YSL's Short Film: Melinda Arrive ce Soir

SAMUEL BENCHETRIT’S short film, Melinda Arrive ce Soir, presented at the intro to YVES SAINT LAURENT Homme collection, Printemps/Eté 2010.

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LEGENDS of LA CIENEGA: Recap

In May, I was privileged with the opportunity to be involved with the LEGENDS of LA CIENEGA design event in West Hollywood. Working with our client, La Cienega Design Quarter (LCDQ) on a first annual event, we co-created something really special. I'll let the newly released video do the rest of the talking, so take a look at what I'm so proud to share with you:



LEGENDS of LA CIENEGA For over half a century, La Cienega Boulevard in West Hollywood, has been the destination for stylish shoppers of top quality design and the workplace of internationally recognized interior designers and their design houses. In 2007, The La Cienega Design Quarter (LCDQ) was formed by 40 interior design merchants to promote and create further awareness for this neighborhood as a destination for design and decorative arts shopping in Los Angeles. In 2009, PF&C engaged a strategic publicity campaign in conjunction with LCDQ’s first annual event, LEGENDS of LA CIENEGA, to introduce the La Cienega Design District as a vital hub for design aficionados and enthusiasts in Los Angeles. A collaboration between ELLE DÉCOR, LCDQ, and PF&C, LEGENDS of LA CIENEGA was packaged as the first design event of its kind for L.A., cross-pollinating interior design, fashion, architecture, & product design. Through a creative press outreach and event program development, PF&C enhanced the LCDQ brand, and allowed for the event to gain editorial viability for print, digital media, radio, and television. Capitalizing on relationships within the design community in L.A., the list of participating designers for LEGENDS of LA CIENEGA included Martyn-Lawrence Bullard, Suzanne Rheinstein, Kerry Joyce, Waldo Fernandez, Michael Berman, James Magni, Madeline Stuart, David Phoenix, Catherine Malandrino, Trina Turk, & Carolina Herrara to name a few.

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The Dandy Revolution

SeanYashar.com endorses the Dandy Revolution.

For a complete study in classic formalwear, consider: BlackTieGuide.com
For a complete study in the qualities that make a Dandy, consider: www.Dandyism.net


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SYI: "The interesting irony of formal attire is that almost without exception, every aspect of the masculine evening costume derives from the sport of horseback riding." - Elegance: A Quality Guide to Menswear

Ron Arad For Kenzo

This beautiful sculpture just happens to also be a perfume bottle.

Now available in selected Kenzo boutiques, Industrial Designer Ron Arad has designed his first perfume flask for the French fragrance makers – and once again unconventionally toyed with shapes and technology. The bottle has an ergonomic form, twisting in the shape of a figure of eight, something emphasized by fine lines. It is made of a Zamac alloy and polished by hand. The unidentifiable and nameless fragrance, akin to the scent of skin, was created by French parfumeur Aurélien Guichard. The fragrance will be produced as a limited edition of 2,000.

Ron Arad’s constant experimentation with the use of possibilities of materials such as steel, aluminium or polyamide and his radical re-conception of form and structure has put him at the forefront of contemporary design. Alongside his limited edition studio work, Arad designs for many leading international companies including Kartell, Vitra, Moroso, Fiam, Driade, Alessi, Cappellini, Cassina and Magis among others.

Before Photoshop - Barbara Kruger

In the old days before digital photography and Photoshop were able to transform everybody and anything in something else (i.e. -Shepard Fairey's "Obey" or "Hope" posters,") art directors would have legions of staffers doing nothing but things called paste-ups: actual physically manipulated cut and pasted images they would then photograph until they got it right.

Barbara Kruger has been in our faces for years, and her graphic imagery has become a default for the commercial advertising industry (she was once a Mademoiselle magazine art director). Her exhibition of "smalls" done the old-fashioned way: forty four images, all but two black and white, none larger than 11 X 14, framed simply in black at the Skarstedt Gallery has been called Pre-digital only because they feared nobody would know what a paste up even was anymore.

