In an era of virtual reality the prospect of visiting an exhibition dedicated to products of designer craft presents a salutary experience. Here, at least, one can be assured of an encounter with the visual imagination made tangible; ideas translated into something that can be touched, held, worn, or reclined upon. The exhibition DUBH – Dialogues in Black, is an eye and mind-opening example of what contemporary designers are thinking about and actualizing at the cutting edge of our engagement with material culture.

Stemming from an initiative developed by Irish craftsman Joseph Walsh’s organization, STUDIO practice, and curated by Irish artist Brian Kennedy, the premise of the show is to place contemporary Irish craft and design practitioners in concert with their U.S. and international peers, demonstrating the vitality of Irish designers and drawing attention to the greater innovative achievements current in contemporary craft and design practice. You can put away your fusty expectations of finding the traditional crafts associated with Ireland – Aran sweaters, bawneen knits, country pottery, Donegal tweeds – and prepare to embark on a distinctly twenty-first century experience. Most of the craftspeople here seem to be considering contemporary notions of biology, genetics, even particle physics, disposing of historical attitudes toward craft practice, or confronting good old fashioned cultural myopia. “Dialogues in Black” may be the organizing principle behind this collection (dubh – pronounced duv – is the Irish for black) but the range of forms, feelings, and ideas at play here presents quite a varied sampling of treasures. Kennedy appears to have reached wide and far, and he is to be commended for both the breadth of the show and for permitting the “dialogue” that occurs to flow so sleekly about the gracious and somewhat period styled interiors of the AIHS’s rooms. An artful balance is struck, never permitting any exhibitor’s contribution a domineering presence or freer rein than the others. He knows how to show this stuff.

The “stuff” extends from Inga Hamilton’s floor lying fabric installation – an inky puddle of joined textiles with scattered ceramic bone pieces and marabou feather trim, lurking beneath a grand piano like a fugitive shadow – through Liam Flynn’s exquisite and commanding ebonized turned wood vessels, to Catherine Owens’s slow-blooming graphite and light drawings silently holding a wall in one corner. Undeniable they may be, but Jonathan Wahl’s poster sized, photo-realistic charcoal drawings, detailing pieces of Victorian jet mourning jewelry on stark white backgrounds, retain rigor and self-discipline for all their scale, and seem to turn their volume down enticingly as they lure you closer to inspect them. You can’t miss Joseph Walsh’s Enignum II chair either, poised on three legs, somewhat resembling a curlew, as Walsh works characteristically to bend wood almost as if it were wax. Restrainedly zoomorphic, it is echoed by Frances Lambe’s ravishing ceramic pieces – Sea Bean and Spiny Form – which resemble fantasies by Ernst Haeckel , and by Sonya Clark’s cunning and thoughtful tick piece, rendered in a construction of plastic combs. The vegetable realm gets a graphic homage in a paper construction by Lauren Fensterstock, in jewelry by Eily O’Connor, and even in the zipper jewelry of Kate Cusack whose mature visualization using this singularly mundane product is as excitingly innovative as it is impressive. Nuala O’Donovan’s complex, architectural porcelain grid cube is concerned with fractals and organic patterning, and there’s more than a whiff of micro-organisms about the jewelry works of Sondra Sherman and Douglas Bucci. Bucci’s arresting work in particular derives from microbe and cell forms, digitally rendered and tweaked in graphic form and then given substance using a three dimensional “printing” process. This is frontline digital industrial technology, and Bucci is not the only designer deploying it here. Catherine Owens’s drawings are housed in frames made with a similar replicating process, and combined with her painstaking, laborious graphic handiwork, they couple traditional hand craftsmanship with contemporary authorial digital design.  Bucci’s work is all but exclusively designed in virtual space, and then produced using a resinous compound from a three-dimensional printer reading. If we are getting to the point where the craftsman’s hands may never touch a work until it is actually “finished”, can we still call it craft? For brevity’s sake let’s dodge that one and just refer to these craftspeople – gifted designers, visionary creators – as artists. In our times that’s a somewhat hackneyed, more than a little bloated term, and without wishing to be too controversial I might even suggest that they would breathe a little more authenticity into it. In total there are thirty such exhibitors in this highly recommended show, and I for one would not begrudge any of them the title.

