State of Lace

Ah - the weekend. For some, a break from the nine to five bore and snore. Families are pumpkin picking, men are losing bets over football, and classes take a backseat as college students booze. Wait, I’m in college, so where’s my vodka bramble? Oh ya, that’s right.. I’m in grad school - different kind of college. My weekend gets sucked into a big vacuum made by Hoover, model name "all work and no sleep", and the remains? Well there are none. The lack of weekend begins Friday evening after leaving my assistantship to go straight to an artist’s lecture. I return to my pad around 9:30, work on half drop repeats until the early morn, and then go back to my assistantship for the Saturday gallery hours of 11-4.

I admit, I make it sound grueling, but every second is worth it when I realize how surreal it is. The home of my assistantship is a 7,000 square foot sprawling ranch called The Design Center. Think Case Study Houses, or the Singleton Residence, now you’ve got the idea. This gem of a house was inhabited by Goldie Paley, the founder of CBS’ mother (a.k.a mom-in-law to style icon Babe Paley), before being donated to my university. TDC contains a huuuuge textile archive, as well as textile-manufacturing relics, apparel, and three lovely ladies behind the scenes. As if this isn’t enough to overwhelm the midwest doe-eyed girl in me, the Design Center also has gallery space where the lace-inspired work of three international artists resides: Demakersvan, Tord Boontje, and Cal Lane.

Ok ok, I’ll stop gushing and show you the damn pictures. First we have Tord. As you can imagine, hours and hours went into making this raffia curtain:

Tord's Design Studio was well-known for their beautiful light fixtures for artecnica prior to this exhibition.

Above: Midsummer Light, www.unicahome.com

Above: Come Rain Come Shine Light, www.unicahome.com

Below: Garland Light  (Give me this, now, in black please):

Good stuff, huh?

But check these one of a kind bad boys out:

Tord's maquettes of raffia designs, based on Quaker Lace sample(in top of photo):

Tord didn't stop at the raffia curtain and light fixtures.

How would you feel about this being front and center in your living room?

Yes.  This is a couch.  Yes, I've sat in it.  Yes, It's super comfy.

above photos: courtesy of The Design Center

With his lace-making approach to the couch, Tord has created a (very) modern rendition of a Victorian love seat, IMHO:

Furniture I found outside of Tord's Lace in Translation work includes the Shadowly Armchair / Chaise Lounge:

www.unicahome.com

Which brings me back to one of Erin's finds, a hooded wicker chair from her Round Top Round Up.

Enough with Tord, onward to Cal.  Cal Lane that is.  She's Canadian, and pretty much amazing.  She's the artist whose lecture I mentioned above.  I had seen her work in these next three photos before I saw her Lace in Translation work, which you may be familiar with also:

That's some durrrrty lace

Seeing her work in person, not to mention at the place I work at, is ten times better than any photograph:

Cal used a Quaker Lace Sample from the Design Center's collection as the inspiration for her burnout pattern in the grass (which as a result of mulching, I was able to give my classmates a whole new way to experience her work: through the smell of cow.)

The same design was used for her massive oil drum sculpture atop the pool.

above photos:  courtesy of The Design Center

Like I said, amazing, right??  Well, that's my rant.  Back to my unweekend plans of relaxing print work.  Ciao.

The Lace in Translation Exhibition runs September 24th through April 3^rd. Visit www.laceintranslation.com for details.

Time Bandits

It's an uncharacteristically bleary dreary day here in Austin and I need a lil' pick me up. Since I'm a responsible mom and have to say no to drugs, I've gotta get my fix from the exciting world of art and design. Despite the sludgy quagmire that is my "brain" these days (from lack of sleep, not the drugs I said no to, duh), I have managed to wrangle up some heelarious artworks designed to make you giggle from mind bending time warpiness. Like this:

Natasha Lawes is the super hair and makeup stylist responsible for creating the look for this ad campaign. Because everyone enjoys watching Marie Antoinette eat a weiner.

The inimitable Whorange introduced me to the amazing works of Ron English, who produced these bastard children of KISS and Botticelli. I cannot even tell you how much I want this. I may have to rework a few of my own vintage paintings...

Check out Tula's awesome writeup on his work, as well as her hilarious recounting of her first concert here. She went to KISS. I went to Ratt. Round one in the coolness contest definitely goes to Tula. But you know, what comes around goes around...

I've got a space open for this image by Serra Glia, too. The fire extinguisher is sure to quench any fire and brimstone that may threaten my home.

I want a baby unicorn.

Every urban apartment complex needs a guardian angel lurking beneath its windows, right?

Kings of anachronism the Timorous Beasties infect a traditional gentrified toile with a dodgy London vibe.

A closeup of the pattern printed on china shows that toile can bust a cap in your ass. Perfect print for sofas and other seating, yes?

No stranger to the vagaries of toile himself, artist Richard Saja creates dichotomies of time in his Historically Inaccurate series.

By day this innocuous toile piece depicts the marriage of King Arthur to Guinevere, but by night glow in the dark superheroes sewn into the fabric appear to show you a hallucinatory good time. No drugs required.