Much of Barbara Kruger's graphic work consists of black-and-white photographs with overlaid captions set in white-on-red Futura Bold Oblique. The phrases included in her work are usually declarative, and make common use of such pronouns as "you", "I", "we", and "they". The juxtaposition of Kruger's imagery with text containing criticism of sexism and the circulation of power within cultures is a recurring motif in the work. The text in her work of the 1980s includes such phrases as "Your comfort is my silence" (1981), "you invest in the divinity of the masterpiece" (1982), and "I shop therefore I am" (1987). She has said that "I work with pictures and words because they have the ability to determine who we are and who we aren’t." Enveloping the viewer with the seductions of direct address, her work is consistently about the kindnesses and brutalities of social life: about how we are to one another.

She layers found photographs from existing sources with pithy and aggressive text that involves the viewer in the struggle for power and control that her captions speak to. In their trademark black letters against a slash of red background, some of her instantly recognizable slogans read “I shop therefore I am,” and “Your body is a battleground." Much of her text questions the viewer about feminism, classicism, consumerism, and individual autonomy and desire, although her black-and-white images are culled from the mainstream magazines that sell the very ideas she is disputing.


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Cynthia Lawrence John

www.cynthialawrencejohn.com

KAI KÜHNE — Tell Me Lais

Tell me Lais from Purple Magazine on Vimeo.

Video directed by Alex Freund. Music - M.I.A. - Birdflu Guns Up Buraka

WWOZD? Oliver Zahm

Olivier Zahm - A Founder & Editor for Purple Magazine discusses fashion, style, and inspiration. He also has a photo DIARY that I enjoy very much.

WHAT I’M WEARING NOW An Yves Saint Laurent leather jacket and ostrich boots, American Apparel jeans and a vintage Christian Dior shirt. I buy a lot of these T-shirts from Eleven on Elizabeth Street. They feel sweet against the skin. My watch is a Seiko from the ’80s. It looks like a gold Rolex, which I can’t afford yet. The glasses are Ray-Ban. I have five pairs, all in different shades of amber. I love amber. It’s a beautiful color for men. The only perfume I wear is because of its amber color — Azzaro, which is an old cheap cologne for workers.

STYLE CREDO To me, the best time for men was in the ’70s. I would love to look like Polanski or Jack Nicholson back then, the way they wore their jeans with just a shirt, a good watch, glasses and a nice white jacket. It was simple, but really sexy. At the beginning of this decade all the men got very glamorous. They started buying a lot of clothes. Me, I don’t like it. When you notice clothing on a man, I find it suspicious.

ON INSPIRATION Nothing is more inspiring than love and true sexuality. People say my magazine is very provocative or transgressive. Not at all. If there is nudity and sex, it is not to provoke, it is to show the beauty and love. In the next issue, I have the artist Dash Snow wearing women’s clothes from the fall collections. To see a beautiful man like Dash, who for me is American aristocracy— this is inspiring. - via thefashionspot.com

Power In Buildings

I picked up an amazing book over the weekend called "Power In Buildings", and it got me interested in the author, Hugh Ferriss. The book is Ferriss's personal odyssey through the modern architecture of America from 1929 to 1953...Dams, bridge anchorages, grain elevators, skyscraper projects, and viaducts are delineated in Ferriss's rich work, and it's all pretty inspiring when you realize how influential his drawings have been on architecture, movies, and pop culture in general.

Hugh Ferriss (1889 – 1962) was an American delineator (one who creates perspective drawings of buildings) and architect. According to Daniel Okrent, Ferriss never designed a single noteworthy building, but after his death a colleague said he ‘influenced my generation of architects’ more than any other man. Ferriss also influenced popular culture, for example Gotham City (the setting for Batman) and Kerry Conran’s “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow”. “Just Imagine” (movie from 1930), strongly influenced by Hugh Ferriss’s book, Metropolis of Tomorrow (1929), takes the archetype vision of the future city as defined by a Manhattan-like skyline, and portrays it in all its beauty and majesty.