The show runs through November 13th and will travel to Dublin next year. Anyone interested in design will find something to admire here, and everyone wondering where – culturally, aesthetically – we are right now, will find much to ponder on and not a little to delight in.

~~~

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In early February I did a mini-interview with Eric Sanders knowing that I’d soon have the opportunity to have a much longer conversation with him and his collaborator, Dave Nuss.  Together they have created Original Innocence – The Rock Opera and I’m already fascinated by what I’ve seen.   This Friday, March 25th I’ll be heading over to ISSUE PROJECT ROOM (At the Old American Can Factory) 232 3rd Street, 3rd Floor Brooklyn, NY 11215 [Telephone: 718-330-0313] to see a workshopped production.  There are two shows that night – one at eight and one at ten.  I think you should come too.

I always love chatting with Eric Sanders, he’s my favorite combination of brilliant and humble.  Not to mention amazingly talented.  Now, meeting Dave for the first time I was equally excited; together these guys are an interviewer’s dream.  Read on to find out the random thing that brought these two talented men together, find out why they think it’s so important that our culture has a creation myth they can finally get behind, and let them explain why they cast Satan as a woman.

So, let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way first thing. A religious rock opera. Before we even get to what sparked the idea – your goals, the plot – I have to say. These days religion in New York is a hard sell. Without saying “the plot is good, the actors are amazing” . . . just from a thematic point of view – what made you both think this was such a great idea that you were willing to take this leap?

Eric Sanders

ERIC SANDERS: The question answers itself. Why are we afraid to have conversations about the most important topic in the world – our own relationship to the universe? We’ll talk about sports, fashion, and art – why not religion? If you redefine religion and strip it of the perversions of some of the organized sects and just think of it as person’s relationship to his universe, then we all have a religion. So then it becomes a question of if it’s working for you, how is it working for you, if it’s productive and helping you to coexist with people. So in my opinion to not talk about it is much scarier than bringing up the topic.

DAVE NUSS: I was brought up in Corpus Cristi, Texas, a very religious town with a particularly religious upbringing, so I wanted to confront aspects of the story I was raised with. The creation myth from Genesis has many beautiful and mysterious aspects that were simplified and presented to me as ‘Truth’; but now I understand that this truth really just refers to a network of forces and ideas that, especially when we encounter them as children, shape us on a fundamental level. So for Eric and I religion simply refers to the meta-lifeview that we encountered through the stories of our youth. Everyone can relate to that- even if the story is, say, Star Wars. In the case of this play our reference point is the Genesis story, and that connects with a wide audience because everyone has an experience with it. We don’t want people to leave the theatre saying “hmmm, well that was bizzare” or “I don’t get it.” We are offering “a new creation myth for our time”, and it’s for everyone, right now. We want the meaning to be felt on a visceral level. Genesis 3 is a story that fit the needs and circumstances of a particular group of people at the time when it was told, and has been interpreted over the years by myriad communities with myriad agendas. Original Innocence is a new myth that Eric and I are offering in NYC 2011. But please note, like the Genesis story, it may no longer be relevant in 4000 years, haha.

Tell me about the very first seed that started “Original Innocence”. Was it a conversation in a bar at 2:00am? An off the cuff remark over coffee? Set the scene for how this all started.

ERIC: The seed came from Dave – when I was doing The Wendigo a couple of years ago we had a mutual friend who thought that it would be great if we met since Dave and I both liked the supernatural. So he came to The Wendigo and we went out afterwards. We had similar interests but different backgrounds. He comes from the experimental musical world. And he said “I have this secret – I’ve been working on this religious rock opera, totally different than anything I’ve ever done before.” I was intrigued.

Dave Nuss

