Esoteric Survey

Do you remember these string tables? They came from the estate of a gentleman who was an industrial design professor in Pasadena during the early 1950s. The mix of modest materials, simple construction and clean lines hit all the right notes for me. I sold them a while back, which I sort of regret. However, they landed in good hands.  Designer C.S. Valentin  incorporated them into a project for a  19th-century sea captain’s house on the South Shore of Long Island. The tables look a lot happier here than they did languishing in storage.  Read the full story on Remodelista .

Dieter Rams at JF Chen   The opening was last week, but there were so many people, it was hard to take good photos. This is the only one I could get. I'll be going back. The exhibition was curated by Daniel Ostroff. They amassed a great collection, including some extremely rare examples, like the TP-1. 

Smalls, including Marg Loring and Anton Blazek More iron Steel

Albert Frey and Lina Bo Bardi: A Search for Living Architecture, at the  Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center . The exhibition explores the lives and work of Lina Bo Bardi and Albert Frey. The two immigrated from their home countries. Frey from Switzerland to the United States in 1930 and Bo Bardi from Italy to Brazil in 1946. They never met, but the  exhibition makes the case that there was a connection.  Bo Bardi did translate Frey’s book, In Search of a Living Architecture, for Domus magazine. Beyond that, the connection is more about their work and the similar approach to changing how architecture influenced the way people lived. The exhibition also includes examples of furniture by the architects. Lina Bo Bardi, "Bowl" Chair Source: Palm Springs Museum A chair modified by Albert Frey, for his 1964 home, Frey II A couple of years ago I saw them in situ.  More on Frey II can be found here . Lina Bo Bardi, ...

Lots of pots this weekend, including Doug Ayers and Susan Harnly Peterson. I found these two together.  During the 1950's and 60's    at UCLA , Bernard Kester (right) studied and worked under Laura Andreson  (left).  They have the same clay body too. They need to stay together. Myrton Purkiss and an enamel by Studio Del Campo

These Days , a bookstore and gallery in Los Angeles has an exhibition of vintage Morrissey and The Smiths UK subway posters. This is pretty off topic, but it's where I cut my collecting teeth. Speaking of bigmouths, here is the title wall, with a Morrissey quote. Morrissey, alone in a corner. It happens a lot around here. I've never seen these before. There was a Malcolm Leland/AP planter in the entryway.  Back on topic. Ephemera fans of the world, unite and take over.

Another bowl by Stan Hawk and a Norwegian polar bear by Arne Tjomsland It's always nice to pick up more California Design catalogs. Especially ones that used to belong to great local architects like Sim Bruce Richards Another Henry Takemoto!