Maison & Objet Varios

Magis

Poliform

Poliform

Ralph Lauren Home

Stelton

"Real" vs. "Kitsch"

As you know, I'm constantly trying to define my style, hone my skills & figure out what works & what doesn't work in spaces. Well, a concept I often think about is real or authentic design, art & accessories. vs. what make something kitsch or scripted or forced or "decorated."

I used to be THE culprit of kitsch when I started out. I wanted my college apartment bedroom to feel like a conservatory, so up went a huge painting of a conservatory & palms & a whole dollar store's worth of fake flowers along with it. eesh (I've mentioned this room before & still haven't found a picture of it- my albums are in storage!)

Anyway, since kitsch is often one of the easiest & cheapest things to do and one of the most readily available, we see it a lot in real life. Picture the person who wants their house to feel like a farmhouse so they buy farmhouse dinnerware:

When instead they could do something more authentic, like this home from Country Living, below:

Using materials & details that would possibly be used in a true farmhouse make this space authentic. The cow print is a fun playful addition to the room & it's not trying to be anything more than it is. The white ironstone is appropriate & beautiful.

Or picture the person who wants a Tuscan-feeling kitchen & fills it with an unusable amount of bottles of oil in the kitchen,

or dishcloths with winebottles on them, wine bottle artwork and throw in a mass-produced Tuscan scene or two. Now I do not mean to judge here, merely to get us thinking. I have been the culprit of this many a time. I think it's a really easy way of designing to get into for the inexperienced & I've SO been there. (how do you think I can describe this room so perectly?! ;)

But the interesting thing is how to figure out how we can evolve out of it, to figure out ways to create the spaces we desire without being inauthentic. To really evolve & become better. I like this styled buffet from Pottery Barn, below. It gives the Tuscan feeling without being as obvious:

Why show a picture of a bottle of wine with no intrinsic artistic value when you can simply have a wine rack? (This isn't to say that I think art with wine in it can't be beautiful, because I've actually very recently seen some amazing art with wine bottles in it) And, why have a picture of a potted palm when you can just head to Home Depot & grab a real one? (yeah, I know, you have to keep it alive ;) And I'm not talking about botanical prints of palms (which I love & I do think of as authentic), I'm talking about the early 90s looking artwork:

If you have stuff like this home, don't feel bad. Just maybe take a minute to reevaluate it. Ask yourself if you actually love the piece or if you just picked it up because it was inexpensive & came in 4' by 3' & fit the "theme" and in the blank space above the sofa. If those are your reasons, I'd say ditch it. If you actually look at it & do love it, then work with it. Thomas Kinkade (below) is one of America's top-selling painters & his name is also one of the first that pops up when you google "kitsch art." A lot of people love his work & the happy feeling it gives them. I say that if you really love something even if it is considered inauthentic, then keep it. If you love it, it's authentic to you.

I also do think it's possible to be ok with certain aspects of kitsch. For example, check out this space in decorator Kirsten Hollister's kitchen (below image from turquoisechic.com) where she uses a bunch of kitschy little paintings of flowers & groups them together casually, irreverently & has fun with them. She's using them for the pops of color & fun they add to the room and it's not displayed as precious art:

And I totally have a thing for really cheap old paintings of landscapes, boats, people & the water. I get them for around $5- $30 & I absolutely love them. I know they're not great art and are considered kitsch, but something about them makes me happy. I think the key is to just display them casually or en masse. The way you display art says a lot about it. (Is it lit up & in a $400 frame? Then that baby better be art in your eyes!) Image below from interiordec.about.com:

Here's a $5 cheapie I love (below) that I have on my mom's mantle right now. It's just causually leaning there & it's not a permanent fixture. It doesn't speak to me in any profound way, it simply added the color & feeling I was on the mood for in the room. It's more to create atmosphere than to be gazed upon as a work of art.

