Esoteric Survey

LA/GARDO TACKETT GOOD BROWN ROCKINGHAM

This is where Mabel and Milon Hutchinson used to crank out all their great works in wood. It's good to see the window guys left some of Mabel's work up. Mabel working on a an assemblage at what is most likely the same building. Source: Creating Modern Furniture by Dona Z. Meilach Window panel detail Wooden Door  by Mabel Hutchinson, at “The Door,” Museum of Contemporary Crafts in cooperation with U.S. Plywood,  September 28 - November 3, 1968, photo courtesy Shirley J. Adams Via American Craft Council Milon Hutchinson working on one of his turned wood objects. His wife Mabel used excess pieces from his  work to  create her  assemblages .  Source:  Creating Small Wood Objects as Functional Sculpture  by Dona Z. Meilach Wood objects by Milon Source:  Creating Small Wood Objects as Functional Sculpture  by Dona Z. Meilach

Sometimes the findings are slim, so t his weekend  my big score was a  Srtuck by Modernism C.Carl Jennings California Artist-Blacksmith  T-shirt from  the  Mingei  exhibition.   On a related note, this Friday exhibition curator Dave Hampton will be giving a lunchtime lecture on Jennings.  Details can be found,  here .

Boomerang for Modern  is celebrating its 28th anniversary this year. In honor of the occasion, owner David Skelley and his partner Kurt opened up their home for a little anniversary party.  They  have a collection  that few can top.  I have the sneaking suspicion David has been skimming off the top at Boomerang for the whole 28 years!  I could probably do a month or two of posts on all the insane design  David and Kurt get to live with, but roaming around taking pictures of it all probably would have been poor party etiquette. Not to mention I didn't  want to  be the guy who looked like he was casing the place. Needless to say, David has been a central figure in the San Diego mid century modern scene before there was actually a scene to speak of. T he guests at the party were an indication of this long history. I'm not sure how I got in with this crew but  there were museum folks, owners of a Killingsworth case study house and a Neutra house, major collectors and just al

I was out stalking architecture in Long Beach again. Opdahl House by Edward Killingsworth, 1957   A quote from Beautiful Homes and Gardens in California, "Mr. Opdahl had bought a lot in the city, 30 by 80 feet, flanked by ugly buildings, a lot with strong overtones of claustrophobia"  The house being flanked by ugly buildings is still very true. I usually like the cars in the vintage shots better. In this case, I'd take the Defender.  Photo:  Beautiful Homes and Gardens in California Lots o' Scandinavian design..zzzz Photo:  Beautiful Homes and Gardens in California Photo:  Beautiful Homes and Gardens in California Photo:  Beautiful Homes and Gardens in California Tacket!!  Photo:  Beautiful Homes and Gardens in California By the early 2000s, the Opdahl house was in bad shape. The restoration is documented at  Unique California Property   The "after" Photo: Dwell Photo:   Dwell

C. CARL JENNINGS, CALIFORNIA ARTIST-BLACKSMITH Guest-curated by Dave Hampton. Opens today. The Mingei and Hampton really outdid themselves on this one.  I'm just throwing out a couple teaser shots.  The exhibition has a ton of insane work by Jennings.  Darren Bradley  took the photos of the Jennings house that are on display in the exhibition.  I bet you never knew blacksmithing could be so cool. The exhibition catalog, Struck by Modernism C.Carl Jennings California Artist-Blacksmith,  was written   by Dave Hampton More information can be found on the  Mingei's website . 

La Gardo Tackett

Charles and Ray Eames both died on August 21st.  Charles died in 1978 and Ray died on the same day exactly 10 years later in 1988 Charles and Ray in LA, 1941 Image: Eames Office

Wayfarers Chapel , Palos Verdes, CA by Lloyd Wright (Frank Lloyd Wright Jr.), 1951 and 1954 It 's a memorial to Emanuel Swedenborg "Architect Lloyd Wright has put together a new king of church--a sparkling enclosure of glass framed in the modern equivalent of Gothic tracery and carrying the glass further than the Gothic builders ever carried it--up into the roof." Architectural Forum 1951 “When the trees that surround the Chapel grow up, they will become the framework, become a part of the tree forms and branches that inevitably arise from the growing trees adjacent to it. I used the glass so that the natural growth, the sky, and sea beyond became the definition of their environment. This is done to give the congregation protection in services and at the same time to create the sense of outer as well as inner space.” -  Lloyd Wright  -  A Visit with the Architect, 1974 via  Wayfarers Chapel Concrete with rocks, just like his dad. L