Duck Eggs

Yes, yes- I've been naughty. Its been almost a month! So much has happened- including a new job for me! (and fashion week, bastille day at le bain, weekend trips to visit friends, plus next month is do it myself month, but more on all this later) That is part of the reason that I've been MIA, trying to adjust to the new schedule, making sure I have my ducks in a row (digression, the co-op had a sign next to the eggs section claiming they had duck eggs. I searched for them and upon finding none, asked a receiving coordinator for them- to which he replied "There are no more." Dejected I continued shopping only to be paged over the PA minutes later "Will the shopper who requested duck eggs please find me, we have them!" BALLER! I took the massive box from this hands and let me tell you, the box is huge because THEY ARE HUMUNGOUS! I brought them home and have yet to eat any. Truth be told, I am a bit nervous- but I'm excited all the same. I was also away all weekend so I was not duck egg-ing it up. I'll try to remember to let you know how it goes).

Anyways my first day of work I jumped right in and went to a party with my new co-worker. We headed into to SoHo to the NY Spaces fete at Sicis' showroom. YES! That amazing tile showroom where they do things with tile you never thought possible.

Happy birthday Mister President.
So in addition to amazing displays they had rows where you could just help yourself to tile samples. And it was just beautiful to look at. And rainbow bright-y.

Kartell Party, and then some. SoHo-o-rama

Design Week ended more or less in SoHo. Our first stop was the Kartell party. I got there earlier than the rest of my peeps and was able to lounge like the coolest kid on the block in one of these sofas on a light up platform, whilst drinking a cocktail. Uber posh.
I was really excited to be there because Kartell makes my favorite piece of furniture ever. The Louie Ghost Chair designed by Phillipe Stark!HOW BEAUTIFUL IS THAT CHAIR?!! Really, just imagine it six of them surrounding a rustic, oversize wooden table with a gorgeous, metal chain chandelier hanging above. That, good sir, is perfection.
They have a great line in general. I'm a sucker for clear and plastic things, and lucite fits the bill to a T.
Finally, I was able to snap a photo of the most elusive creature in his natural habitat.
That dude with the Leopard Print Hair. Who is this guy? Why is he always around furniture? Does the carpet match the drapes?
Afterwards we jet-setted all the way across the street to the Artemide party, where we blah blah blahed our way past the door person into the event where everyone was drinking weird blue drinks that looked really gross. We left just in time to see Karim Rashid walking in, NOT WEARING PINK! So weird.

Our final stop was the Pin Up fete, where all the cool kids were. The fun b-list sighting was Julian Schnabel chatting up a cater waitress. So bizarre. Fun Fact: He looks just like Jack Nicholson in person.

And so we took a long nap the next day and had really attractive boys with washboard abs feed us grapes. Or we went into the office. Its a choose your own adventure post.

Blu Party!

Okay- so the best part of ICFF is the parties! Lots of boozing with the people that make my industry happen, the movers and the shakers, and lil' ol' me... Ever since Blu Dot moved into SoHo they have been known to throw the most baller parties in the 'hood. Their fetes always dominate the street with the well dressed design crowd overflowing to the curb outside.
Did I mention they are tons of fun?
Look! Carolyn found Alex from Rich, Brilliant, Willing!

And here's my posse. I love wearing a bedazzled turban. Really alot.
Congrats to Sight Unseen for throwing equally awesome events at the NoHo Design District. You go girls!

Scott Campbell

So- who doesn't love emails that start like this?

"This will be an extremely hip scene. Like, extremely. Want to be my date? I was told to bring my hot and fashionable friends. Come! Plus we haven't hung out in eternity.

xx

Julie"

Basically she was a beautiful siren and I was a lost traveler pulled into her fold of the super schamzcy, ultra-scene-y art world. And I'm not even gonna front, I loved it all.This is what I walked into when I turned onto Crosby street. A street whose cup absolutely over floweth with hip art kids. It was filled with movers and shakers, art lovers, and just those who want some of that to rub off. And of course a grody dude or two who were hoping to get a rub off themselves. There was no way for cars to go through, and there was no way to find the gallery. It was just a black hole in a wall, disappeared by the tangled masses of well dressed people.
And once I found my way to the hole in the wall, and pushed my way into the space (a total fire hazard, with only one way in or out, and a total humid gross zone) there was no way to engage with the art. It was just so crowded (with the likes of Kate Lanphear, Oliver Zham, Terry Richardson, Kaws, and Waris Ahluwalia, to name a few. It was like that night at the Met) but really, isn't that the point of a gallery opening? Obviously to people watch, judge ensembles, network, and pick up attractive people. Otherwise you might as well go look at the art another time. Julie and I wandered back into the gallery space near the end of the night, and finally it had cleared out enough to spend some time with the work.

The work was by Scott Campbell, and made of dollar dollar bills, y'all. The bills were stacked in hundreds and then cut down to create intricate designs. I'm pretty sure much of the work was done with a lazer cutter, the edges has small burns. This one reads "Sweet" "Sour."


