Design Hive

At the Maria Baldwin School in Cambridge, MA:

Saturdays through Dec. 20, 2008

 

Last Saturday, a friend (and fellow RISD alum) and I dropped in on the Design Hive in Cambridge to check out one-of-a-kind design wares. We were delighted to find a wide assortment of unique, quality creations just in time for the holiday season. Located in the cafeteria of the Baldwin School, a short walking distance from Harvard Square, the Hive was buzzing with talent.

 

I couldn’t resist a hand-crocheted baby hat from Loops created by Alexia Cohen. I was captivated by beautiful, three-foot by four-foot monotype prints of stunning originality by Emily Taranto-Kent. She describes her organic work as "inspired by eastern philosphies and very modern."  Neither Alexia nor Emily has a website yet, not even business cards, but it’s only a matter of time. They’re great examples of the fresh, up-and-coming designers to be discovered at the Hive. Contemporary porcelain pottery from La Tavola Pottery by Michele James Hurley, another RISD alum, was a highlight as was glassware by Titan Glass LLC, unusual steel housewares by Mean & Wroughten, and jewelry by Alessandra Designs. I’m leaving out other apparel and clothing-accessory designers only because I’m fashion impaired; it’s by no means a comment on their work.

 

The Design Hive is the brainchild of Val Fox, founder of Red Valise, a web-consulting enterprise. She was recently a guest on Fox 25’s “The Look,” talking about the Design Hive. The indie market will continue each of the next six Saturdays 10:00 am- 5:00 pm, featuring 30-50 rotating designers each event. You don’t want to miss it.

 

by Katie Hutchison for the House Enthusiast

A Man Named Pearl

Showing at the MFA October 2008

You may have heard of Pearl Fryar. He’s the self-taught topiary artist at the center of the award-winning documentary produced and directed by Scott Galloway and Brent Pierson, now showing at the Museum of Fine Arts.

According to Fryar's Topiary Garden website, twenty years or so ago Pearl Fryar received a three-minute pruning lesson at a local nursery in South Carolina that changed the direction of his life. During off hours away from the can factory where he worked, he began, at nearly fifty years old, to transform his three-acre yard into a topiary garden. He hoped to win a yard-of-the-month award from the Bishopville Iris Club. He did far more. The Garden Conservancy reports that his garden is now known internationally for its fanciful creations that include, at minimum, 35 species shaped into roughly 500 abstractions.

In The Boston Globe review of the documentary, Wesley Morris writes, “Galloway and Pierson smartly pull back a bit to give a sense of Bishopville, a still-segregated town. Fryar seems all the more remarkable for not allowing racism to prohibit his success.” Fryar has become a local hero and inspiration for many. Don’t miss your chance to learn his story and see his art. There are three more showings of the film at the MFA after tonight’s.  Buy the DVD from Amazon. 

Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling

At MoMA until October 20, 2008

For many, prefab connotes something akin to a glorified trailer. Recently Modernists have been working to beat that rap with entrées in the market like the NextHouse from Empyrean created in collaboration with Dwell magazine, the Sunset Breezehouse designed by Michelle Kaufmann Designs with Sunset magazine, and FlatPak by Lazor Office. For those with less Modernist taste, the Katrina Cottage 1 designed my Marianne Cusato, available soon through Lowes, has been doing its part to rehab prefab. Cusato’s design is the result of Andres Duany’s idea to provide “a dignified alternative to the FEMA trailer,” according to the Cusato Cottages, LLC website. Remarkably, at MoMA’s “Home Delivery” you don’t learn much about the new directions these current prefab ventures are headed. Instead you explore prefabs of yesteryear, options currently available only abroad, or contemporary one-offs commissioned specifically for “Home Delivery.”

Read more

Micro Mini Car Day

At the Larz Anderson Auto Museum on Saturday, July 12, 2008

microcar2.jpgIf you find yourself within driving distance of Brookline, Massachusetts Saturday, stop by and partake in Micro Mini Car Day. I attended this annual event five years ago and loved it. The playful ingenuity of participating cars from the 50’s, 60’s, and today is sure to delight folks this year as well. It's better than a hands-off show; rides are offered around the lawn in some of the pint-sized treasures. Don’t be surprised to see young and old lining up in anticipation.

Micro and mini cars were originally the genius of post World War II European engineers looking to devise modest cars that could be operated by injured veterans. To the industry’s surprise, these cars caught on with a far broader audience. Recognizing an opportunity, aircraft manufacturers, barred from aircraft design due to the Reparations Act, switched gears and began designing cars. Theirs was a fresh approach to devising an affordable mode of transportation. Micro cars with single-cylinder engines were capable of traveling up to 80 miles on a gallon of gas. They were highly maneuverable and most of all downright loveable.

Take the BMW Isetta (shown above). This microcar with 10” diameter wheels features a single, side-hinge entry door across the front that includes the dashboard and steering wheel. Outfitted with bug-eyed (or perhaps pug-eyed) headlights, two chrome bumper arms, and a flush snout, this two-seater has personality. In 1958 you could get an Isetta for around $1,000. Today, you can’t help but smile upon seeing one. These fuel-efficient wonders hint at not just the past, but the future. Go for a ride; you’ll see.

by Katie Hutchison for the House Enthusiast

Birth of Cool: California Art, Design, and Culture at Midcentury

At the Addison Gallery of American Art until April 13, 2008

Where have I been? I only discovered the Addison Gallery at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. a couple of weeks ago. According to their website, it was established in 1931 as an “academic museum dedicated to collecting American Art.” It boasts a collection of 16,000 works, including 6000 photographs, some by Walker Evans. Apparently he was an Andover alum. Who knew? Not me.

It was the “Birth of Cool” exhibit that brought me to the museum for the first time. The exhibit title was borrowed from a 1957 Miles Davis jazz album by the same name. The featured work spans many media: painting, music, animation, architecture, photography, and furniture. The introductory signage announces, “This exhibition takes a retrospective look at the distinctive fusion of high modernism and a ‘cool’ aesthetic that were a defining aspect of Southern California culture in the 1950’s.” It’s a fun idea for a show, exhibiting a variety of artifacts ranging from the first Barbie, to abstract “Hard-edge” paintings, to Charles and Ray Eames molded plywood chairs.

Read more