Hugh Ferriss Flickr Page

Saturday Find: Armani Casa's Bach Bar

Reflecting the spirit of Armani's haute couture, the Armani Casa 2009 collection interprets the Art Deco period in a contemporary way with textural variety, a geometric sensibility and an affinity for a restrained palette, creating a point of view that is both consistent and connected. Imitating the movement of one of his pleated garments, Armani applies a glossy, pleated surface to the geometrically styled doors of the black lacquered Bach bar, finishing it with lobster-colored fabric.

Favorite Giorgio Armani quote: "The difference between style and fashion is quality."

www.armanicasa.com

Gay Talese: "Passeggiata"

Watch for his explanation of "passeggiata." It's the best!

Via goitaly.about.com -
Passeggiata: As evening falls and the harsh sun inches out of the your favorite piazza, an evening ritual is bound to begin, the Italian tradition of passeggiata, a gentle stroll (slow! think slow!) through the main streets of the old town, usually in the pedestrian zones in the centro storico, the historic center.

Italians tend to dress up for passeggiata, and tourists are usually easy to spot in their shorts and fanny packs. Older folks sit along the route, nursing a beer or a glass of wine in the bar, and watching for things to gossip about; la passeggiata is where new romances are on display as well as new shoes.

Passeggiata is especially popular on Sunday evenings. During the summer, some Italians even drive to nearby cities, the coast, or the lakes for a special passeggiata.

ColorSnap™ iPhone App

I'm a strict Blackberry supporter who never wanted an iPhone, well that is, until today. The latest ColorSnap™ app is a dream come true. This is an absolute must for designers, decorators, colorists, and those who need color in their lives.

With ColorSnap™, you can discover how coordinating colors and bringing ideas to life is easier than you ever imagined. Find a color you love, snap the photo and receive the matching Sherwin-Williams paint color and coordinating palette. And it’s all FREE!

-Choose a color that inspires you and match it with one of our 1,500 Sherwin-Williams paint colors.
-Receive a coordinating palette that complements your color. Save colors to your "My Saved Colors" library for future inspiration.
-Learn more detailed information, including paint names and RGB numbers.

...Can't wait until Farrow & Ball does an app of their own!

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Minimalist By Nature: Luis Barragán

Luis Barragán (1902-1988) was born in Guadalajara, Mexico. His professional training was in engineering, resulting in a degree at the age of twenty-three. His architectural skills were self-taught. In the 1920s, he traveled extensively in France and Spain and, in 1931, lived in Paris for a time, attending Le Corbusier's lectures. His time in Europe, and subsequently in Morroco, stimulated an interest in the native architecture of North Africa and the Mediterranean, which he related to construction in his own country. His work has been called minimalist, but it is nonetheless sumptuous in color and texture. Pure planes, be they walls of stucco, adobe, timber, or even water, are his compositional elements, all interacting with nature.

Barragán called himself a landscape architect, writing in the book, Contemporary Architects, (Muriel Emanuel (ed.) published by St. Martins Press, 1980), "I believe that architects should design gardens to be used, as much as the houses they build, to develop a sense of beauty and the taste and inclination toward the fine arts and other spiritual values." And further, "Any work of architecture which does not express serenity is a mistake."

Thanks to George for introducing me to Barragán's work! More people need to share their inspirations... it is the greatest gift you can give, in my opinion.

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BDDW

I've been meaning to post BDDW for a while now. I'm head over heels about their aesthetic. From what I can tell it looks like the company is having fun with their designs, and that's always something I like to support.

Check out their product line and their photo album - BDDW

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BDDW
A small American furniture company dedicated to the creation of well crafted timeless designs. Tyler Hays, a painter and sculptor, is the company founder and head designer. BDDW is known for their heirloom quality solid wood furniture, traditionally joined, in select domestic hardwoods. Their finishes are all hand rubbed with natural oils and lacquers. In beds, tables, seating, lamps and storage, BDDW has created dozens of classics and is constantly producing new and innovative work.

