Mid-Century Moderns for Rent
A fantastic compendium of exceptional vacation rentals appeared on if it’s hip it’s here yesterday. They must have trawled a lot of luxury rental agency sites to select these gems (plus many others).
Get Met Mania This Summer : Special Exhibitions Galore
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has outdone itself this year with a schedule of summer exhibitions to amaze its seasonal sea of visitors and keep the revolving doors turning at 78rpm until “back to school” time comes around.
We don’t usually go Baroque here, but must make note of Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe, on show in the Met’s special exhibition galleries until 21 September.
Goetheian Crayons = Pure Beauty
From Better Living Through Design, we discovered these German-made chunky crayons of pure beeswax and natural pigments. The box is so beautiful, it makes sense to buy two, one to use, and one to keep. The 25 colours are derived from Goethe’s Theory of Colours. How very German. Buy them at Design Within Reach. We don’t usually post about modern product design, as there are already too many design blogs covering the territory too thoroughly. But this was too good to keep quiet about.
Kunzru: The Expensive Search for What Money Can Never Buy
“Self-fashioning through shopping is a perfect pastime for the modern control society – non-threatening and solipsistic.” (Hari Kunzru for The Guardian)
Kunzru just wrote a piece for The Drawbridge (also excerpted in The Guardian) on the vacuousness of “luxury”. This is not an earth-shaking article and most of its points are self-evident to the aware. Nevertheless, it bears reading as a succinct essay on obvious truths that too many have somehow managed to overlook, look over, and choose not to look at. Also, it is by an author whose first novel I enjoyed tremendously, and whose subsequent ones I also enjoyed.
Tropical Modern Master : Ossipoff
Tropical residential design for a changing world is a topic we pursue with a passion. In this pursuit it has been impossible to overlook Vladimir Ossipoff, hailed as the master of Hawaii modernism. His principles and programs for creating homes that manifest an enlightened approach to appropriateness, aesthetics and comfort are well worth studying. Particularly for all of those who are involved in the intense development boom in tropical havens like Bali, the Caribbean, the South Pacific and elsewhere.
So do take note of a seminal exhibition of Vladimir Ossipoff’s work which opened at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, and is coming 2 September – 24 October to the newly renovated exhibition gallery of the august Yale University School of Architecture.
Textile Designers Take Note: Big Batik Exhibition in Hawaii
Lush, crisp, sophisticated, graphic, earthy, arresting. Antique batik at its highest levels has much to offer contemporary textile designers. Far more than one would think based on the banal repertoire of tourist batiks which are the most frequently seen examples outside of Indonesia. Visit the Honolulu Academy of Art between now and 5 October to see Indonesian Batik from the Christensen Fund for yourself. What an exhibition. Inspirations abound.
Vomitrocious No. 1: Gold Pet Mattresses
I am starting a series of posts called Vomitrocious. That is the only word I can come up with that fits the grotesque sort of “luxury” products that are being produced and marketed now. So here is Vomitrocious No. 1. I shall inaugurate this series with 22K gold mattresses for dogs and cats. As seen on Luxist. The Luxist blogger even admitted “I have a Maltese, but she does NOT have a Gold Pet Mattress. And that’s okay with me.” I certainly hope so.
Simple Affordable Tropical Home?
Residential architecture, particularly for the tropics, is a matter of great importance to the Sleeping Tiger on the Island of Bali. Here is a simple, efficient, affordable home design which has been getting a great deal of buzz. Built in the non-tropical region of Santiago, Chile, the Biehl House by Jorge Garcia and Daniel Rojo is a splendid inspiration for all manner of tropical and temperate homes. Keep it simple, but make it beautiful, and consumption-driving trends be damned. Let that be a manifesto for our age.
John Hardy, Eco-Celeb: Make Up! Hair! Get this Man a Face Blotter!
How did we miss this? John Hardy, who is adored for his earnest eccentricity, wacky warm heart, and acute eye for great Indonesian textiles, was featured in Destinasian way back in February in an article entitled “Much Ado About Bamboo”. And we missed it. How?
The article delved into some of the true grit of what John does, which is utterly organic, earthy, muddy and valourous. Good for that, I say. John is a likely chap, with plenty of grit under his fingernails. A real hands-on kind of guy who never shirks a good wallow in the rice paddy. But I must say, with all that soil-tilling, the man needs a manicure, frankly. There should be a charity to support nail care for this eco-warrior who doesn’t give a toss what people think, he just gets on with what he believes in, which is grassroots greening of everything he sees. But nails are not the only grooming issue exposed in the aforementioned Destinasian article.
Learn Pro Photography Skills in Ubud
Vincent Sung, a Korean photographer whose career has ranged across the globe is now offering photography lessons at all levels at his newly-established Visual Sponge Institute in Ubud, Bali.
Handsome, charming, fluent in numerous languages including French and English, Vincent has extensive experience teaching photography around the world. He delights in helping people of all ages and nationalities to make the most of their “visual spongeing,” whether their goal is nice holiday snaps or a successful professional shoot. His own portfolio includes edgy fashion images, interiors, architecture, lifestyle shots and feature magazine work.