Tree Houses and Zeppelin Hangars

Who doesn’t love a tree house?  It’s the epitome of a club house for any kid while growing up.  I remember trying to build one in the lot behind our house with old boards and parquet tiles but never achieved a floor above the ground.  I was limited to creating walls around three tree trunks and a poorly fashioned entry way, but by golly at 10 years old I had a tree house.

Even today I wouldn’t mind having one in my backyard as a sort of refuge or hangout, spending time outside in the relaxing sway of the trees.  And apparently I’m not the only one.  It seems that there is a trend going on with architects such as Blueforest who specialize in designing and managing tree house projects, which are meeting the needs of these tree house lovers.  Web Urbanist has an interesting article detailing some of the more unique tree houses from around the world.

Another movement, in that same vein, is the interest in converting old buildings and other enclosures into habitats, offices, and…water parks?  Again, Web Urbanist brings us more examples of how people are capitalizing on architectural adaptive reuse.  Now I’ve seen churches that have been turned into houses before, mostly in Europe since they are so prolific there, but I’ve never quite seen an airplane house.  My favorite part about the converted airplane is the Jacuzzi tub in the cockpit which is suspended over a lake. 

The most ingenious conversion in this article has to be the old zeppelin hangar outside of Berlin.  Inside this mammoth steel building is the world’s largest indoor tropical pool complex and water park, Tropical Islands.  I really like this idea of taking unused, but still in good condition buildings and turning them into something entirely different.  It saves money, materials, and even a part of the history of the area.  And the residents of the Berlin area have a warm, tropical destination in an accessible location open 24 hours a day, year round.

Sunday at the ICA in Boston

 

This past weekend I decided to spend my dreary Sunday afternoon at the Boston ICA along with my partner in crime LM.  The museum is situated on the harbor and is built where it overlooks the water, creating an incredible view from the large glass elevator.  I was a little shocked to find out that all the art was on the 4^th floor, with the 2^nd and 3^rd floors taken up by a theater, making me wonder how much art I was really going to see. 

Anish Kapoor’s “Past Present Future” exhibition took us a little bit by surprise when we first walked into the room and found ourselves face-to-face with a huge wavy fun house mirror.  Moving along we encountered a multitude of pieces that just begged to be interacted with, such as a hole in the wall that played tricks on your brain as to its depth, encouraging you to put your hand inside only to get a discerning look from a museum sentry.  

We wound our way around the museum and found the Sun sneezers blow light bubbles by Ranjani Shettar which were quite interesting to look at.  I could use those in my apartment for a really cool lighting system.  In another room was perhaps my favorite art of the whole museum.  The huge and glorious paintings by Mark Bradford with his incorporation of hodge-podge items, one of which I’m quite certain is chicken wire.  Another interesting artist was Robin Rhode who creates photographs that look like still frames of a basketball game or skateboarding, which was my favorite.

Funny enough I think my favorite part was the wall of glass overlooking the water that had an incredible view of the sailboats out in the harbor.  I guess it gives people a chance to absorb the mind bending things they’ve just seen and hopefully put it into a new perspective.  Because let’s be honest, after seeing a massive number of straight pens mooshed together to form a cube, you start to question your own definition of what art is.

Car Free Communities

I recently read this article in Business Week by Alex Steffen who thinks he has the solution to the American car; the problem being cars are expensive, dangerous, and have a death wish for the environment.  He posits that well designed, compact cities will have more of an impact in reducing emissions than improving gas mileage, due to the decreased need to drive everywhere.   

Ok, so we live in America where everyone likes to have their space, because let’s be honest, we have beau coups.  Encouraging people to give up their cars and live in denser communities is going to be harder than one might think, considering it’s more of a way of life that is indicative of Americans, who are proud of the way they are.  We like to have our space, save for the people who live in large cities on top of each other, and such a radical shift in our living situation is only going to be met with resistance.

One thing I think people would be more apt to try would be public transportation that is efficient, reliable, and clean.  Many large cities, Houston for example, have a bus system and a light rail, but neither of them are trustworthy or have an extensive area they cover.  There is no way I could depend on it to get me where I needed to be on time.  I do feel that Houston could benefit from a subway system that could take people from the suburbs to the city for work.  The subway in Washington D.C. is a good role model to follow, but hey, I’d be happy with what we have here in Boston. This would decrease the amount of cars on the road, reduce congestion, and could even make people’s life less stressful.

Can Art Survive the Hooligans?

          

Basel, Switzerland is home to Art Basel, the most prestigious contemporary art fair in the world. Art elitists and enthusiast descend on this city every year to check out who is hot and bucking the trend.  This year an expected 55,000 people will show up to attend this week long event. 

