Meet Virginia

Perhaps the most rewarding thing about blogging is meeting new, exceptionally awesome people. Case in point: the other day, Karly and I got a lovely email from Virginia Fleck, who had heard about our site from super pal Sanders while buying paint at Benjamin Moore. Karly and I just about went into convulsions of joy when we realized Virginia is the artist behind these amazing recycled plastic bag mandalas seen in museums and public spaces all over Austin. Plus she was nominated for the Texas Prize, which is a HUGE bling bling deal around these parts. Plus she won the Juror's Award at the 2007 Texas Biennial (another really big deal). Check plus she works with teenagers on beautiful ecologically conscious projects. Oh, and she's a really nice lady, to boot. What's not to like about Virginia?

Well, if there is anything, I haven't figured it out yet. And certainly her artwork is enough to make you a believer in her cause: to "[reveal] the hidden beauty of the overlooked, disposable materials that continually pass through our hands... by collaging pieces of detritus from a consumerist society."

There is a long tradition of art made from trash -- Claes Oldenburg, Tim Noble & Sue Webster, even Marcel Duchamp, to name just a few -- but rarely is art made from castoffs so seductive and meditative. According to her artist's statement, Virginia's "mandalas made from plastic bags analyze the activity of consumerism as a spiritual encounter." I find it interesting that she breaks the cycle of numbing, comforting consumption, while translating that feeling into a more sublime experience of color and pattern and movement. The pleasure of viewing and thinking is intangible, but very powerful. See for yourself.

Can you believe that these used to be castoff, mundane plastic bags? Do they make you want to rifle through your own collection of bags in hopes of making something snazzy? (You DO recycle your bags, right???) The titles are just as good as the visuals. Clockwise from top left: flower pop, allah, heartland, tween.

Let's take a closer look at some details, shall we?

Holy hours upon hours of work! The aptly titled, buymore, features bits of recognizable branding, like Footlocker, Target, and the like. Similarly, liberty co-opts familiar logos and subverts their original intentions to sell, sell, sell (or buy, buy, buy, depending on your perspective):

It's more than a little disconcerting to see Lady Liberty hoisting a shopping bag in her hands, ringed by blankly smiling happy faces. It's become pretty apparent in the wake of the recent economic collapse that our national identity is connected with the consumerist impulse, and that democracy can be bought in big box stores. As long as our capitalist society is vitally intact, then America lives to reign as Superpower another day. Ok, end of rant. Funny story: during the early days of the Iraq War and all of the anti-France sentiment, a certain person close to me I shall call "X" (no, not Hunny Bunny) refused to shop at Target because he thought it was French owned. It's not. X, you may have single-handedly killed the US economy.

Back on point! It's hard to see from the 500 square pixels on your screen, but Virginia's mandalas range from big to enormous, like 7 feet tall. Let's check them out in their natural habitat -- on the wall:

At Austin City Hall.

A groovy backlit version at the Whole Foods headquarters.

A smaller version featured in Western Interiors. Don't you feel like you need one for your own wall?

Just when you thought Virginia and her work couldn't possibly get any cooler, you meet her teen proxies, the Angsty Teenage Eco Warriors:

Virginia has been working with teens for the past five years on ecologically conscious projects rooted in recycling. At this workshop, she taught them to make hip totes out of colored bags, as well as plastic bag mandala clothing.

I would call them adorable, but if memory serves, that is not the proper term for an angsty teenage lady. So I will just say that their interest in the environment is rad, and that their handmade clothing is amazing! Look at that mandala skirt, and I love the plastic bag tank top with matching belt modeled by the pink punk princess. What a great group! Virginia, your desire to educate the next generation in ecological practices brings a tear to my sentimental eye. I used to teach high school, and I know how important it is to start teaching kids to be self reliant skeptics as early as possible.

Oh, Virginia, I have such a crush on you. Your work is pretty AND smart, and you don't hoard all your goodness to yourself. Talented people everywhere, let this be a lesson to you: Spread the Wealth!

