How did this:
Come out of this?
People are so endlessly fascinating.
Animal Farm
If you've been reading this blog for more than five minutes, then it's no secret that I have a special place in my heart for animals. And brass. And especially for brass animals. I do own a sparkly little guy named Brian who brings me joy whenever I spy his upturned hooves from across the room, where he patiently defends his territory from the sometimes loving, occasionally psychotic embraces of a toddler who shares mama's love for four legged creatures. That's why when I saw this, I almost lost my marbles.
The home of Lauren Santo Domingo, via A Dreamer's Den.
Holy Claude and Francois-Xavier Lalanne! You know how you can just muddle through life -- just get by somehow -- and on the surface things are good, but there's always this little piece of you deep down inside that senses something is missing? This is what's missing from my life. I need a hippo bar.
While I'm self diagnosing my internal weaknesses, I think this is missing, too.
Via Little Augury.
Do you see that magnificent creature, with its furtive bestial head that says, Push me! Pull me! Also, its splendiferous practicality is not to be ignored. It's a desk. The Lalannes were nothing if not captains of industry.
Practical, yes -- but you have to admire their sense of humor. If dear old Francois were alive today, I'm sure he would have enjoyed Portlandia's cheeky advice to just put a bird on it. Birds make everything better.
I firmly believe the Lalannes were also responsible for the mouton movement, and here les moutons are lovingly ensconced next to a watering hole. So thoughtful of the designers. Stuffed animals have needs, too.
But in all fairness, my heart belongs to the bronze pieces, because I never met a bit of bling I didn't want to take home to meet daddy. Put a Lalanne alligator chair beneath a Francis Bacon painting and you have one of my favorite pairings of all time. This picture is so good that it just blew my mind up, and if I have one axon and dendrite left to fire up the old synapses and finish this round up, then I'll be amazed...
Architectural Digest
Thank you, Claude and Francois Xavier Lalanne -- you are entirely responsible for blowing almost all of my neural circuitry, but it was worth it.
Good luck working after all that mind blowing awesomeness.
Update: Spendy Art is Trendy Art
It's such a perfect day here in Austin -- the sun is shining, birds are singing, and I should be outside planting fall trees, but no. Huh uh. I'm huddled in front of the computer screen, waiting for last night's vodka to relax its greasy fingers and release my poor pounding head. The upside? My Obsessive Computer Disorder always reaches epic proportions in the fever pitch of my worst hangovers, and as a result, I found this on the Domino website:
Another Robert Longo sighting! All five of you who have been reading DC since the very beginning know I have a wee fixation with Art trend spotting, and months ago I wrote a post on the flurry of Longo prints that were cropping up in interiors. For the vast legions of our new readers, time to review:
Seriously -- how apropos are these 80's Longo lithographs of suicidal stockbrokers? Remind you of anything?
(Thanks to the lovely Raina at If The Lampshade Fits for this excellent montage)
But wait! There's more! While some folks may be downsizing or downright panicking about market volatility as a financial harbinger of the end of days, others are comforted by the fact that art is always a sound investment... Right? Right???!
Architect Peter Marino's clients certainly seem to think so, as the now ubiquitous Yves Klein table continues to make its rounds in the homes of the well heeled. A few months ago I chronicled the rise of the Klein blue table in tony interiors, like the home of design superstars Yabu and Pushelberg:
But if you'd like to review, check out the post here, where you'll find such gems as this quote by designer David Netto: "You're not living until you have an Yves Klein coffee table." Newsflash -- I'm dead! Well, that explains the tremendous headache and dizziness, now accompanied by nausea. Thanks!
Suddenly, though, I am struck by the thought that an Yves Klein coffee table might not be such a bad investment after all.
Just make sure you get the one stuffed with 24 karat gold flakes.