MoMA Design Store: Destination Japan

by Letizia Rossi, 9 May 2008

MoMA Design Store recently launched Destination Japan, an exclusive product collection of housewares, accessories and design objects usually available only Japan. Available for a limited time, it features a range of items—from those created by well-known Japanese designers to pop accessories and well-designed everyday items. The mascot for the the collection "Mochi" (pictured above) is a homage to the Japanese fascination with kawaii (cute) and was designed in collaboration with Japanese design studio Devilrobots and Kidrobot. We've picked out our favorites here.

The Ramen Spoon/Fork" ($12) designed by Masami Takahashi was originally created for use at the popular Sugakiya ramen noodle restaurant chain in Japan. Created as an ecological alternative to wooden chopsticks, this stainless steel version of the classic spork has a deeper spoon for increased functionality.

Splash Dipping Bowls ($40) from designer Akimasa Yamada are a functional interpretation of the classic motif. The design also creates an ideal groove to rest chopsticks—or maybe even your spork.

Crystal Cloud ($100), designed in 1979 by Yumiko Yoshimoto, is a cloud-shaped glass sculpture that replicates the precipitation cycle by forming water drops, becoming cloudy based on temperature. Each Crystal Cloud sculpture is mouth blown from borosilicate glass and shaped by hand.

The Hands-Free Umbrella ($50) made by Ryo Masaki has a flexible rubber handle that can be molded around your shoulder freeing your hands to carry other things. The heart-patterned umbrella is available exclusively from MoMA.

Transparent Post-Its

by Jacob Resneck, 9 May 2008

The creators of the ubiquitous Post-it Note have improved this disposable yet indispensable piece of office stationery by introducing transparency. Sheer Colors, as 3M's calling them, are a boon for anyone who has ever used Post-its as a book placeholder. They're also good for anal bibliophiles who don't care to mar pages with notes or highlighting.

via Bem Legaus!

Rojo TV

by Phuong-Cac Nguyen, 8 May 2008

Just launched today by Barcelona-based art publisher and artist management group Rojo, their new online TV channel Rojo TV is an artsy alternative to the others. Unlike the streaming QOOB TV, which features short movies but done more by filmmakers and designers than fine artists, Rojo TV focuses only on creative video works from artist-filmmakers, such as Javier Longobardo, Iris Piers, Marco di Noia and Neasden Control Centre.

Rojo is inviting the public to submit their 15-second to six-minute videos. Check out the rules on their site.

Also on Cool Hunting: Rojo ®egal, Bruno 9Li

Huf: Spring/Summer 2008

by Tim Yu, 8 May 2008

Huf recently released their most ambitious cut and sew line for this Spring/Summer 2008. What started out as a mainly a t-shirt brand, Keith Hufnagel (the New York skate legend who's now based out of San Francisco) has carefully crafted into a skate and street culture institution.

Their newest line seems a bit more grown-up than past editions with conservatively-colored button down cotton shirts and some clean-cut jackets. The stereotypical scruffy skate kid might look a bit more refined the next time you see him.

We expect and hope the line will continue to grow and become a focal point of the brand in the future. Check out and purchase from their Sutter Store. Or better yet, they recently went live with an online store where we can expect to find some select pieces.

More images after the jump.

pics via Keith Hufnagel

Roy McMakin: For

by Jonah Samson, 8 May 2008

Just in time for next week's ICFF in New York, Matthew Marks Gallery is showing its second solo exhibition of work by the Seattle-based artist Roy McMakin. The show, "For," continues the artist's exploration into the physical and mental space furniture occupies in our lives. Through the subtle distortion of common objects—a chair, a dresser, a stool—McMakin forces a subconscious shift in perception, or as he described in a NY Times Style Magazine article two years ago, "a displacement of scale that you're not quite aware of."

In this exhibit, a candy green chest of drawers slightly widens near the top, an ordinary red side table ("Untitled," pictured below left) is blown out of proportion, two coffee tables hang on the wall like a Rothko painting. Mixed in with these examples of trompe l'oeil are the investigations into the ordinary. Dark stained objects, old and utterly banal, of the kind found in flea markets around the country, are conjoined with McMakin's characteristic blocky interpretations ("My Slatback Chair With Another One," pictured below right, and "A New Table With a Skinny Table With a Carved Top," pictured above right).

Any of this work could easily be integrated into a contemporary furniture manufacturer's catalog; one readily finds the confluence of ornament and Shaker-style tendencies in the collection of the Dutch company Moooi, for example.

Still, McMakin's latest pieces are not simply mash-ups, nor can they strictly be considered furniture. There's something oddly unsettling about not being able to label these as art, craft, or design. And that's a good thing.

Roy McMakin: For
Through 21 June 2008
Matthew Marks Gallery
523 West 24th Street
New York, NY 10011 map
tel. +1 212 243 0200

Walton Ford

by Jonah Samson, 8 May 2008

For years I've been completely in love with Walton Ford's meticulously detailed watercolors of animals, so you might imagine that I was practically giddy to see his new work now on view at Paul Kasmin Gallery.

On first glance Ford's paintings might be mistaken for 19th century nature illustrations, but beyond the flawlessly rendered historical aspect of the paintings, the images often integrate both the unusual and the sinister. His monumental paintings (the three-paneled picture of the rhinoceros above measures over 8 x 12 feet!) depict his own personal vision of "the cultural history of our relationship with animals." Ford's images demonstrate his interest in how we perceive animals, and often exaggerate their human qualities. (Click images for detail.)

Also check out the limited edition monograph of his work called "Pancha Tantra" published by Taschen. Each book is signed, hand-crafted and printed with the finest reproduction techniques available. It is available through the Taschen website for $1800.

Walton Ford
Paul Kasmin Gallery
293 Tenth Avenue
New York, NY 10001 map
tel. +1 212 563 4474

Flogos

by Ami Kealoha, 8 May 2008

by Maria Argüello

We've all heard of high-level advertising but now Flogos has created flying logos. The cloud-like logos are the idea of Francisco Guerra of SnowMasters, a special effects company that specializes in creating snow and foam.

Made of helium and soap (the company promises they are environmentally friendly), a Flogo generator (think big, complicated bubble machine) pushes the bubbly creation through a stencil that gives it the desired look. Flogos can be molded into any form and you can see some examples on the company's website.

Floating logos range in size from 24-48 inches and can last up to an hour, travel 20-30 miles, and reach 20,000 feet all depending on weather conditions. As for now, Flogos only come in plain, old, regular cloud white but the company plans to introduce a colorful options in 2009. But companies are already signing up for some high flying Flogos.

via Wired