OHWOW is hosting the exhibition titled "If You Don't Belong, Don't Be Long," and did a really excellent job designing the space. The lighting framed only the pieces, and nothing else, creating an moody atmosphere for the whole gallery, forcing your focus to where it should be, with the art.

Some of the work was, well, a bit cheesy/cutesy, like this darling butterfly. Like this should be a tramp stamp for a stupid girl, but for whatever reason the butterfly didn't bother me. In fact, I kinda like it. I think I was totally hypnotized by the details. And that is a rarity for me, to let the workmanship sing over the content. I guess this butterfly just seemed to make sense within the context of the show.
"All That Glitters Is Not Gold." A really special piece, the only one in these dimensions. And someone commented on how it also looks like a NYC subway. Very clever, very subtle. I wonder if that was intentional, or a happy outcome?

And this was made out of dollar sheets, before they were cut, straight outta the mint. I liked these ones the best because I like large scaled pieces, they demand attention!

Art and Architecture

Judy and I went to holler at a magazine launch at the Storefront for Art and Architecture. I love this space and how the walls become part of the sidewalk. There is apparently no door, just a wall that tilts open and you walk through. Or a wall that tilts parallel to the ground that is a seat. I sat on dat.

And they had this very interesting, I want to say kinetic, installation that Judy posed with. It was like a giant fish or a scale-y wall and tunnel. I enjoyed it. The website has more info on the sculpture.

YACHT/Bad Brilliance

Agathe, Jackie and myself headed over to Santo's to check out the Yacht concert. About a year ago Yacht played at Studio B. I bought tickets because I was so excited, but then totally forgot about the concert until the next day.
I felt foolish and that I wasted money.
That fate was not going to happen to me twice!
Opening for Yacht was Bad Brilliance. I'm not sure how to talk about the performance. It was definitely a spectacle, really fun to watch, totally bizzare but I'm almost positive it wasn't actually any good. Completely disposable, but then again that is my favorite type of work.
There was a red carpet with security, booty dancers, breakers, and old people getting down to Bad's hip hop beatz. It was completely fabricated, perhaps going back to Andy Warhol's ideas of celebrity.

And then YACHT CAME ON! He rocked the show, as one would expect.
This time Yacht is two people, a lady and the dude. The lady is new. I could go either way on if I think she should be there or not, but I felt that thier on stage act was kinda wierd. It seemed as though she kept annoying the dude, saying the wrong things and embarrssing Jona. I didn't like it. And thier "talking to the audience" act was a bit too plastic, I like to know the performers. BUT they still kicked out the jams and showed us a new music video, so I can't complain much.

Stephen Sprouse

Darling Stephen Sprouse, although dead, has been making a huge comeback, probably thanks to Louis Vuitton revival. I stopped by the exhibit at the Dietch Projects... the big one. It was great, although I think the space could have been better exploited.
What was cool was a whole wall of poloariods that had photos of all the people he chilled with, like Debbie Harry, and naked dudes. And also, a black light room with many of his sketches.


Literally the next day I went to a desinger's studio/house (I don't want to say because it is one of our clients) but she had a REAL Mies Van Der Rhoe bench that had been Stephen Sprouse graffittied by the real Stephen Sprouse. Aparently they had been buddies and worked together to design a line of fabric, which has only recently been discontinued.
That is cool.

Ben Jones

I went to the Deitch Projects last night to check out Ben Jones' multi-media make your brains go crazy install, The New Dark Age.
It was really hip, colorful, loud, and patterned. In other words, I fell in love. The joint was SO packed that I couldn't really take decent photos of the work, but I think that just gives you, the reader, more incentive to check out the jamz in real life.



The only real con I have is that the way the projectors were set up it was hard to get in to see all the work. Everyone was packed into one side of the room, and I'm not sure that was intentional.
I also loved this... well call him a guardian, of the install room. The first thing you see when you enter, just to give you a little taste of magic.

The New Museum

When Katie called me up and said "Hey! You wanna do something that's not drinking? Something during the daylight? Expand your mind, give you exercise, cultivate your opinions!?" I said sure, of course, splendid!
We traipsed on down to the New Museum.
My last experience with the New Museum was its first exhibit since the move to their massive building on the Bowery. It was called Un Monumental and it was true to its name. The work was basically bunk with only two exceptions that I can recall.
We started at the roof and worked our way down. The view was AMAZING! Look at Katie, dealing with her fear of heights spectacularly.
Next we were greeted by two floors of Elizabeth Peyton. Her work followed with the un monumental idea,. The portraits looked like a girl who really liked rock music in the 90's did it. My imagined internal dialouge for Liz P. was something along the lines of -
"Oh hey, I really like Kurt Cobain. Look at his photo in Rolling Stone. I'm going to paint it. Oh hey Sid Vicious, I'm going to paint your photos. Let me holler at Kieth Richards for good measure. Mmmm Oasis, a painting of Liam should do just fine."
Her choices of who to paint seemed very obvious. It felt like a collection of one rock fan's work. The only thing I really liked about the work was all the dudes looked like ladies, and that's always hot.
There was a little video installation in the stairwell that I got much more out of than any other work... but it was still not THE BEST EVER!!1!


The New Museum still has some work to do.