DAVE: By the time I met Eric I had shared the concept with my usual music biz people and they all said basically the same thing: “we have no idea why you’re doing this.” The music of Original Innocence really alienated my usual contacts because of the musical theater trappings; it also has strong emotional content and that is not something that is necessarily part of the avant garde world. So I was just allowing these recordings to percolate until a mutual friend of Eric and mine, Jodi Willie of Process Media, said to me, “Give the music to Eric, he may be interested.” My intuition was that the theater world was where this piece belonged, and Eric’s reaction confirmed this.

ERIC: Dave trusted me enough to share it with me. It was kinda like fate – or we were making our own fate. He had a rough blue print and a general idea. I just wanted to hear it. I listened and was just stunned; I felt like I’d found some sort of ancient manuscript – it was like finding the Dead Sea Scrolls … I felt like I’d unearthed this treasure. I was overwhelmed because it was out of my hands, really, but I just knew that this was something I had to be involved with for a long time.

So we started collaborating a little more than 2 years ago. I knew from that first night of talking that there was a great deal of creative chemistry between us.

I was going to initially ask how, once you knew you wanted to make this story, what about it said “musical” – specifically “rock opera”, but now I see that the music came first. So let me ask the question a little bit differently. What made you decide to make it a completely sung-through piece rather than a musical with dialogue?

DAVE: We kept trying to write dialogue and just kept saying “this isn’t working”. Then we realized, “let’s do it all with gesture.” I’ve always thought of Original Innocence as more of a parable, a story which perhaps has a “moral” but this moral has a lot of breathing room. Every time we were started writing dialogue for a scene we also felt it simplified the story into something too apparent, and we realized we couldn’t preserve the sense of mystery that we both were feeling regarding the subjects we were grappling with.

Like the question of the chicken and the egg, which came first? Well the chicken came first this time . . . the music piece was already done by the time we started “writing” the story. So Eric and I just needed to approach the music and allow the ideas to germinate. The most interesting part of the development of the piece is that Eric and I had to grow ourselves to receive the story the music is telling. In the beginning of the process we were a bit too concerned with autobiography and portraying our own beliefs. We had all these ideas like, “should we set a church on fire?” I feel like initially I had a little score to settle with the Church.

Now some time later we’re both in different places than when we began, and we’re each cultivating practices that are helping us approach this gesture from a less egoistic place. I think that’s why our collaboration is so successful – neither of us has a particular agenda. When we’d meet we’d have these long periods of quiet, almost like a Quaker meeting. There was no leader. We just waited and let the music tell us the next move.

I was fortunate enough to attend The Symposium on Creation Mythology last month. I not only was able to hear some very well spoken scholars discuss the creation myth of different cultures, but I also was able to hear four of the songs from Original Innocence. One thing I notice immediately is that, in the course of setting up the songs, the story itself made some very bold choices . . . for instance Satan is a woman. There were other plot points that challenge (at least what I’ve come to know as) the accepted biblical stories. Tell me about some of those changes.

DAVE: We tried to look at the characters archetypally; whether someone is a man or a woman doesn’t matter, the characteristics are what matter, they’re what’s universal. Eva, the Christ figure, is a woman as she’s embodying the concept of sacrificial love. Having Satan as female is not meant to imply women are evil – it’s actually completely the opposite – we want to break down that stereotype that Satan is a bad guy waiting to torture us. Satan in our play is fun, a kind of Loki character, but ultimately undercuts her own will to power by the recalcitrance she inspires.

So many images we have in our contemporary culture have nothing to do with their origin – in our minds today Lucifer equals Satan, but they are actually two completely different characters. Even Black Sabbath and the Stones didn’t really parse out the historical characteristics of Lucifer, haha. So in Original Innocence we’re trying to be more historical than stereotypical. There are no white hats and black hats. That’s the way the Genesis myth has been brought down to us – an evil snake in a tree, humans are fucked up and God is pissed at the entire human race. Women are the bad ones who make men sin, and now for the rest of history man has to feel guilty for acting on impulse. When you contemplate it, it’s a total disaster how this myth has effected us as a society.