Kenneth Josephson

Kenneth Josephson's B&W photographs of "pictures within pictures" laid the groundwork for conceptual photography, bringing into question our notions of illusion and reality. - Rosalia Bermudez

Catherine Malandrino In L.A.

On Saturday, we attended Catherine Malandrino's fashion show at her Maison boutique on La Cienega. The show was in honor of the LEGENDS of LA CIENEGA event that was all the rage last weekend. The show was a fabulous way to spend the afternoon, and the vibrant colors and prints really set the tone for the summer that's almost upon us.

Later on, Catherine spoke about inspirations... guess what? She's inspired by LOVE... love it!

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Ross & Sean @ LEGENDS Gala, 5/8

Fashion Forecast: Hijabs & Stilettos

hi·jab (h-jäb)n.
1. The headscarf worn by Muslim women, sometimes including a veil that covers the face except for the eyes.
2. The institution of protection of women in some Islamic societies through veiling or seclusion.

CB2 Opens In WeHo

The best of the designer-cheapy home stores, CB2, just opened at 8000 Sunset, in WeHo. Everyone's blogging about it, and I'm no exception.
CB2 WEST HOLLYWOOD

Paul Mathieu for Ralph Pucci

French designer, Paul Mathieu, exhibits his signature style in his Aria collection for Ralph Pucci International. I saw this chaise in the Pucci Showroom at the PDC last month, and it looks even better live! It's polished bronze with a gold finish, ethereal and yet sophisticated, and at $62,400 it's truly a living room sculpture. I don't know if this is a stretch, but I find the shape and the open back of the chair to resemble a human form... it reminds me of a woman wearing a backless dress... provocative to say the least.

Wonder if I can get a recession special?

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Style: Gianni Agnelli

Gianni Agnelli (1921-2003), was an Italian industrialist and principal shareholder of Fiat. As a public figure, Agnelli is also known worldwide for his impeccable, slightly eccentric fashion sense, which has influenced both Italian and international men’s fashion.

Gianni Agnelli based his style on a spectacular line of bespoke Caraceni suits and oft-imitated personal tricks. He wore his wristwatch over his cuff, wore his tie askew, and sported high brown hiking boots under a bespoke suit to suggest sprezzatura -- the Italian art of appearing not to care about one's appearance -- and to disconcert rivals. It worked.

Mr. Agnelli’s fashion sense stood out, even in a country like Italy, where dressing well and fashionably is generally perceived as very important. His style has inspired and influenced menswear throughout the years, in Italy and around the world. In his retirement speech, Milanese fashion designer Nino Cerruti named Agnelli as one of his biggest inspirations, amongst James Bond and John F. Kennedy

The Knife Writes A Darwinian Opera

Danish performance artists Hotel Pro Forma have commissioned the Swedish group, The Knife, to write the opera, titled 'Tomorrow in a Year', a creative choice which they state as "experimental and exploratory." The music is written for three singers who come from different backgrounds: electronica pop, classical opera and performance. They are the protagonists of the performance, displaying three ways of experiencing the world. Citing Darwin's perception of time, transformation and the non-linear potentialities of evolution as the inspiration for the work.

Tomorrow, In A Year

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SYI: "Deep Cuts" is arguably the best electronic album of all time. Discuss!

Silverlake Secret: Pepe's Thrift

Do you thrift on the weekends? If so, check out Pepe's in Silverlake. The front of the store has its nuggets of goodness, but the real fun starts at the secret parking lot showroom in the back. Mid-Century galore!

Pepe's
3204 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(323) 662-6510

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Karl Lagerfeld Bag - Colette, Paris

Colette

Jonathan Horowitz: And/Or

Jonathan Horowitz: And/Or
On view February 22, 2009 - September 14, 2009

P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center presents Jonathan Horowitz: And/Or, the first solo exhibition of the New York-based artist at a New York museum. Working in video, sculpture, sound installation, and photography, Horowitz critically examines the cultures of politics, celebrity, cinema, war, and consumerism. The exhibition will include works ranging from the early 1990s to the present, on view in the 1st Floor Main Galleries, with an additional work concurrently on view at The Museum of Modern Art in the 2nd Floor Café.

