Best Photog Blog in Bali : Rio Helmi
Rio Helmi is one of the most extraordinary characters in Bali. He’s best known as a photographer of culture, travel, buildings and food (sometimes), but there is much more to him than that (as if that wasn’t enough). I wouldn’t be so presumptuous as to describe Rio here, and risk making the poor fellow blush when his RSS feed finds this post. I will instead refer you to his newly established blog, which is a feast of fine content.
Brains + Taste + Restraint = Curated.
I chose to use the word “restraint” here deliberately. Restraint as in “child restraints” or “self restraint.” The concept of restraint is something I sermonise about every day. Good design requires a lot of restraint. There are a tremendous number of wonderful products out there for interiors, from flooring to ceiling light fixtures. But you don’t need to use them all, just because they’re so cool you can’t resist. You must resist. The principles of good design demand it.
I found an interior design studio today that understands restraint. The firm is Curated. They seem to understand restraint in two different ways. They clearly understand restraint in choosing elements to combine in a space. I see a dedication to relevance and appropriateness in their portfolio that is uncommon. They also understand restraint in terms of the designer’s duty to restrain the client when necessary. Good design is not saying “yes” to every whim and watching the total spend spiral skyward (with a smug smile).
It’s All Greek to Me
I love it when I see antique textiles serving as inspiration for new ones. And here is a lovely example: Naxos upholstery fabric by the Pollack Studio in a high-tech cotton blend, woven in Switzerland. The inspiration for this elegant jacquard seems to have been an embroidered pillow cover from the Greek islands dating from the 17th or 18th century. How did I figure that out, you may ask?
While browsing for upholstery fabric for a client I came upon Pollack’s Naxos and remembered a “Textile of the Month” I saw on the Textile Museum’s website about a year ago. The image above shows the old and the new, and that both are very beautiful textiles.
Ogle Great Gold Online
The Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore has an impressive collection of ancient ornament from South and Southeast Asia. Early Javanese pieces like this large Sri ring (7th-9th century), are one of the collection’s strengths. Many of the most beautiful gold ornaments exhibited, including this ring, were part of a substantial gift by Mr and Mrs Andy Ng in the late nineties. When I visit Singapore I always make time to visit the museum to ogle the gold.
It’s no longer necessary to visit in person, though. Go to SGCool (Singapore Collections Online), where you can browse a large online repository of art and artefacts in the collections of numerous Singapore museums. We love online collections, they are a rich source of inspiration and information.
Image © 2007 National Heritage Board, Singapore
Royal Cremation in Ubud
The royal cremation in Ubud yesterday was the biggest ever, and the best publicised. A media centre was set up for the event, marshalled by Edelman PR Indopacific. I think this must be the first cremation in Bali to have its own publicists and press office. And its own blog, too. The wires picked up the story and images, and the New York Times did a big feature, which I feel is the best piece (for mass consumption) yet written about this event.
Image © 2008 Imp Winartho (detail of original)
The Yak Awards 2008
Saturday night we went to the Yak Magazine’s annual Yak Awards party at KuDeTa. It was fantastic fun with free flowing Moet, and vodka shots sloshing out of an ice sculpture at the oyster bar. Trays and trays of kinky canapes kept the usual Seminyak crazies from drinking on an empty stomach. Among the slew of Ubudians in attendance, I found painter Jason Monet with a plastic cat around his neck and a busted leg. Bruno wore all white with ancient chalcedony round his neck. This sartorial splendour made him a bit of a hag-magnet and he spent most of the evening beating off old new agers and trying to get back to the bar.
Pantai Lima Preview Party
Friday evening we were at a sneak preview party at Pantai Lima, a collection of five luxury villas on the beach in Pererenan. Mary Justice, Bali’s PR whizz kid, pulled off this publicity coup with aplomb despite the unfinished state of the villas. She was looking distinctly piratical on the night, sporting a black eye patch (above, with Sophie Digby of The Yak). It wasn’t a fashion statement, however. She just had urgent eye surgery in Singapore. How MJ managed to do so much with so little is a mystery to me.
Meditate on This
All is Buddha. Each form, each particle is a Buddha. One form is all Buddhas. All forms, all particles, are all Buddhas. All forms, sounds, scents, feelings, and phenomena are also like this, each filling all fields. – Pai-chang
This great truth can now be made manifest on your walls, affordably. Alchemy Collections of Seattle offers these sandstone tiles to order, with an all over relief pattern of many, many Buddhas. These commercial quality tiles measure 25 x 40 cm, are made of 80% natural quartz and 20% resin, and retail at $30 each. Buddhacious.
We Dig Kundig
Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen is one of my favourite architecture firms. So of course I am delighted that OSKA partner, Tom Kundig has won the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award 2008 in the architecture category. Bravo, Tom. His work and that of his partners and associates in this Seattle-based firm has been applauded by Seattleites for decades. Now the wide world is discovering OSKA. And Tom even got to visit the Whitehouse recently in connection with the award.
Inside story: I once worked as an intern for Olson/Walker. (That was the old OSKA. Call it OSKA v.1.0.) Their office was in the historic Pike Place Market building, and they had a life-size fibreglass horse in the reception area. I was deeply inspired by the place, the energy, the people, the workstyle, and their work. OSKA is a trove of talent. I wonder if the horse is still with them?
Better Than Bling: Pyu Gold
The Pyu Empire was a network of city-states which held power in what is now Burma, from the 3rd to the 9th century AD. The Pyu were Buddhists, and had a rich material culture which left behind, among other things, a wealth of gold beads and jewelry. The armlet above is among the more remarkable Pyu pieces on the market. Its flower and seed forms (characteristic Pyu motifs), are beautifully formed and the overall effect of the piece is graceful and elegant despite its hefty weight.
Ancient jewelry like this is so beyond bling. Today’s big-name statement jewelry seems soulless in comparison to excavated masterpieces with over a millenium of history. This Pyu armlet was featured in the catalog of the Brussels Oriental Art Fair (BOAF) in June, offered by Bruno Piazza, who deals in ancient ornament with a particular penchant for Pyu gold. (He’s my partner, by the way, and yes, I did get a chance to wear this bracelet once and it felt divine.)