavy, rustic reclaimed wood walls and live-edge wood counter, the gritty rope-hung industrial pendant lights, or the slate flooring. But interestingly, these things only served to make the colorful butterfly wallpaper and the pink tie-dyed curtains stand out even more. The space was uneven, but I include it here because when all is said and done, it is an intriguing mix... one that pleased me somehow. And I especially liked the leopard-print smoked mirror tiles from Ann Sacks.
The Woman's Office, so named by Laura Larkin, features an amazing product on the ceiling: a sort of quilted-rubbery wallpaper that looks like antique plaster work!
One has to be careful when creating a theme room for children: it can get out of control and end up looking like a nightmare version of Disneyland. But these two rooms really hit the right notes. The first three images are from The Little Roamer's Room by Regan Baker. Just like the dining room with its hand-painted wallpaper, this room sports the original wallpaper based on a design by Diego Giacometti. Baker used the motif of animals as a springboard for an adorable room organized around the idea of camping in the wilderness and all the adventures that entails. The array of stuffed animals in this space is supremely cute...
...and the next child's room is called Little Boy Blu [sic] designed by Shelley Cahan and features a chalkboard ceiling with hand-drawn blueprints of a fighter plane!
One of the last spaces that visitors walk through on the self-guided house tour is the kitchen designed by Steven Miller; the space has been named House Beautiful's Kitchen of the Year. It might not seem like a likely color choice for a kitchen, but this glossy, sleek, all-black space is quite stunning and sophisticated while still retaining a sense of a traditional kitchen thanks to a more conservative door profile. I have been hearing my industry talk about the continuing decline of stainless steel as a finish choice for appliances and this kitchen's black refrigerator, ovens, and dishwasher certainly make that case. Additional sparkle is brought in with mica-flecked wallpaper, and slate and hematite-colored back splash tiles laid in a herringbone pattern. But the most striking feature is the geometric recess in the ceiling that holds an LED light feature lined with actual quartz crystals. The coordinating lounge area adjacent to the kitchen makes a nice transition to the outdoors.
If you live in or near San Francisco, consider visiting this year's Showcase. It is on until May 26, 2014. Geoffrey De Sousa mentioned to me that this and the Kip's Bay Showhouse in New York are the two most important interior design showhouses in the country!
http://decoratorshowcase.org/
The entry reception area by Jonathan Rachman features a mind-boggling floor covering: a custom area rug composed of brick-sized pieces of hair-on-hide stitched together and dripped with melted gold paint. The otherwise neutral space had touches of gold almost everywhere. The inspiration for the space, says, Rachman, was Kate Moss and the Lorde song "Royals." I liked the whimsical white and gold ceramic anatomically correct heart sitting on some books on a console table!
This living room by Heather Hilliard is deceptive... it looks plain in this photograph, but in person it is full of texture and light, looking out into the green backyard, the blue skies, and the blue of the Bay itself. Hilliard's design does not compete with the view but only serves to enhance it. The walls are done in a delicious lime paint which is burnished to a glass-like finish, much like Venetian plaster. The color of the paint changes in layers, giving the stunning impression of geological strata.
The Music Room by BAMO features an incredible, modern chandelier (Le Pentagone by Jonathan Browning Inc.) anchored to a golden-bronze-y ceiling. I attended the Showcase this year with some clients and we all fell in love with the very simple but effective window treatments in this room: roman shades made of a very loosely woven linen banded with fabric tape of a Greek key design. I will be designing a version of these for said clients soon!
When SageraBrazil Design proposed their design for the dining room, they were instructed to retain the hand-painted wallpaper that is original to the house! Other designers may have seen this as an impediment to their design, but George Brazil and Cecilia Sagera-Hill embraced the garden-theme of the paper and created a delicately verdant dining room that feels like one is dining al fresco.
The wooden library which features an original carved coat of arms for the Sutro family was done by Geoffrey De Sousa in a neutral palette to let the wood and views of the Bay sing. The massive blown glass shade over the library table is the draw in this space.
I love art hung salon-style and this Artist's Home Studio by Matthew MacCaul Turner uses art to great advantage. Since the space was imagined to be used by an artist, the raw wood floor was splattered with paint, as a real studio would be, which became an art piece in itself.
Lisa Bakamis created what she calls The Soaking Lounge, a bathroom sanctuary for a teenage girl. This space was full of disparate elements that puzzled me... I am not sure how a teenage girl would respond to the heavy, rustic reclaimed wood walls and live-edge wood counter, the gritty rope-hung industrial pendant lights, or the slate flooring. But interestingly, these things only served to make the colorful butterfly wallpaper and the pink tie-dyed curtains stand out even more. The space was uneven, but I include it here because when all is said and done, it is an intriguing mix... one that pleased me somehow. And I especially liked the leopard-print smoked mirror tiles from Ann Sacks.
The Woman's Office, so named by Laura Larkin, features an amazing product on the ceiling: a sort of quilted-rubbery wallpaper that looks like antique plaster work!
One has to be careful when creating a theme room for children: it can get out of control and end up looking like a nightmare version of Disneyland. But these two rooms really hit the right notes. The first three images are from The Little Roamer's Room by Regan Baker. Just like the dining room with its hand-painted wallpaper, this room sports the original wallpaper based on a design by Diego Giacometti. Baker used the motif of animals as a springboard for an adorable room organized around the idea of camping in the wilderness and all the adventures that entails. The array of stuffed animals in this space is supremely cute...
...and the next child's room is called Little Boy Blu [sic] designed by Shelley Cahan and features a chalkboard ceiling with hand-drawn blueprints of a fighter plane!