Switzerland and Austria are set to host the European Cup this year, which runs every 4 years with 2 years between it and the World Cup.  Funny enough, it is scheduled to kick off in Basel during the middle of Art Basel, with the Swiss and Czech national teams facing off to begin the Cup.  Now I don’t know who thought this would be a good idea, or just didn’t think about the combination of soccer fans and art patrons, but sure brings a smile to my face.  One can only imagine the ambiance surrounding this town during those tense couple of days.   

 

According to The Wall Street Journal, the art people blame the soccer fans for the incredibly high hotel rates, have forced the hoteliers and city officials to choose sides, and are commandeering all the restaurants with advanced reservations and special favors.  The city has been divided into “fan zones” took keep the groups from tearing each other apart, and the UEFA authorities have turned over their “hooligan database” to the Basel officials.  Now that is serious.

In an effort to show some respect, shall we say, to the soccer community, the fair will have a party for VIPs so they can watch the game, as well as several soccer themed art videos.   From what I understand so far, it’s more of the community and hotel establishments that are having a problem with the two events overlapping.   They should be ecstatic about all the bank they are about to make and have a little faith in people.  I plan on keeping up to date with this situation, so I’ll be sure to inform you if anything interesting happens!

Eggs

A Dutch artist has taken inspiration from his morning meal and created giant fried egg sculptures in the city square of Leeuwarden, Netherlands.  Now I don’t know about you, but I find them intriguing to say the least.  At first glance they appear to be flat; however, once you get on level with them you notice that some of the yolks are quite bulbous.  I wonder how the locals feel about their square being egged.

Form and Function

What I love about art is that you can find it in everyday things.  Just by going outside you can see art in nature, the grocery store, or even Starbucks (sometimes this requires taking the lid off of you Caramel Macchiato to see what design has formed in the foam).  Art, in a way, is in the eye of the beholder.  Things don’t simply have to be labeled “art” for them to inspire people.

According to Business Week, in an article titled “Art Museum as Research Lab,” this is the approach the MoMA in New York has taken for an exhibit that ran in February titled “Design and the Elastic Mind.”  This collection showcases pieces that previously wouldn’t have been considered art, at least by museum standards.  The article states:

“The show, “Design and the Elastic Mind,” features 200 projects by a host of international designers and firms, and gives a nod to “hot” technologies and new economic opportunities and consumer products. Innovative processes represented in the exhibition including nanotechnology, design for new markets in developing nations, and “three-dimensional printing” of physical objects directly from computer files.”

I love this idea!  This exhibit will get people to look at everyday things such as technology or consumer goods in a whole new light.  I don’t think the average consumer thinks about what goes into designing today’s products, much less appreciate it.  What they don’t realize however, is that this is a very important factor when it comes to purchase decisions.  The way a product is designed, the color and artwork depicted on the packaging, all influence you in some way.  To buy or not to buy… 

An exhibit I was fortunate enough to see last summer, “Das Auge des Himmels” at the Gasometer in Oberhausen, Germany, had a similar theme combining technology and art.  The collection consisted of satellite images of different landforms on Earth, but magnificently colored to enhance the image.  Some pictures didn’t even resemble anything except a fascinating work of art, until you read the title and recognize certain features.  I think art like this gives people a different view of the planet we live on and helps them to appreciate it in a different way.

Memorial Day at the MFA

Yesterday my friend LM and I went to the Museum of Fine Arts here in Boston to check out the open house.  To celebrate Memorial Day, admission to all the collections and the current exhibit, “El Greco to Velazquez: Art During the Reign of Philip III,” was free to the public.  We however, arrived too late to get tickets to the current tour and were given tickets to the 4pm showing, which we couldn’t make. 

The day at the museum was intended as a family day, with activities, exhibits, and music geared towards children.  This was made evident upon entry by the numerous amounts of kids swarming around every corner and hollering like crazy.  Due to this, and the glorious weather we were having, LM and I decided to make a quick trip of the museum and hit all the points of our interest.  This included:  British prints from the last century, musical instruments, European Old Master Paintings, Medieval, a tangent into 17^th and 18^th Century European that included a frilly bed and chairs, and ended with Oceanic sculpture.

 

So here’s my beef with museums.  They all have their own unique collection of art complimented by special exhibits, giving each museum its own character, apart from all the basic Greek sculptures and Asian artifacts.  What astounds me is the assortment of prints and other items available in the gift shop. Sometimes you’re lucky and can find prints of the current special exhibit, but rarely can you find prints unique to the museum unless they have some high profile Degas and the like.  They all have the same “generic” posters of works from Klimt, Monet, Renoir etc. that I find so boring and commercial.  Don’t get me wrong, I love these artists, but I would love to see something different.  Now the hallway we walked down to get to the gift shop had some really interesting abstract art from an artist I had never heard of before.  I would have loved to buy a poster with those loud, energetic colors on it.