On this road also comes the fabric question. There are those who say that flowers belong in vases & not on fabrics. I really do see the logic & realness to this idea, but I'm still not there yet. I still love a pretty floral on a pillow or blanket. (I'll write more on this later)

One thing I am learning through all of this is that I don't believe in absolutes when it comes to design. Make your rules, but if something comes along & doesn't jive with your rules & you're okay with that, break 'em! I just think it's important to be aware of why you're making certain decisions & to be aware of why you're breaking the rules.

("They're more like guidelines anyway." ;)

4UDECOR - Maison & Objet Icono clash

Icono clash - Vicent Grégoire (Nelly Rodi)

A positiva subversão dos códigos, com humor e elegância. A decoração tem o prazer de reviver agitando os ícones do déjà vu. Épocas, estilos, folclores. A decoração questiona a tradição e o património, a fim de dar valor ao que existe. De uma forma lúdica, exercitando a liberdade e a fusão entre o arcaico e o sofisticado, o natural e o artificial, ao perto e ao longe, o meio urbano e o rústico.

Icono clash - Vicent Grégoire (Nelly Rodi)

A positive subversion is mocking the established codes with humor and elegance. The decorative revival takes pleasure in shaking up the icons of deja vu. Eras, styles, folklores. Decor is questioning tradition and heritage in order to give value to what has none and put what has too much back in its place . In a playful way, exercising freedom fuses the archaic and the technical, the natural and the artificial, the nearby and the faraway, the urban and the rustic.

4UDECOR - Maison & Objet Calligaris

Sala / Living room Calligaris

Varios ambientes / various environments

Nova cadeira Wien / New chair Wien

Na Maison & Objet, a Calligaris apresentou um stand fabuloso e apresentou a nova cadeira Wien.


At Maison & Objet, the Calligaris presented a fabulous stand and presented the new chair Wien.

4UDECOR - Maison & Objet Swarovski

A 4UDECOR esteve presente na Maison & Objet, feira de referência internacional. Com um pavilhão dedicado exclusivamente ao Design onde estiveram presentes algumas das inumeras marcas que representamos.

The 4UDECOR was present at the Maison & Objet, international fair of reference. With a hall dedicated to the design which was attended by some of the many brands we represent.

Vasos / Vases

Swarovski - Candeeiro / Lamp

Swarovski - Candeeiro / Lamp

Swarovski - Candeeiro / Lamp

Swarovski - Aparador / Multileg Cabinet Showtime

The Right Balance Between Order And Disorder....

Mr. Brock’s definition of aesthetic beauty made me reflect on how I put together the many pieces of the 'DESIGN PUZZLE,' that I call a beautiful and interesting room.

Horace Wood Brock may be a cutting-edge authority on the economics of uncertainty, but when it comes to art, he’s as traditional as they come.

“Beauty is back,” he said defiantly, discussing his collection, which is now on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. “Political correctness, move over.”

His collection includes a 17th-century Flemish cabinet-on-stand veneered with turtle shell, ebony and bone; an extremely rare Louis XIV Boulle longcase clock commissioned for the palace at Versailles; a Louis XVI fall-front desk by Jean-Henri Riesener; a George II japanned chinoiserie tea table; a garniture of floral Qing dynasty porcelain vases with Louis XV bronze mounts; and a Regency medals cabinet-on-stand veneered with precious woods. (His English Regency antiques have been promised to the Boston museum.)



Go here for the rest of the NYT article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/30/arts/design/30anti.html?_r=1

Mr. Brock’s definition of aesthetic beauty is based on a complex mathematical theory he developed. In the catalog he writes that beauty is present in an object “when the right balance is achieved between order and disorder.”

Go here to see collection:
http://www.curatedobject.us/the_curated_object_/exhibitions_boston/

*you may have to type in the above link and search for 'Splendor And Elegance' ( the name of his exhibit)

( enlarge any picture for more info and a closer look )

Renee Finberg 'TELLS ALL' in her blog of her Adventures in Design

The Right Balance Between Order And Disorder....

Mr. Brock’s definition of aesthetic beauty made me reflect on how I put together the many pieces of the 'DESIGN PUZZLE,' that I call a beautiful and interesting room.

Horace Wood Brock may be a cutting-edge authority on the economics of uncertainty, but when it comes to art, he’s as traditional as they come.