ERIC: So the question here becomes – what kind of Christianity are we talking about? We were using the typical Adam and Eve story as an entry point for a new creation myth. This came out through very intricate conversations – what kind of creation myth would we find more helpful in this day and age so that we don’t feel like we’re “evil,” like we’re “fallen”?  Some will disagree and we welcome that, but we recognize that people collapse under the weight of this “original sin,” so this is a new way to view the story. The essence is about liberation from suffering and sin, as opposed to wallowing in it.

DAVE: Our story gives us a little more space to put aside some of those stereotypical ways of viewing ethics, and approach them with an open heart and an acceptance of ourselves. When we’re not judging people to determine where they fit in the ethical spectrum, we can view the world with much more compassion. What a relief.

Is there anything you came across while doing research – a story, a concept – even an object maybe? – that is fascinating and you’d like to share it with us?

ERIC: The biggest revelation for me during this process was learning much more about Eastern religions – especially Buddhism which I find stunning. We’re finally being introduced after thousands of years to Eastern Religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism and yoga, and I’m seeing a really interesting shared dialogue between that and the Judeo-Christian perspective – they’re not mutually exclusive. That’s the sad thing – some people think religion isn’t worth looking into because “Oh, now we have physics.” Physics explains matter . . . it doesn’t explain how we should relate to matter. That isn’t a religion. It’s very dangerous and non-productive to think that we’ve transcended the need for religion.

Eastern religions – the lack of a God and the lack of original sin, the lack of one Creator, the idea that the universe is a continuum without beginning and without end is much in line with modern physics. Our most exciting journey has been taking the Judeo-Christian root – the Fall from Grace – using that original myth and telling a more Eastern myth about not necessarily going to heaven but about freedom from suffering. It’s more about compassion and wisdom. So the play starts with Christianity but it ends much more in Buddhism.

You each must have a favorite part of the show. What’s your favorite part – - and why?

ERIC: My favorite is the song “Only You” – it’s the second to last song of the show. It’s heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. It’s about liberation, but it’s also about reflecting back on what you’re leaving behind – which is a beautiful dichotomy. (To me at least) it’s the essence of the show: you have to move away from something in order to get to something else. You do have to leave your old self behind in order to transform. Religion is something you experience, not something you read.

DAVE: I probably like the part I shouldn’t like – the beginning which is set in the Jehovah era. There’s unification among people; it’s an age before ‘dissent’ had arisen, pre-individuation. The implication is that the song being sung, “You Are the Light” was been written by God Itself, and it’s been sung since the dawn of creation. There’s still part of me that idealizes what people can do when they have a unified intention toward a succinct goal. Of course life doesn’t work out that way because there’s so rarely a collective sacrifice for a particular intention. I see it sometimes in meditation groups – everybody’s seeking peace. An important aspect of this play is examining that part of our psyche that does not wish to participate in community.

You’re work shopping Original Innocence on the 25th. What can people expect from that evening?

ERIC: It’s off-book, there’s staging (by our director Pat Diamond), there’s a choreographer, Deborah Lohse who will work with us. We will block as much as we need. In some ways it will be like a staged concert presentation. It’s definitely a rock opera. Since there’s no dialogue so much of the story is conveyed in movement and intention. There’ll be some props and costumes. I’m hoping people who come can experience the essence of the show. We want to give a preview, not present the show in it’s ultimate incarnation. But it will all be there in a form that people can connect with.

And once again – to buy tickets for that night click the link here.

