Inspired by 2015?…maybe
- At December 31, 2015
- By martha
- In Uncategorized
0
Inspired by 2015?...maybe
It's not terribly auspicious to begin anything on the last day of the year - you'd be crazy to launch a boat today. But what the hell, I'm new to writing a blog - so if it tanks so be it
When I thought of an end of year post, I thought I would want to read about the cool things that arrived this year - inventions, improvements, inspiration...and I have to say I had a tough time thinking of ANYTHING. Ok, that didn't last forever, but number one invention on my list was the new apple STYLUS. And let's admit that I don't have one - because it only works with the new iPad Pro, and I wasn't ready to throw down the cash when there is nothing wrong with my iPad. (It might also be that when I exclaimed to a friend about the stylus after I used it in the store he silenced me with "That's great Martha, you and the other five people that draw by hand should be thrilled.")
So much for my #1 2015 creation.
2. The Buff and Hensmen house in the television show Transparent. The television show set in Los Angeles has created an additional character in this house - every human character has a strong relationship with it. It's a fine mid-century house - but it bears little resemblance to the bland interpretations presented every month in DWELL magazine. For one, like the inhabitants, it's messy. The styling is modest - and it transforms with whomever is in residence. It's not enough to be a great set, of course it's a well written show...but if you thought the bar cart in Madmen was important like I did, you'll appreciate the thoughtfulness of the art direction of Transparent. (And if you don't care about the art direction watch it anyway...)
3. I asked all my yachty friends about their favorite innovation this year and they were all as silent as I...at the Ft Lauderdale boat show I was completely underwhelmed...but Luca Brenta's new Logica was there and there is nothing he does that I don't find interesting. Below is an older boat Ghost - certainly in my top 10 of all time.
4. Combining the world of fashion and yachting is the Fondazione Prada, and they have a new headquarters in Milan, designed by OMA and Rem Koolhaas. I sailed on the first Prada 12 meter - painted Prada green of course - in the Med 20 years ago. I'll never forget the inappropriateness of their all black sailing attire. But they were so COOL! Keep it up Muiccia, you are an inspiration to us all. (By the way, I am fascinated by the fact that she doesn't draw at all.) From their Mission Statement:
Our main interest is ideas, and the ways in which mankind has transformed ideas into specific disciplines and cultural products: literature, cinema, music, philosophy, art and science. With the new venue, the Fondazione’s range of knowledge will be expanded. Each field will be afforded its autonomy but have the same overall aim. They will co-exist with one another, leading to unpredictable resonances and cultural intersections.
One thing we seem to be losing with alacrity is the village center where ideas are discussed and exchanged - the design of this foundation looks like intersecting paths, so if those inside can just put their smartphone down as they walk from one discipline to another...
5. "REPAIR IS A RADICAL ACT" I was so excited when I sent a Patagonia a jacket with a rip and I opened an email with this confirmation that they received it. However, after another week I got another email with a gift card - turns out that repair really is radical. But in 2015, my sewing machine has been out often as I have repaired favorite jeans, turned dresses into shirts, reworked beautiful, old jackets that had REALLY BIG shoulder pads...
6. In 2015 I lost my cat Starr and gained a big mouse problem. Hats off to an invention and manufacture over a hundred years old. My kitchen is safe again. Sorry mice...
7. Newest Launch at Bath Iron Works...and I thought for all theses years that it was just a mold. I have always loved Bath Iron Works - it's American history, it's Naval history and of course its history with Olin Stephens and the America's cup. I have literally driven by this destroyer under construction hundreds of times. Our most stealth and advanced destroyer...The USS Zumwalt was named after Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, the youngest man to serve as Chief of the Navy's Naval Operations. Coincidentally, the ship's commanding officer's title and name is Captain James Kirk. (Nice!)
Best wishes to all for 2016...bring it on.
(I've decided in 2016 that I won't be wearing dark lipstick...that was so 2015)
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Novel Inspiration
- At December 05, 2015
- By martha
- In Design Philosophy, Inspiration
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Novel Inspiration
Whenever I read Patti Smith – as I am now – I am reminded of other books that have inspired me. When she writes, she is always mentioning writers, artists, the book in her hand. I was telling my friend C. Guinness about The Master and Margarita – the book that probably tops my list for favorite novel – and she googled Patti Smith's favorite books (yes, someone made a list), and there it was, at the top of her list as well.
In architecture school, I was consumed by A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander. His is not a big design philosophy but small theories that are almost anecdotal and so understandable at an intuitive level that it's almost like how your subconscious understands spaces – and feels in spaces. This page (A Pattern Language, page 159) with "light in two sides of every room" is intrinsic to my process. (Another maxim from Alfred Hitchcock, regarding set design, and I'm paraphrasing, "never let the eye stop, always have a view of something further" also resonates with me.)
In Praise of Shadows was a revelation for me – such a small, beautifully constructed book. It has an eastern point of view that I find hard to grasp, unnatural to my sensibilities, but utterly worth the effort.
Both Tanizaki and Alexander recognize the humanity in creating dwelling spaces, and in my case, it's the human beings, the craftsmen behind the architecture, the boat building, the joinery that I feel can be used as a part of the object itself. Whenever a carpenter gets stymied by a transition, I generally work with him on a solution and in the physical solutions are as varied as the problems but the consistency is in the intentionality and the hand that crafts is.
Footnote: Read Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees about artist Robert Irwin by Lawrence Weschler.