“Beauty is back,” he said defiantly, discussing his collection, which is now on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. “Political correctness, move over.”

His collection includes a 17th-century Flemish cabinet-on-stand veneered with turtle shell, ebony and bone; an extremely rare Louis XIV Boulle longcase clock commissioned for the palace at Versailles; a Louis XVI fall-front desk by Jean-Henri Riesener; a George II japanned chinoiserie tea table; a garniture of floral Qing dynasty porcelain vases with Louis XV bronze mounts; and a Regency medals cabinet-on-stand veneered with precious woods. (His English Regency antiques have been promised to the Boston museum.)



Go here for the rest of the NYT article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/30/arts/design/30anti.html?_r=1

Mr. Brock’s definition of aesthetic beauty is based on a complex mathematical theory he developed. In the catalog he writes that beauty is present in an object “when the right balance is achieved between order and disorder.”

Go here to see collection:
http://www.curatedobject.us/the_curated_object_/exhibitions_boston/

*you may have to type in the above link and search for 'Splendor And Elegance' ( the name of his exhibit)

( enlarge any picture for more info and a closer look )

Renee Finberg 'TELLS ALL' in her blog of her Adventures in Design

The Washington Post Santa!!

I wanted to thank Terri Sapienza so much for putting Pure Style Home on Blogwatch today in the Washington Post!! (For the recent post on my client's dressing room, 2 posts down.)

I was just sitting down for breakfast & opened up the Home Section to Blogwatch & was so shocked to see it on there!!! I started yelling because I was so excited & totally freaked my husband out because he thought something had happened with the baby. oops!

Anyway, it's like Christmas morning for design bloggers & Terri, thank you so much for being Santa! (Do you know how exciting this is for us?!!) I really appreciate it & can't tell you how great it was to call my grandparents & have them open up the paper to H2. ;)

ps- my dad read this post & was like, "I think you should tone down your excitement." Come on dad, do you know me?!!

4UDECOR - Esteve na Exposição de Ron Arad, Paris

Uma explosão de pura exuberância acolhe os visitantes ao Centro Pompidou do novo espectaculo do trabalho do designer Ron Arad: exuberantes linhas e cores numa fantastica apresentação de Ron Arad desenhado por ele mesmo. Se esta exposição a entusiasma, nada fará.

O grande facto desta exposição é que ela é mais do que apenas uma simples colecção de móveis e objetos exibidos como jóias individuais. Este é um raro exemplo em que a concepção do espetáculo em si é quase tão interessante como os objetos em exibição, com o espaço ocupado pela variação de curvas de elementos arquitetônicos.

Mesmo só os projectos arquitectonicos de Ron Arad - irão ser alvo da abertura de um museo que irá abrir em 2009, em Holon, Israel, por exemplo - serão apresentados através de modelos, filmes e imagens em plasmas. Elementos serão reconstruídos dos seus projectos arquitectonicos, incluindo o saguão e escadaria da Casa da Opera de Tel Aviv (1994), também estão incluídos.

Mas é no seu mobiliário que Arad deixa seu humor e talento através do olhar: o tonto, bouncy espiral pendurado luzes; o relógio maluco que parece um insecto gigante mutante preto projetando agora na parede, os famosos em forma de caracol "Este Mortal Bobina "estante; bulbosa o" Big Easy "em uma variedade de poltronas (duro) materiais; o escultural balançar das chaise longues que são nada mais do que duas alças, e assim por diante. Muitas destas cadeiras, incluindo as chaise longues e as cadeiras de costas direitas de molas que possuem ângulos agudos que parecem sentar-se impossível, mas a exposição comprova essa impressão errada, permitindo que os visitantes se sentem à vontade para experimentarem essa sensação (outra raridade a mostrar num museu).