From found footage, Horowitz visually and spatially juxtaposes elements from film, television, and the media to reveal connections and breakdowns between these overlapping modes of communication. In many works, these concerns are couched in the language of technology. In his video projection Maxell (1990), the image of the well-known videocassette brand logo plays from a tape copied many times over; the word deteriorates into a blur of static as the information on the tape erodes. Horowitz also notes the value systems inherent in media by establishing a sculptural presence for his video works, where VHS tapes and television monitors are positioned as objects on metal stands.

Jonathan Horowitz

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Catherine Malandrino: New York/Paris

Catherine Malandrino's website is currently under construction, but in the meantime there's a beautiful art piece on the site for our viewing pleasure. The short entitled, "New York/Paris", is an glimpse into the two cities that inspire Malandrino's work.

Simply beautiful,

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Oliver Furth Design

Traditional Home magazine selected my friend Oliver Furth as one of the “Top 20 Young Interior Designers to Watch." It seems these days that Oliver is racking up honors from all ends of the industry, and I just want to share his work with those who love fresh points of view in design.

...And here's an educational nugget for your enjoyment:

TH: Is there a palette you are particularly drawn to, and if so, why?

OF: "There's a Pratt & Lambert paint I like to use on ceilings. It's called snow goose. It's the faintest shade of pale blue. Almost like a very cool white. It subconsciously reminds us of sky and because cool tones recede, it makes the ceiling look taller."


www.olivermfurth.com

Valentino: The Last Emperor

VALENTINO THE LAST EMPEROR is a feature-length film on the legendary designer Valentino Garavani in the wake of his exit in 2008 from the company he founded in Rome more than 45 years ago. Produced and directed by Matt Tyrnauer, Special Correspondent for Vanity Fair magazine, the film is an intimate, engaging and very funny fly-on-the-wall exploration of the singular world of one of Italy's richest and most famous men. The film documents the colorful and dramatic closing act of Valentino’s celebrated career, tells the story of his extraordinary life and work, and also explores the larger themes affecting the fashion business today. But at the heart of the film is the unique relationship between Valentino and his business partner and companion of 50 years, Giancarlo Giammetti.

Valentinomovie.com

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Monocle Magazine Los Angeles Store

Led by former founder of wallpaper* magazine Tyler Brule, Monocle Magazine has grown since 2006 into one of the most respected and successful publication across multiple fields of arts, politics and fashion. Following the success of the first Monocle shop in London’s Marylebone last year, the brand will open a new store in Los Angeles on Monday, April 6.

“The Brentwood location of The Monocle Shop at 225 26th Street, Suite 19b, will feature new collaborations between the brand and designers, like the Comme des Garçons’ Hinoki candle, a unique sweatshirt from Tomorrowland, and a high-tech running kit created with John Smedley. “Monocle is opening a shop in L.A. for a variety of reasons,” said Brule. “One is the location. We were offered a great space in a high traffic area which possesses a similar demographic and ‘community feel’ to our Marylebone store in London. Two, we think L.A. provides a great opportunity for us–it’s a pop culture hub and evidence from our subscriber base suggests we have a ready-made market out there. Also, our online Monocle shop is already popular on the West Coast, particularly the Orlebar Brown Swimming Trunks and the Porter Bags.” - FWD

By the way, the latest issue of Monocle is pretty amazing... check it out : Monocle March/09

About Monocle...