~~~

Thanks, Dave and Eric for telling all about Original Innocence.  I can’t wait to see the workshop on Friday – and again, for all of you who are interested  to find out more:

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It’s the 20th Anniversary of D&G men’s line, and boy do those two know how to throw a party on the runway (and off the runway I’m sure). Linens, sheer whites and khakis abound in this special Spring 2011 show featuring the lovely Annie Lennox tickling the ivories.
Watch video 1 and 2, and celebrate that the clothes are only one year away to legally have a drink.

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Whether you think she’s a copy cat or a devilishly inspired vixen, Lady Gaga is giving the fashion industry a helping hand by showcasing the hot and haute in her music videos. Collaborations between music artists and fashion houses is not a new thing, they have helped each other’s awareness since the beginning of MTV in the early 80s.

In her recent video Alejandro, she works with stylist Nicola Formichetti and fab photographer Steven Klein to create her –much too long– but beautifully rendered video.

Now lets break it down as if it were a pictorial in Vogue shall we. Designers that are featured below are, Nasir Mazhar, Atsuko Kudo, Calvin Klein, Christian Louboutin, David Samuel Menkes and Emporio Armani. These are only a handful, as garments from the houses of  Kerin Rose, and Philip Treacy are also in the video.

Binocular headpiece by Nasir Mazhar. Cape by Alexander McQueen

Nun dress designed by Atsuko Kudo.

Lingerie by Calvin Klein

Stilettos by Christian Louboutin. Boy shorts: Haus of Gaga

Machine gun bustier by David Samuel Menkes. Military suits by Emporio Armani

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Why don’t we talk about  fall/winter collections on this horribly hot day? Fashionistas will tell you that it is better to stock up early on the latest trends, and nothing screams more “latest” than a new line with a vintage twist.

AELEIS F/W 2010

AELEIS New York, the new menswear line by designer Philippe Trinh is sure to make you go, “I want that!” So while you stand in line to get yourself another version of the same phone (yes I’m talking to you, dude with the glasses standing in line for your new iphone 4), I’ll be checking out AELEIS’ 1900s inspired collection for when the leaves start turning that perfect shade of rose.

Make sure to swing by the website to check out the look book.

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By all accounts the Come Out and Play festival was a huge success.  And we’re pleased to say that The Paper Plane Derby (featured earlier on THM) was winner of the Best Family Game!  CONGRATULATIONS!

Our very own Stephen Tortora-Lee was an eager participant in the derby and wound up bringing home “Most Innovative Design”; his lovely award now hangs proudly in our home for all to see.  (You can see a picture of him lined up and ready to compete after the jump.)

We caught up with Rachel Schutt and Linda Perkins again to see how they felt the day went and asked them to tell us about some of their favorite moments.

Linda Perkins: The most exciting thing for me was to see that our idea for a competition with a level playing field really worked. Kids competed against adults, boys against girls, beauty vs. function and a mix of all of these advanced in each round. The overall champions and award winners show the success of our theory. And to see that the adults were just as excited as the kids to win a trophy or a medal was very gratifying.

#1 Carlos with "Travieso", #2 Roman with "The Blue Screen of Death", #3 Vadim with "Challenger", #4 Isobel with "ISSY", #5 Peter with "Flying Piglet"

I was excited when, right after the derby, Carlos (competitor #1) asked if we would be back next year because he had so much more fun than he expected and he definitely wanted to play our game again.

Rachel Schutt: People were *really* into it. Looking around the room and seeing people, little girls and grown men, furiously working on their planes, test flying them, and checking out the competition made me happy. One thing I was excited about ahead of time were the contests for “most innovative design” and “most beautiful plane”. I hoped that people would embrace these contests, as much as the classic contest for the longest distance. We provided lots of art supplies: stickers, feathers, glitter pens, scissors, construction paper, paper clips, markers. I was happy to see people diving in and using them. I like the idea that we, as game designers, designed an experience that allowed our participants to themselves be designers. For me, this was a personally fulfilling experience and I hope Linda and I can come up with future collaborations that are at the intersection of games and art.

Thanks, ladies!

#6 Tae with "Omlette", #7 Az with "The Terminator", #8 Thomas with "Rexey", #9 Stephen with "The Creative Explosion", #10 Greg with "Smudgy Tailspin"

On behalf of everyone here at The Happiest Medium, we’d like to congratulate ALL the fabulous participants because as far as we’re concerned – you’re all winners!  For more great photos of the competitors be sure to check out The Red Baron.  And don’t forget to Come Out And Play again next year!

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“Through the magic of Leprechauns, Papa Smurf, Michael J. Fox, and all other things small, we make wee-sized, delightful stuffed animal versions of you.”

That’s how the masterminds over at “I Am A Stuffed Animal” describe their ingenious service. The reason why it is ingenious is because they are bringing custom made stuffed humans to the average consumer, with an average budget. You don’t need to star in High School Musical 9 or pray to the gods that your sex tape makes an impact to have a doll of yourself anymore.