Coffee Table Decor, and a Contest!

Ahhh, the holidays!  Here they come, are you ready?  I'm sure that between basting the turkey, watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and polishing silverware, you'll be far too busy to take in some holiday reading.  However, I bet that as soon as your cousin's husband's daughter from his first marriage starts running around the room on a sugar high, you'll want nothing more than to retreat to a comfy guest bedroom with a glass of wine bottle of bourbon and a good book.  Enter, moi.  I've compiled a list of the best coffee-table books on the market today, all for you.  Enjoy. Oh, and try not to slip into a tryptophan coma. PS.  Stay tuned at the end of this broadcast for a contest that is sure to rock your bookshelf-in-need-of-decor life!

Geometric: Graphic Art and Pattern; Nicole and Petra Kapitza; available at Kapitza; images via creative review

If a picture is worth a thousand words, here is a rough paraphrase of what each of the images in this book are screaming:  "I am insane hand-made patterns.  I am beautiful.  Put me on your walls.  I will rock your world"

If, for some insane reason, sexy geometric patterns aren't you're thing, perhaps you'd rather see who's on the other end of the line when you make your 1-900# calls:

phonesex by Phillip Toledano

Intimate portraits of phone sex operators in their homes.  Be careful! One of them might be you!

Finished already?  No?  Need decor porn instead (that is what you're here for, right)?  Try these:

Japanese decor books (I have no idea what they're called) available here: Yvestown Shop

The lovely thing about these books - yes, I've actually touched their goodness first hand - is that they profile wacky interiors and exteriors of REAL people.  They are not always as glamorous as the shelter mag pictures we've become accustomed to, but, gosh dangit, those homes are in my budget.

Once you're done reading Japanese decor trends, how about you make some Japanese clothes?

Guess what?  I don't know what this is called either, but I found it here: Clementine's flickr

Ahhh, yes, the perfect coffee table book.  It's pretty, it looks like high-art, and your guests will never understand a word.  Love love love.

Ready to get back to decor?

How they work by 010 Publishers (image via yatzer)

A perfect opportunity to watch people more talented and productive than you while lounging on your sofa.  Bonus if you read this while eating a bag of chips.

If you need to feel better about yourself again, how about this little gem that profiles the interiors of brothels in Alemanha:

via Coisas de Maria

I know, I know, I could have done an entire post about this book alone.  Seriously, how rad are those rooms? You bitches know that I would live in any one of them.  Especially bottom left, swoon..

Ut-Oh, I smell a  fascist regime coming through to break up all our fun-time:

Faces of Evil : Faces of a Terrifying Dictatorship via cyanatrendland

Artist Hans Weishaupul created the faces of dictators over the past 100 years by compiling countless tiny, specially shot portraits of the citizens of the country the dictator ruled over.  Now, how's that for Dictator Chic?  This would be the perfect companion to my panther coffee table

And finally, because we are not living under a totalitarian regime, as promised, I give you, la contest:

In honor of her 35th birthday (she doesn't look a day over 29!) My good friend, Vickie Howell, is hosting a contest on her site.  Hooray!  She's giving away THIRTY FIVE BOOKS in honor of the big occasion.  Does this beat the 80's party she threw for her 30th? I don't know, but I think it's pretty darned awesome none-the-less.  You cats have until the 25th to score big, then it's light's out.

PS. I call 500 chairs!

The Doors of Perception

When I was 16, I had this obsession with what my mother's life at my age was like. It would have been 1969, and I imagined her running wild and free on the beaches of California, hanging with hot surfer dudes and smoking the reefer (Legal Disclaimer: I have absolutely no first hand knowledge of said activities). Sifting through various old photos showed me that Mom was stunning, with long, straight 60's blond hair and big Twiggy eyes, and the kind of figure that a 16 year old late bloomer could only dream about. So between the hot dudes, reefer, and hot mom, it was easy to envision this super glamorous, ultra hip, swinging lifestyle set to the music and crazed colors and all of the happenings of the sixties. Sadly, my obsession materialized as a suede fringed vest, ankle breaker clogs, oddly braided hair, and a predilection for The Beach Boys and Jefferson Airplane. Yes, something was missing in translation. Although my tastes have (mostly) matured over the years, there will always be this part of me that yearns to turn my house into an all out psychedelic den of mindblowing prints, patterns and colors. Because I'm too old to do drugs, people. But I still like The Beach Boys.