Ron Arad, nasceu em Israel em 1951, vive e trabalha agora em Londres, é infinitamente inventivo, e ao mesmo tempo ele tem, obviamente, uma tendencia para as formas arredondadas. Ele também está interessado no som: a exposição está cheia de efeitos sonoros, e uma de suas invenções mais divertidas é um sistema estéreo e um conjunto de oradores utilizando cimento e metal enferrujado. Arad executa constantemente experiências com os materiais e as mais recentes tecnologias e nossa necessidade de uma aparencia bonita exterior para esconder o funcionamento interno das coisas é especialmente pertinente no contexto da construção do Centro Pompidou, projectado "de dentro para fora" por Renzo Piano e Richard Rogers, com suas "entranhas" expostas.

Alice Rawsthorn, critica de design do jornal International Herald Tribune, levou o Centro Pompidou à tarefa para a escolha de Arad bem como o tema de uma exposição, uma vez que o seu trabalho está intimamente ralacionado com a estética "numa altura em que o design é dominado por complexos desafios políticos , como resolver a crise ambiental e capacitar os mais pobres 90 por cento da população mundial para quem os designers são tradicionalmente ignorados. "

Esta exposição vai viajar depois para o Museu de Arte Moderna de Nova York (28 julho-19 de outubro de 2009) e posteriormente para o Stedelijk Museum, em Amsterdam (primavera 2010).

Centre Pompidou: Place Georges Pompidou, 75004 Paris. Tel.: 01 44 78 12 33.

Aberto das 11h até às 21h. Encerra às terças-feiras e 1 Maio.

Metro: Rambuteau.

Entrada: € 10 - € 12. Até de 16 Março.

www.centrepompidou.fr/

An explosion of sheer exuberance greets visitors to the Centre Pompidou’s new show of designer Ron Arad’s work: exuberant swooping lines and exuberant colors in an exuberant presentation designed by Arad himself. If this show doesn’t bring a smile to your face, nothing will.

The great thing about this exhibition is that it is more than just a collection of furniture and objects displayed like individual jewels. This is a rare instance in which the design of the show itself is almost as interesting as the objects on display, with the space broken up by the sweeping curves of architectural elements.

Even Arad’s architectural projects – a handsome design museum set to open in 2009 in Holon, Israel, for example – are entertainingly presented through models, films and images on plasma screens. Reconstructed elements of his built projects, including the foyer and staircase for the Tel Aviv Opera House (1994), are also included.

But it is in his furniture that Arad lets his wit and talent shine through: the loopy, bouncy spiral hanging lamps; the crazy clock that looks like a giant mutant black insect projecting the time on the wall; the famous snail-shaped “This Mortal Coil” bookcase; the bulbous “Big Easy” armchairs in a variety of (hard) materials; the sculptural rocking chaises longues that are nothing more than two loops; and so on and so on. Many of his chairs, including the chaises longues and straight-backed chairs on springs that lean forward at acute angles, look impossible to sit on, but the exhibition proves that impression wrong by allowing visitors to actually sit in some of them (another rarity in a museum show).

Arad, who was born in Israel in 1951 and now lives and works in London, is endlessly inventive, and while he obviously has a penchant for rounded, amorphous forms, he does not limit himself slavishly to them. He is also interested in sound: the exhibition is filled with sound effects, and one of his more amusing inventions is a stereo system and speakers set inside crumbling concrete cases with rusty metal supports, a nice comment on our obsession with high-tech materials (Arad himself constantly experiments with them and with the latest technologies) and our need for handsome exteriors to hide the inner workings of things – especially pertinent in the context of the Centre Pompidou’s building, designed “inside-out” by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, with its innards exposed.

Alice Rawsthorn, the design critic for the International Herald Tribune, has taken the Centre Pompidou to task for its choice of Arad as the subject of an exhibition, because his work is concerned with aesthetics “at a time when design is dominated by complex political challenges, like defusing the environmental crisis and empowering the poorest 90 percent of the global population whom designers have traditionally ignored.”

This show will travel to the Museum of Modern Art in New York (July 28-October 19, 2009) and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (spring 2010).

Centre Pompidou: Place Georges Pompidou, 75004 Paris. Tel.: 01 44 78 12 33. Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Closed Tuesday and May 1. Métro: Rambuteau. Admission: €10-€12. Through March 16. www.centrepompidou.fr/