How to build a city.

I love this work by at swim-two-birds. Collage made from paper trash, then embroidered. Beautiful.

Retna wall.

One of the things I kept from a magazine was this photo of a wall in a parking lot. I thought it was quite beautiful and found out more about it here. This work is by Retna as part of ‘Wallworks’ – a project inviting a select group of graffiti artists to create a series of murals in the parking lot of the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas in December 2010.

Happy Christmas & here’s to a great 2011!

Tokyo Project 22

Tokyo Project 08

Tokyo Project 07

Shinkansen

Shinkansen.ver2 is a beautiful film by Daihei Shibata, of a journey taken by Shinkansen.

Tokyo Project 03

Tokyo Project 02

Tokyo Project 01

Today I begin posting a series of photographs taken during my time living in Tokyo between 2001-2007.

As I walked around the city I was endlessly inspired by the many day-to-day things I encountered. I don’t find I have the same experience living in Los Angeles. That’s somewhat due to the driving culture here (I no longer walk from place to place) but of course predominantly it comes down to the difference in society.

The things I found and shot in Tokyo were not what one would immediately think of being ‘typically Japanese’, however there is a certain underlying subtlety and aesthetic in the functional that I have yet to discover here in L.A.. When I first arrived in Tokyo I became paralyzed by the abundance of visual stimulation. After a while though, I couldn’t stop taking photos! A few years later, I was seeing on a different level again, and the subjects I photographed were a little less usual.

With a desire to rediscover my observations once again, here begins ‘Tokyo Project’.

Kaleidoscope

Homework pattern

Girard Geometrics

Alexander Girard (1907 – 1993) is another favourite designer of mine. Girard’s work combined the timeless lines of the modern with the playfulness and bold color of Latin American folk art.

These geometric designs are very similar to the Anni Albers Eclat design here.

The following are available at Maharam:

Facets 1952

Double Triangles 1952

Checker 1965

Checkersplit 1965

There is a beautiful cushion, covered in a limited edition lined fabric design by Girard, in the Eames Office in Santa Monica that I have been yearning after for ages. Every so often I go in and gaze at it!

The official agent to the Estate of Alexander Girard responsible for re-introducing Girard designs to the contemporary marketplace is máXimo.

Plyprint

Showers 1958, as seen here.

Alexander Girard

Stripes

Eclat

Eclat was designed by weaver and printmaker Anni Albers. She originally designed it in 1974 as a printed upholstery, but now Knoll Textiles has reintroduced the pattern as a woven textile named Eclat Weave, available from Knoll for $61 per yard.

I absolutely love this fabric and was so excited to spot it in Elle magazine. In fact I’m a big fan of Anni Albers work in general and aim to write another post about her very soon!

Stripes

One day

Evening shadows

Windows

Blooming spoons.

Quick design submission, based on spoons and flowers. Last day to vote on www.spoonflower.com