 

Museums have this funny way of falling into a safety-net of offering the same books, cards, jewelry, etc.  This may work for first timers at a museum, but once you’ve been to a few you realize how commercialized they are.  I would like to see more involvement from local artists and even contemporaries.  Museums are a good way for local artists to become more involved in the community arts as well as get a wider range of people to view their work.  How cool would it be to start a collection of artwork and prints from major museums who support their local arts?

 

Slow Art

Berlin.  Or Ber-lin, as I’ve heard the locals pronounce it.  The name conjures so many thoughts and emotions; the most notably oppression, fear, communism, and The Berlin Wall.  However, over the years Berlin has become known as a hub of art and culture, attracting film makers, artists, musicians, and designers to name a few.  Out of the darkness that has surrounded Berlin for decades comes a glimmer of light and inspiration.  These creative types are attracted to the low cost of living, the strong support for the arts from the government, and the wealth of diversity that makes up the city. 

According to the New York Times, The Fifth Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art, which runs April through June 15, has started a new movement in the way they want people to experience art.  The event is divided into “Day,” where visual displays are seen throughout the city, and “Night,” which encompasses performances, concerts, and other events that take place generally during the evening. Normally there is a lot of hype surrounding new exhibits, showings, and festivals.  Especially when there are more well known artists or a work of art that has garnered some attention.  “When Things Cast No Shadow,” is different in a sense that it wants the focus to be about the art and “not the shadow, the hype, surrounding it.” 

Now I’m not quite sure that I buy into the whole “no hype” idea.  Without a general buzz about the biennial, how do they plan on getting interested patrons not involved in the colorful world of art to attend?  What I think they are really getting at is that they don’t want people to clamor around higher profile works of art and simply regurgitate comments and opinions they hear from art elitists.  Elena Filipovic and Adam Szymczyk, the curators of the show, want each individual to form their own idea and opinion without outside interference.  Hard to do if you actually want people to show up.  There needs to be something out there to create awareness and build a sense of trust that this isn’t some dog and pony show.

In a way I like this idea but I also feel that it’s counterintuitive.  Let’s face it; no matter how evil you think marketing is, it does serve a purpose.  A friend of mine the other day made a comment on this very topic.  He was talking about how well known Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans are and what exactly made them one of his more famous works of art.  The answer is marketing, plain and simple.  Warhol was able to create a brand for himself that gave him recognition world-wide.  This isn’t to say that his work is any better than the next artist, just more accessible.  The more contact the public has with an artist and their work, the better chance they have becoming well known and successful. 

Artists need a way to draw attention to their collection to get people interested.  Word of mouth is the best marketing tool an artist can utilize, because it’s free and effective.  At an event such as The Fifth Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art, their best friend is the press (newspapers, reporters, bloggers to some extent).  What they should aim to do is get a general description of the event and profiles of some of the bigger artists.  Reporters could provide a snapshot of what can be expected without going into detail about any one particular work of art.  By informing without structuring an opinion, the press can invite people to come see for themselves and allow them a blank canvas in which to form their own idea. 

These gatherings generally have a website with more information about the overall event, artists, and artwork that will be featured.  An interesting dimension that could be added would be a place for people to enter their thoughts and opinions on what they saw at the biennial.  An open forum would be too messy; however, if they could allow people to comment on specific artists or creations and have these linked to the particular artist, it could foster all types of dialogue.  This method also allows for a sense of anonymity, letting people feel free to say what they feel.

Art Sweet Art

What if I told you that you could live in a priceless work of art? Sounds interesting, if not crazy, but people are doing it. The Wall Street Journal has reported that a home in Palm Springs, CA has sold for $15 million at Christie’s this week, setting a precedent for houses sold at an art-house auction.

Treating a house like a work of art is a relatively new concept for art dealers such as Christie’s, but it doesn’t seem that far-fetched. High profile designs by artists such as Frank Lloyd Wright have been around for decades. And, unlike many houses in this genre, they are actually livable.

It’s no wonder people want to scoop them up as soon as they go on the market. A great investment and the ultimate art purchase, these buildings combine style, design, creativity, and most importantly functionality. Instead of hanging a $50 million Rothko on your wall that you enjoy occasionally, you get more bang for your buck.

In the midst of a declining housing market, an acquisition like this combines two important factors. First, that land is always a good investment. Second, art is the only market that hasn’t been affected by the dwindling economy considering prices for artwork only appreciate. With this “new” idea of houses considered art, one can only wait for the next Le Corbusier to go on the market. Let’s get packing!

Hello Friends!

Hello world! So I finally decided to start a blog about my thoughts and interactions with art, architecture, fashion, travel, FOOD, and all things BOSTON!  I know y’all have been dying to hear what I have to say  

Moving to Boston from Texas has created so many new and exciting opportunities!  Sometimes I still can’t believe I live here.  I am currently in graduate school working towards a degree in Integrated Marketing Communications at Emerson College.  Go Lions!!