One of the last spaces that visitors walk through on the self-guided house tour is the kitchen designed by Steven Miller; the space has been named House Beautiful's Kitchen of the Year. It might not seem like a likely color choice for a kitchen, but this glossy, sleek, all-black space is quite stunning and sophisticated while still retaining a sense of a traditional kitchen thanks to a more conservative door profile. I have been hearing my industry talk about the continuing decline of stainless steel as a finish choice for appliances and this kitchen's black refrigerator, ovens, and dishwasher certainly make that case. Additional sparkle is brought in with mica-flecked wallpaper, and slate and hematite-colored back splash tiles laid in a herringbone pattern. But the most striking feature is the geometric recess in the ceiling that holds an LED light feature lined with actual quartz crystals. The coordinating lounge area adjacent to the kitchen makes a nice transition to the outdoors.
If you live in or near San Francisco, consider visiting this year's Showcase. It is on until May 26, 2014. Geoffrey De Sousa mentioned to me that this and the Kip's Bay Showhouse in New York are the two most important interior design showhouses in the country!
http://decoratorshowcase.org/
Monday, May 5, 2014
"Capitol" by Trust
Loving this retro-sounding gem called "Capitol" by Trust (Robert Alfons) from his recently released "Joyland."
http://www.ttrustt.com
https://soundcloud.com/ttrustt
https://www.facebook.com/dressedforspace
And Alfons is simply gorgeous...
...that HAIR... *sigh*
http://www.ttrustt.com
https://soundcloud.com/ttrustt
https://www.facebook.com/dressedforspace
Sunday, May 4, 2014
BEAUTY: Ceramics--Katharine Morling
Describing her work as two-dimensional black line drawings realized in three-dimensional porcelain, ceramicist Katharine Morling makes replicas of everyday objects... which end up looking like cartoons. Fun and fascinating!
Top to bottom: Butterfly Drawers 2; Chain Saw; Chair 1; Locked and Chained 2; Once upon a time; Poison Pen
http://katharinemorling.co.uk/
Top to bottom: Butterfly Drawers 2; Chain Saw; Chair 1; Locked and Chained 2; Once upon a time; Poison Pen
http://katharinemorling.co.uk/
Saturday, May 3, 2014
"The Long Game" by Delve
How creativity works, how it has been corrupted by our modern age... but what to do about it?
http://delve.tv/
http://delve.tv/
"Wait" by M83
The son returns...
...a bit of "Tree of Life," a bit of "2001: A Space Odyssey"...
..."Wait" by French artist M83 (Anthony Gonzalez).
http://ilovem83.com/
...a bit of "Tree of Life," a bit of "2001: A Space Odyssey"...
..."Wait" by French artist M83 (Anthony Gonzalez).
http://ilovem83.com/
Furniture by Charlotte Kingsnorth
Charlotte Kingsnorth designs wild furniture that looks as if it is being taken over and swallowed up by a creeping cushion. These pieces have a definite biological feel to them, as though the upholstery is a bacteria or a virus, advancing and devouring the chairs...
http://www.charlottekingsnorth.com/
http://www.charlottekingsnorth.com/
Friday, May 2, 2014
"Gan-Gan" by Gemma Green-Hope
This is an absolutely lovely, touching tribute from a granddaughter to her recently deceased grandmother.
The filmmaker Gemma Green-Hope says, "After her death in 2010, I helped my father and uncle sort through some of her possessions. I inherited some of her clothes to wear, books to read, a bicycle to ride. But how do you make sense of all the other things that someone leaves behind, the things nobody sees, boxes full of photographs, and bits of string?"
Indeed, the space left behind when someone you love dies is disorienting and bewildering. They may be gone, but all of their things are still here, making one wonder on a deeper emotional level, "Well, how can they be gone when their things are still here?"... that is one of the toughest parts of grief.
Green-Hope avoids being overly sentimental and by doing so manages to make her memories of her grandmother even more vital and important. This is the way to remember someone...
http://www.gemmagreenhope.com/
The filmmaker Gemma Green-Hope says, "After her death in 2010, I helped my father and uncle sort through some of her possessions. I inherited some of her clothes to wear, books to read, a bicycle to ride. But how do you make sense of all the other things that someone leaves behind, the things nobody sees, boxes full of photographs, and bits of string?"
Indeed, the space left behind when someone you love dies is disorienting and bewildering. They may be gone, but all of their things are still here, making one wonder on a deeper emotional level, "Well, how can they be gone when their things are still here?"... that is one of the toughest parts of grief.
Green-Hope avoids being overly sentimental and by doing so manages to make her memories of her grandmother even more vital and important. This is the way to remember someone...
http://www.gemmagreenhope.com/
Thursday, May 1, 2014
New work from iamamiwhoami!
I am excited about new work from the enigmatic Swedish group iamamiwhoami fronted by Jonna Lee. After their successful "bounty" and "kin" series, we are witness to the birth of a new series of work. The first three videos are below, starting with a song called "fountain," followed by "hunting for pearls," and "vista." The stunning, pristine visuals that marked the previous two series are back along with unique costumes, breathtaking images of nature (this time we explore a seaside area that becomes colder until it is frozen with ice and snow), a black and white color palette, and an internal system of symbols (a cube, a fish, an Ice Queen).. all deliciously fascinating.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/iamamiwhoami/270417754335
https://www.facebook.com/pages/iamamiwhoami/270417754335
Happy May Day 2014
This Northern Hemisphere festival is a traditional spring holiday. May Day is an ancient observation related to the Celtic festival of Beltane and the Germanic festival of Walpurgis Night. Rites and celebrations include the raising of and dancing around a Maypole, the crowning of a May Queen, gifts of May baskets (little baskets of candy and spring flowers), festive picnics, and bonfires (in certain counties in Ireland).
HAPPY MAY DAY!
by Johanna Wright
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