Architectural Digest: Redeemed
I’m not a huge fan of the American magazine, Architectural Digest. Often, the properties featured cross the border between the extravagant and the vulgar, with unleashed spending taking priority over good taste and good design. My sister, a champion of simple living, refers to the magazine as Barfitectural Indigestion, which is perhaps a bit excessive, but less excessive than the properties AD usually features.
Well, AD has redeemed itself in my eyes with the forthcoming September 2008 issue, already visible online. There is more taste, restraint and reality in this issue than I recall having seen in AD for decades. The most noteworthy contents for me are the Venetian home of one of my favourite dealer-designers Axel Veervoordt (above), and the minimalist Mexican retreat of Michael Schaible (below).
Perhaps the economic “come-uppance” that America is experiencing has inspired a return to sobriety and quality after the wanton material excesses of the past decade.
Nice Luzon Tribal Art Site
The Antique Luzon Tribal Art Connoisseurs Organisation (ALTACO) website is simple in presentation, but rich with images and information. I specialise in the arts of the Indonesian archipelago, and don’t often go exploring online for information on Luzon art, but I happened to stumble on this site today. The extensive photo archives contain hundreds of 19th and early 20th century images of everyday life and rituals, including some gruesome photos: a beheaded constable, the roasting of a dog for a head-taking ritual (trophy head in foreground), and so forth. The site, which appears to have been updated only occasionally since 2005, offers a wealth of information in the links, references and research topics pages, and features a “tribal arts issues” page which is relevant to tribal art in general, not only Luzon tribal art.
Beloved Bali Hotel Starts Rehab in October
Breaking news. One of Bali’s most beloved hotels plans to close in October for a few months of rehab. The story behind the upgrade sounds like a chapter from the life of a celebrity hostess. The year before she is to celebrate a landmark birthday, she goes off to the surgeon and the health spa for a few months, then reappears in time for her fête in a grand form, looking more glorious than ever, and much younger. The hotel in question has a landmark anniversary to celebrate in 2009. You heard it here first.
A Shoemaker’s Son Goes Barefoot: Ferragamo Resort in Bali?
It looks like there will be a Ferragamo fashion resort in Sanur soon. Ferragamo’s hotel people are just completing negotiations on a four hectare plot of beachfront land on Mertasari Beach. We’ve got Bulgari in Bali already, Ferragamo soon, so I expect Versace won’t be far behind.
Salvatore Ferragamo was a shoemaker whose name became a global luxury brand – - a brand which is now one of the few fashion houses in Italy that is still family-owned and not part of a big luxury conglomerate. His son Leonardo (above), an astute businessman, founded the family’s hotel business Lungarno Hotels. Now Lungarno is about to close the Sanur deal. I happen to know which plot of property Leonardo’s snapping up (see aerial image below). Also see a bad snapshot of the site (above).
So it seems the old adage is correct. The shoemaker’s son will go barefoot. In this case, barefoot on the sands of Sanur. Leonardo is a keen yachtsman, by the way. Will we be seeing his speedy sailing yacht anchored off Mertasari beach someday soon? Stay tuned for more.
Just Say: Go Get Yourself Luxed
For those of us who have found ourselves living in interesting places, there is a price to pay. Many prices, actually. One of them is handling the deluge of enquiries from friends-of-friends who get in touch for information on places to stay, what to do, where to shop, and all manner of other likely and unlikely questions.
Here is the answer. Tell them, “Go get yourself Luxed.” Refer all enquiries to the LUXE GUIDES and they will thank you profusely ever after. This series of breast-pocket-sized, drool-proof, accordion-folded guides answer all the questions worth asking.
Reflections on the Dubai Death Star
It’s not often that a vision of its destruction precedes the construction of a large high profile building. Poor Rem Koolhaas. His master scheme for developing Dubai includes an ominous orb that has been blogged to bits as the “Dubai Death Star”. Images of Darth Vader’s devastated Death Star are paired with pics of the Koolhaas ball, all over the web.
2008 Perfect House Award
The Susi Johnston Homeless Nomad Architecture Award for the Perfect House of 2008 goes to Alberto Campo Baeza’s Olnick Spanu House. There is nothing more to say.
Joel Cooner : The Zen Texan
An in-depth interview with tribal art dealer Joel Cooner has just been posted on the Tribalmania website. Joel is known for his exquisite eye and his talent for arranging artefacts in such a way that the arrangements are works of art in their own right.
In the interview Cooner reveals his inspirations, and shares his advice for collectors. He talks straight, and with an earthy familiarity, as only a Texan can, mixing sophisticated art jargon with down-home metaphors. When you read the interview, imagine the words delivered with a warm Texan twang and you’ll get the feeling.
BLUE Until 18 September
The colour blue has calming and restorative properties. If the stresses of a roller-coaster economy and the strains of everyday life are taking a toll, visit the BLUE exhibition at the Textile Museum in Washington DC. At least visit the website, then download the gallery guide, and look deeply into the blues there, like the Javanese “clouds” batik above. The BLUE exhibition runs through 18 September, so there is still time to dive into the blue in DC.
(Sorry, I shouldn’t have used the word “runs” in reference to blue textiles, even though indigo can be very colourfast. So, I’ll just say the exhibition “persists” through 18 September. How’s that?)
Intermission – The Congo
We interrupt this show to share with you the story of a remarkable woman, my sister, Emily Johnston. She just arrived back in America after a stint in the Congo, passing through Rwanda, working as a doctor (that’s her team above). The faces say it all.
Here on my little blog, we are involved with design, art, antiquities, architecture and all of those beautiful things. Honourable, yes. Meanwhile, others are on the frontline, at the raw edge of the human condition. Like Emily.