Does it get better? It does! It’s as simple as  submitting a couple of photos of yourself, they design it and voila! You’re a doll, or as they would call it a Buddy (lets butch it up for the burly men).

Price: $69

Visit: I Am A Stuffed Animal

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We have a special The Wo(Man) In The Window this week. Some of you might have already seen this video, read the New York Post article or have strolled down to XOXO to experience their “Window Theater”, not your average live model display.

This story was prepared by Justin Rocket Silverman for The New York Post, you can read the full article here.

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Foot protection was one of the first things created by our ancestors, even before the fur wrap skirt (not to be confused with Carolina Herrera‘s wrap blouse or Diane Von Furstenberg‘s signature wrap dress).  Shoes have been a part of our lives since the making of the wheel and since then have been adorned to be more than just protective gear.  Shoes have become the modern woman’s ID card.

This season the runway was not exempt from highly opulent shoes: studs (the houses of Prada, Zanotti, Givenchy), elastic and leather bands (Narciso Rodriguez, Derek Lam, Jason Wu, Dior) and bejeweled wonders (McQueen, Christopher Kane, Nina Ricci, Blumarine). All fit for a queen, all ranging from $1,000 and up.  So if you aren’t a trust fund baby, Ivanka Trump, or embezzling money for shoes, how can you afford all these styles?

Sure we all love Louboutins enough to write a song dedicated to them,  like J.Lo did, but that won’t get Christian to custom-design a pair for us.  But the ladies from BLUFF NY might … and will.

BLUFF is a newly launched  accessory line that has created inter-changeable pieces to spice up any shoe. Utterly affordable, and in tune with today’s trends. They describe their first line as an organic compilation of playfully dark yet feminine looks, and I asked creators Jess, Cara and Anna to elaborate a little bit more about how BLUFF came about.

Jess, Cara and Anna are BLUFFing Manhattan

AM: How did Bluff get started?

Cara: Anna called me to say we should start a business with myself as designer and Anna on the business end. I didn’t really see it happening until she called me and said, “I’ve got a great idea… shoe accessories.”  I said, “come over, we can start selling this weekend.”  Of course, it took a little longer than that to get things up and running, and as I realized this was going to be a huge undertaking I called Jess, whom I had gone to Parsons with, and asked her to help.

Anna: The idea really came to me from my closet full of boring shoes (from working on Wall Street) and the desire to jazz them up, without breaking the bank. I went to the garment district and began playing with materials, but realized I’d get nowhere without Cara.

Cara: Anna, I guess.  Jess and I don’t buy anything, but we’d like to!

AM: Are those your favorite materials to work with right now – studs and feathers?

Cara: Right now we’re using a lot of chain, leather and elastic with studs, spikes and zipper embellishments.

Jess: I am a fan of the spikes, Cara enjoys elastic and Anna likes the feathers. Who doesn’t love chains!

Bluff: prices range from $58 – $110.  We have a few lower priced pieces in the works and we also do custom, high-end pieces.  We really have something for everyone and our clientele is extremely varied.  The Bluff woman is stylish and creative.  She is, simply, a woman who loves getting dressed.

AM: Any celebrity customers that you know of? Has Bluff graced the tabloids yet?

Cara: Not that we know of.  We did give a pair to Allessandra Ambrosio and a bunch of top stylists have them.

AM: As a young company, what has been your biggest achievement?

Cara: Walking down the street and seeing someone we don’t know wearing one of our pieces.

Anna: Several magazines and some major television shows have asked for Bluff. We hope to make an appearance on a National show in January so we will keep you posted!

Cara: I see Bluff expanding into a full accessory company.  We will probably have some clothing too.

Anna: I’d love to do a line of shoes and boots.

Cara: There have been some inquiries and we are making custom pieces for a few guys in Brooklyn-based bands right now so we are definitely heading in that direction. The simpler the better when it comes to men. Do you want something?

Jess: We are more then happy to make it for you!

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