Ikea, I Hate to Love You

I pretty much don't buy new things. Mostly it's because I'm cheap, but when I'm making some pretense at self righteousness (usually when trying to justify the purchase of yet another thrifted chair to the Hunny), I say that I'm saving the earth. Pretty much single handedly. Ok, Karly helps, too. However, we're remodeling our kitchen, and gosh darn it's hard to thrift built in cabinets. Plus we're furnishing/decorating a nursery, and used sheets and rugs for le bebe just won't work for me. This newfound taste for uh, newness, has resulted in THREE trips to Ikea in the past week alone. If you've never been to an Ikea store, just know that a) there is never one conveniently located by your house and b) it takes hours just to navigate the showroom labyrinth.

You see, Ikea's "floorplan" is actually a nefarious plot designed to keep you trapped within the store for the longest possible time without actually causing brain damage. But I can tell you, it comes damn close. So today, I'm going to shower you with all the Ikea knowledge I've gleaned over the past few months of epic trips, in the vain hope that I might spot some goodies for you and prevent Ikea overload should you ever step into the store yourself. Even so, it might be best to tie a rope to your car, all Poltergeist style. Just in case.

First of all, what in the world have I bought there? Well, this corner of our nursery (yes, there is a bed in our nursery, but don't worry -- there's a crib, too) features a Ludde sheepskin on the rocker ($49.95), the Stockholm nubby throw ($29.99), a pair of black Jorun pillows ($14.99 ea), and linen Aina curtains ($49.99 for 2). Sorry, Le Tigre is not available at Ikea. I have to say that of all these items, I think the curtains are a steal. They're linen, 8 ft tall with rod pockets in the back and faux pinch pleats in the front. Good deal.

Additionally, I've bought a bazillion dollars worth of kitchen stuff there, including Abstrakt white cabinets and Nexus brown black cabinets. (You can read all about my obsession with both in this post.) I've been shopping for some kitchen accessories to go with, and I think these Asker egg shaped cups on rails are pretty swift. They also look nice in this cute office, which is sadly marred by that creepy "Hello." Link via Apartment Therapy.

And, of course, I love my giant wicker beehive light ($89.99 for the biggun) that hangs in our dining room, which currently looks nothing like this. At all.

In addition to all these purchases, my pinched pocketbook lusts after -- but will probably not buy -- the following items:

Blob lights! Ok, I might actually buy a pair of these bad boys because THE HUNNY LIKES THEM. This does not happen. Ever. Ikea Jonisk, $49.99. Awesome proportions -- it's big.

I would also lurve to have an entirely new patio set... alas, I am broke. But if you're shopping for a giant umbrella, Ikea has some super fantastic ones. This cantilevered badass is HUGE. Ikea Karlso, $129.00 for 10 feet of shade.

Ikea also rolled out these new deck chairs for the summer season. Brommo has all the elements of a classic: clean lines, decent construction, and it's comfy. Plus you gotta love a good rope chair. $59.99.

You could always imitate the effervescent Ione Skye and buy these lounge chairs for your outdoor wonderland. Karl Skrona is kinda pricey at $169, but if it's good enough for ex Mrs. David Netto... (Netto, what were you thinking, anyway? Ione is adorable!)

If you're among the rich and famous and have $129 to burn on ONE chair, the Ange is Salternini sweet. Oh, and Karly and I would each like a set of six while you're at it. Thanks!

Anna from Door Sixteen has the Karlstad couch, and I have to say that sucker is super comfortable! Another friend has the same sofa in a sectional configuration, and I am sorely tempted to sell my leather sofas and buy one, too. It's that squishy good. Do yourself a favor and buy the best fabric they have. $599 for gray wool flannel.

One of Ikea's greatest strengths is probably their textiles; the rugs in particular are priced well considering the materials and patterns. Clockwise from top left: 1) Admete, two sided cotton runner, $19. 2) Flatweave Jorun, two sided wool, $179. 3) Tarnby, braided jute $99 (much nicer in person -- very thick). 4) Stockholm, wool, $229.

They had some pretty cute new duvet covers when I was there, too. Love this one in a child's room, styled by Creature Comforts. Unni Slinga, $19.99 for duvet cover and two pillowcases.

Ikea's other greatest strength is its straight up cheapness when it comes to the basics:

Remember my last post about Blobs where I waxed hateful on Damien Hirst and how damn much money he makes for "designing" things like the light configuration in this home? Well, eight Ikea lights later and you've got your very own Damien Hirst design. Left: Lillholmen, $9.99. Right: Fado, $29.99. Boo ya!

So, in closing, I would like to summarize all the things I like about Ikea: 1) It's cheap. 2) Sometimes it's cool. 3) They have great customer service, as in they will take ANYTHING back. Are you listening muthereffing Target? I'm also in love with tiny Bob, the kitchen designer at the Austin store, and Kumar, the most excellent customer service dude, ever. 4) They have this new deal where using your debit card nets you a 3% credit on your next trip. Yay! Free money! 5) They only have reusable bags -- no disposable plastic nasties. 7) "Ice cream" cones. 6) Occasionally they give their products very funny names, like this corkscrew:

But it's not all sweet smelling rosy stuff. There are things I hate about Ikea, too. 1) It's far away. 2) It's really far away. 3) The zombies:

If you've ever been to a brick and mortar Ikea store, then you know eactly what I'm talking about.