The Concept:
Launched in February 2007, Monocle is a global briefing covering international affairs, business, culture and design. Headquartered in London with bureaux in Tokyo, Sydney, Zürich and New York, Monocle appears 10 times a year in print and is updated constantly at monocle.com. Developed for an international audience hungry for information across a variety of sectors, Monocle's team of award-winning editors and correspondents have been drawn from The New York Times, The Independent on Sunday, the BBC, CBC and a host of other news and current affairs outlets. More of a book than a magazine, Monocle's designed to be highly portable (it's lightweight and compact) and collectable (it's thick and robust). On-line, the focus is on broadcasting with a wide array of films, slide shows and audio reports. Edited by Wallpaper* founder and Financial Times columnist Tyler Brûlé, Monocle offers a comprehensive global briefing under a single editorial brand. In print and online, writers and photographers are dispatched to over 50 countries every issue to deliver stories on forgotten states, alluring political figures, emerging brands, fresh forces in popular culture and inspiring design solutions.

The Sections:

AFFAIRS
A global mix of reportage, essays and interviews with the forces shaping geopolitics.

BUSINESS
Devoted to identifying opportunities and inspiring the reader.

CULTURE
With a tight group of opinionated columnists, reviewers and interviewers, Culture delivers the best in film, television, music, media and art.

DESIGN
Bypassing hype, Design is dedicated to unearthing emerging and established talent.

EDIT
Bite-sized and thought provoking, Edits are vital life improvements curated in a fast-paced well-researched collection.

Wabi-Sabi

Wabi-Sabi - for Artists, Designers, Poets, & Philosophers - By, Leonard Koren

It has come to my attention that the design world is silently and subconsciously preparing a drastic shift in popular theme.

Since the middle of the last century and onward, much of the design world has been defined by a concentration on modernism as a departure from 19th century classicism. A fascination on universal prototypical solutions and concepts that imply a logical and rational worldview have been concerns of the current design administration... that is, until now.

At the moment, what we are experiencing is a move toward personal, idiosyncratic solutions in design... a new appreciation for all things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete... a worldview that is self-referential, intuitive, ambiguous, and based in a metaphysical understanding that all things are devolving toward, or evolving from, nothingness. What is being discussed here is the Japanese concept of "imperfect beauty", Wabi-Sabi.

Wabi-sabi is the most conspicuous and characteristic feature of traditional Japanese beauty. It occupies roughly the same position in the Japanese pantheon of aesthetic values as do the Greek ideals of beauty and perfection in the West.

Wabi-sabi is the undeclared beauty that waits to be discovered. It is the beauty of things as they are...an embrace of the imperfections, pared down to its barest essence, at the border of nothingness.

Unlike Modernism which solicits the reduction of sensory information, this view solicits the expansion of sensory information. In Modernism, people are adapting to machines. In Wabi-Sabi, people are adapting to nature. Beyond the hype of all that is packaged as "eco" these days, is this new understanding of the relationship between design and nature.

Author Leonard Koren is a trained architect, but never built anything—except an eccentric Japanese tea house—because he found large, permanent objects too philosophically vexing to design. Instead he created WET: The Magazine of Gourmet Bathing, one of the premier avant-garde magazines of the 1970s. Subsequently Koren has produced unusual books about design- and aesthetics-related subjects. Koren resides in both America and Japan. For more information, visit www.leonardkoren.com.

This book is an updated version of the enduring classic that first introduced the concept of “imperfect beauty” to the West. Text, images, and book design seamlessly meld into a wabi-sabi-like experience.


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Jessy G Brights the House

Our BFF Jessy G of Bright House Events is adding DJ to her impressive resume. This blue-eyed ingénue of the music scene offers a fresh spin on spinning, incorporating oldies, electro, and even 90's hip hop into her playlists. We love.

This Damsel of D'Fresh can be seen and heard at her Tuesday residency at Hollywood Hotspot Kitchen 24.

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HFH - SECRET Home Improvement Store

(HFH) Habitat for Humanity Greater Los Angeles operates what feels like a secret home improvement store in Gardena, CA. The inventory is unlike anything I've ever seen. They carry everything from doors, windows, lumber, and everything you need to build a home, to oversize lighting fixtures, crystal chandeliers, boxes of beautiful decorative tiles, dining chairs, tables, desks, stainless steal refrigerators and other appliances, etc... Everything is donated and than sold at an extremely nominal price points. Let me stress that when I nominal I mean ridiculously cheap. My only disclaimer is that depending on the day, the inventory changes. Because everything is donated at random, there's no consistency with what's available. Obviously, those who know about the store swoop up the best things as they come in, so try to get there in the morning and try not to go on a weekend.