I wouldn't normally kick off a tour of my teenage dream pad with a bathroom picture, but the folks at M Interiors know something about mixing business with pleasure. The all-overness is killing me (in a good way), and I desperately need that swag light. STAT!

In the powder room, I will be featuring this wallpaper by artiste Virgil Marti:

Yes, that is fluorescent ink printed on black rayon flock. Hot damn, I love that wallpaper. Add some NyQuil, and you've got yourself an experience. Oh, and the blacklights would be sure to highlight any hygiene indiscretions.

Now that your hands are clean, you can come eat. The dining area would go a little something like this:

Wary Meyers, scroungy heroes of hip brokesters everywhere, starched vintage fabric onto the walls and used the leftovers to upholster matching cushions for their tulip chairs. Genius on the cheap.

The hallway leading from my fantasy dining area to the fantasy living quarters would be swathed in a trippy pattern from floor to ceiling, like this crazy tunnel of love from Domino:

Temo Callahan (whoever you are), the rest of your batshite insane pad makes me claustrophobic, but this is an epic Willy Wonkaesque masterpiece.

The living room will feature a ton of funky fabrics and patterns, of course:

M Interiors seem to be masters of mind reading, because I love this classic empire sofa recovered in a wackadoo print. Keeping the pieces vintage but recovering with fresh fabric prevents fauxchedelic syndrome:

Woof. No amount of NyQuil can make that palatable. The chrome legs, especially, make my eyes bleed. Even though this is a designer piece presented in Milan, I just know that's a cheap Sofamart couch with a nylon slipcover stretched over the foam. And that is wrong.

Must get back to my happy place, pronto!

Aaaahhhh... that's better. This picture by super photographer Ngoc Minh Ngo demonstrates the softer side of psychedelia. Of course, in my crazy fantasy pad, I would have to spice things up a bit. We'll be needing some art:

My real life pad may have to borrow these Andy Gilmore pieces from the fantasy pad. Because they're AMAZING. And homeboy has an Etsy shop. Yes he does.

I'll definitely need a special chair to sit in and concentrate on Gilmore's goodness...

This groovy chair upholstered in rad Jack Lenor Larsen fabric ought to do the trick. That dude had vision. Like the kind that comes from peyote.

Or, I could always keep the furnishings lean and go the psychedelic wallpaper route, a la Kelly Wearstler:

Whoa. Who needs a tv when you could just watch the wallpaper dance?

After all that dancing, I may need to chillax in my super restful bedroom:

Sorry about the terrible pictures, but I just had to show UK hotel, The Miller of Mansfield, getting its groove on. Bed In, anyone? I will be co opting that top headboard for the fantasy pad, thank you.

Perhaps I'll go a bit more minimal in the guest bedroom.

I love everything about this bedroom from Ngoc Minh Ngo's portfolio for my real life pad, including the fab psychedelic pillows. For my teenage dream home, though, I think we'll need a wee bit more drama.

Let's see -- this crazy wallpaper in a Suzy Hoodless designed hospital seems to be about the right color scheme... and who doesn't want a giant creepy owl hooting at them in the middle of the night? Whooo? Whooo?

Phew, I'm tired after a long and stimulating day of looking. I may need to sit in my little nook papered with this chill Ferm pattern:

The chair is staying, fo shiz. I will need it to sit and meditate on how the future is going to be so much brighter since we will soon be out from under the thumb of oppression, and we won't need to protest the war anymore, or rebel against narrow minded conservative zealots. Unless you live in California. Or Florida. I guess there's always a need for more flower power.