Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward -- culture, technology and the environment

May 15, a new exhibit Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward opens at the Guggenheim in New York.

To celebrate it's 50th anniversary, the Guggenheim is hosting an exhibition co-organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. The exhibit opens tomorrow and you have until August 23 to see it. Wright, (1867–1959) who died six months before the opening of this landmark building, was certainly one of the most influential architects of the 20th century and I dare say his legacy lives on. I know I appreciate his "eye" more as I get older. Included in the exhibition will be his civic buildings, religious and performance spaces, as well as unrealized urban mega-structures. And there will be additional tech creations based on un-realized projects. I look forward to walking the spiral of the museum and seeing more than 200 original FLW drawings, many of which are available to the public for the first time. Here's an explanation of the title of the exhibition:

“Rather than a retrospective, this exhibition focuses on the diversity of Wright’s vision and the ways he sought to realize it, conveying fresh perspectives on how the buildings themselves celebrate that vision through spaces that enrich our lives with their transformational power,” said Phil Allsopp, President and CEO of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation . . . “The concept of the exhibition also reflects a growing recognition of the enormous relevance today of Frank Lloyd Wright’s design philosophies, which embrace culture, technology and environment."

Although that quote doesn't quite give me a better sense of the title, perhaps I am more drawn to his work now because of the commingling of ". . . culture, technology and the environment." My kind of stuff.

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Say it with Animoto

Animoto is a new, totally affordable service that allows regular non-nerds make videos easily.

Animoto, winner of a prestigious Webby Award this year, has zillions of applications. As the Guys at Animoto (that's really what they like to be called) put it:

The heart of Animoto is its newly developed Cinematic Artificial Intelligence technology that thinks like an actual director and editor. It analyzes and combines user-selected images and music with the same sophisticated post-production skills and techniques that are used in television & film.

Imagine. You're opening a luxury hotel outside of Florence and you want to impress the press. Create an Animoto video. I heard a great story about an Animoto guy proposing to his girlfriend via an Animoto video. Non-profits are encouraged to contact Animoto to make videos and there is a section on the site for making videos for educational purposes.

I'm not too smitten by these guys am I? I created a farewell video with pictures of our local Twitter group for friends moving to Austin. Speaking of Austin, Animoto won an award at SXSW. How to do it? Upload photos and choose a song. Could it be easier than that? While the video is being created, look to the right and there is a list of things to do called "distractions". A little something to busy yourself with while you wait.

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New Shopping Site -- One King's Lane

There is a new "invitation only" shopping site with which I have a love/hate relationship.

One King's Lane is a sale site not unlike Gilt Groupe, that "partners" with various design companies and sells at substantial discounts. The pillow above is John Robshaw. They have shown Ann Gish and others in the past. It certainly shares many of the glitches that GG had in the beginning such as the outrageous shipping charges. One pillow $16.00. Two pillows twenty plus dollars. Crazy. Their returns policy is not user friendly either. GG slowly overcame many of their weaknesses, so I hope the same occurs with One King's Lane.

That said, if you want an invitation, put your email address in the comments area and I'll send you one. The John Robshaw sale is fabulous. And Gilt Groupe -- which bills itself as having "sample sales" has a fab Bric's luggage sale today. And there is a Caroline Herrara (!) sale later this week.

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River's got High Hopes

River in Essex CT and High Hopes Theraputic Riding Center are partnering in a creative fundraising endeavor.

My friend Joe Marini has been consulting with High Hopes this year for their annual fundraiser which is Symphony in the Barns (every other year it's Symphony in the Meadows, which I love) but as everyone knows the economy having an unfortunate impact on all of our non-profits. So everyone is getting creative out of necessity. The plan, devised by Joe and his partner John Simoudis, along with the folks at High Hopes goes like this; River will host a 2 day event (there will be food!) where shoppers can purchase items and see precisely how the purchase will benefit the people and horses at High Hopes. Below I've included an example. If you purchase the urns, the cost will cover replacement post rails for High Hopes fences. Other businesses are welcome to participate.

Update 4/10. Corrections. Other businesses are welcome to participate, although there is nothing to stop them. The important thing I failed to explain is that local businesses will also benefit because for each purchase made River will by the needed items from a local business. For example, hay or fencing might be bought from nearby Shagbark Lumber.

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Christian Faur -- Just Paper

I wrote about artist Christian Faur recently alluding to the fact that I was saving the best for another post.

I was blown away by his series titled "Just Paper". He has taken an iconic photograph of Guantanamo Bay and made a powerful piece of art. As Christian describes on his website:

"made from 12,000 strips of shredded paper. The strips are glued onto a light weight foam backing and assembled in such a way as to make an image that is know in the media to represent the U.S. Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The entire work is made from shredded versions of the United States Constitution rendered in different font sizes and “kernings” to appear darker or lighter."

Wonderfully powerful. The image below illustrates the scale of the work. Faur is Director of Collaborative Technologies in the Arts at Denison in Granville, OH. His website can be found here and he is represented by the Sherrie Gallerie.

I would love to see an exhibit of his work at, perhaps, Wesleyan or a gallery in NYC. Here's a close up of the project.

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A Beautiful Eye Indeed -- Bell'occhio

I should be outdoors gardening today and here I am feeling guilty about not blogging for such a long time. My, how working gets in the way of things. Oh well, Happy Spring.

In today's T section of the NYTimes there is a one page spread on the store Bell'occhio in San Francisco. Meaning "beautiful eye" in Italian, it's a concept store with items ranging from a few dollars to thousands. Wonderful housewares, paper, ribbon. All sorts of goodies. And a rather whimsically written online store. Lots of clever boxes in an array of dreamy colors like the one above $24). The "Lavandiere Chapeaux, below, is so cool because it ties around your head and eliminates the inevitable falling off problem. ($48-$64)



I would gladly add this leafy ribbon to my ever-expanding ribbon collection. Great for wrapping gifts for gardeners. ($3 per yard)

This long handled goat hair duster would certainly encourage cleanliness. But I might not want to get it dirty. ($48)

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Christian Faur -- Crayon Series -- Encaustic Crayons

My friend John Simoudis (who designed my blog) recently told me about the artist Christian Faur.

I'm featuring the Crayon Series here, but his other work is quite -- if not more -- amazing. Certainly worth of another post. Stay tuned. He makes thousands of encaustic crayons and arrangers these pixels in wooden frames. Because the wax would otherwise render the pieces too heavy, his fbricated crayons are about half size. They are amazing. I would love to see one up close. Take a look at his Crayonettes. Faur is Director of Collaborative Technologies in the Arts at Denison in Granville, OH. His website can be found here and he is represented by the Sherrie Gallerie. You can see a close up below.

Umbilical Sky


The Dance 1

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