"Habitat for Humanity’s Home Improvement Store is a retail business selling surplus new and used home furnishings and building and home improvement materials to the general public. Retail businesses, contractors, individuals and other organizations that are remodeling or have surplus or discontinued merchandise donate usable materials. For example, a lumber company that is remodeling donated most of its inventory to the Home Improvement Store, and a lighting company who went out of business gave Habitat the remainder of its merchandise to sell. " -HFH website

"Profits from the Home Improvement Store will be used by HFH to further its mission of providing home ownership opportunities to low-income families in need of safe, decent, and affordable housing. Another benefit of the Store is environmental: materials that would otherwise be thrown into landfills are reused and recycled." - HFH website


17700 South Figueroa Street in Gardena.

www.shophabitat.org


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Arts & Architecture, Complete Box Set

Arts & Architecture: The seminal architecture journal resurrected in facsimile.

From the end of World War II until the mid-1960s, exciting things were happening in American architecture: emerging talents were focusing on innovative projects that integrated low-cost materials and modern design. This trend was most notably embodied in the famous Case Study House Program, which was championed by the era’s leading American journal, Arts & Architecture. Focusing not only on architecture but also design, art, music, politics, and social issues, A&A was an ambitious and groundbreaking publication, largely thanks to the inspiration of John Entenza, who ran the magazine for over two decades until David Travers became publisher in 1962. The era’s greatest architects were featured in A&A, including Neutra, Schindler, Saarinen, Ellwood, Lautner, Eames, and Koenig; and two of today’s most wildly successful architects, Frank Gehry and Richard Meier, had their debuts in its pages. A&A was instrumental in putting American architecture—and in particular California Modernism—on the map. Other key contributors to the magazine include photographers Julius Shulman and Ezra Stoller, writers Esther McCoy and Peter Yates, and cover designers Herbert Matter and Alvin Lustig, among many luminaries of modernism.

This collection comes with ten boxes, each containing a complete year’s worth of Arts & Architecture magazines from 1945–1954. That’s 6,076 pages in 118 issues reproduced in their entirety—beginning with Entenza’s January 1945 announcement of the Case Study House Program. Also included is a supplement booklet with an original essay by former A&A publisher David Travers, available in English, German, French, and Spanish; plus a master index and tables of contents for the magazine from 1945-1967. Arts & Architecture 1945–1954 will be followed in autumn 2009 by a second set, 1955–1967, bringing together all the existing issues of the modern era.

This new TASCHEN publication, limited to 5,000 numbered copies, provides a comprehensive record of mid-century American architecture and brings the legendary Arts & Architecture back to life after forty years. - Taschen.com

Thanks to LA Times Magazine - Design & Culture Editor, Mayer Rus, for covering the Arts & Architecture reproductions.

Daniel Everett, "Conversations with a Computer"

A still from the artist's conversations with an electronic psychotherapist. (Above)

"Contained within the operating system of Mac computers is a rudimentary electronic psychotherapist program. Meant to simulate a Rogerian therapist, it engages the participant in a cyclical conversation by taking his or her statements and roughly reconfiguring them into questions. I met with this program three times a week for a month in order to discuss my fear that I was disappearing completely." - Daniel Everett

Ok, so if you have a Mac and you want to visit your electronic psychotherapist, here are the steps:

1. Go to finder
2. then applications.
3. Go to the Utilities folder
4. and open Terminal
5. When it has started up, type in "emacs" and press enter
6. Then press x and escape together
7. Then type in "doctor". You can then begin a conversation with your own personal psychotherapist on your computer. When you finish saying something, hit the return key twice.

Quite interesting,

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Daniel Everett

Will Govus

In the series entitled "Night", Will Govus gives us his perspective on living in suburbia... moody and intriguing.

For more contemplative melancholy: willgovus.com

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