MoMA 1965: The Responsive Eye

by Evan Orensten

The Responsive Eye catalog commemorates the show of the same name at the MoMA in 1965. A show several years in the making, it was the first to introduce the public to Optical (or "Op") art.

Artists featured in the show and catalog include the well-known Victor Vasarely and Josef Albers as well as the sensational and underappreciated Paul Feeley and collective work by Equipo 57, a group of Spanish artists, among others.

The 54 page catalog is full of inspiring and dizzying images in color and black and white, and highlights the work of these early Op artists and the methods and politics of the movement.

We scored a few of these catalogs and have some available for purchase. They are all used, in good to very good condition, and first (1965) or third (1967) editions. Prices range from $40 to $50 depending on edition and condition. If you're interested drop us a note here, and be sure to mention TRE.

Some highlights from the book after the jump.

This Week in Tropolism

by Ami Kealoha

Tropolism's Your Hidden City contest is off with a bang, with over 250 entries so far. The Tropolism Flickr pool is bubbling with wonderful pictures and captions. We invite you to enter into the first open-source architectural competition!

This week is all about density. OMA's new hyper-dense skyscraper in Kentucky, the breaking news on Madison Square Garden's possible relocation to the Farley Building across the street, and the first impressions out of the mall/old people's housing Tadao Ando project, Omotesando Hills.

High Energy Constructs

by Ami Kealoha

High Energy Constructs, the latest gallery in Los Angeles' Chinatown, opens tomorrow 18 February, 2006 with a solo show by Colorado-born artist David Brady, 27. The exhibition, called "Max Jewel," is a series of sculptures made with hardware-store materials like wood, plaster, and metal and, for a gallery named after the poet Charles Olson's cry for high energy in art, the inauguration seems fitting. Closes 26 March, 2006.

Max Jewel at High Energy Constructs
Opening Reception: 18 February, 2006
990 N. Hill Street, Suite 180
Los Angeles, CA 90012
map

This Week at Refinery29

by Ami Kealoha

Here are some highlights from this week at Refinery29: Steven Alan may be at the helm of a mini fashion empire in New York, but his local city roots go deeper than just apparel. He led Refinery29 to his favorite under-the-radar haunts and hangouts in his native Chinatown, including a a Pakistani tea house and the New York Ping Pong club. Robert Geller is another New York men's fashion icon with his Cloak imprint; now he's developed a beautiful new women's collection, Harald, which evokes a fresh spin on urban sophistication. In a similar vein, jewelry designer Lisa Levine may be based out of New York, but her sexy, slightly offbeat jewelry is inspired by way of the Southwest and Mexico and combine modern designs with found objects and organic materials.

On Cool Hunting: Lisa Levine Jewelry

Ideal House

by Ami Kealoha

These last couple years have been good ones for Joris Laarman, the Dutch designer behind the widely-covered Droog Design and 2006 is already looking promising for the young designer. At Cologne's International Furniture Fair, Laarman was one of those chosen to design the 4th annual "Ideal House," an exhibit that asks internationally-recognized designers to present their ideas about living environments. Laarman's contributions include ornamental climbing grips (pictured left) that function as "alternative stairs or to see your over-designed interior from another perspective," as he puts it. Other contributions include Christien Meindertsma's rug made from the wool of 18 sheep (which can be ordered in longer lengths by the amount of sheep), a lamp that floats on its own heat (pictured center) by Eric Klarenbeek, and the "Platte Auto," a race car by John Kormeling for the whole family that is more aerodynamic than a Ferrari for speeds up to 100 km/hour (pictured right).

Dan Flavin: Dedications

by SummerSeventySix

A couple of weeks ago, Ami mentioned the new Flavin-like light installation, which the gallery has also put online. Like looking at the original works, playing around with the colored beams yourself is strangely relaxing.

Contributed by SummerSeventySix

This Week in Needled

by Ami Kealoha

After live blogging from the Milan Tattoo Convention over last weekend and into Monday, Needled had a hard time leaving Italy, so the week continued with posts on tattooed athletes in Turin competing in the Winter Olympics as well as the latest Suicide Girl iPod video series, which takes place in a Tuscan villa. The Ed Hardy brand and its recent criticism was the topic of conversation midweek, and Friday wraps up with links to news articles that feature tattoo studio-art gallery hybrids in New York and Nebraska.

Maya 2 Google Earth

by Carol T Chung

The people over at Eyebeam recently launched a new tool, entitled Maya 2 Google Earth. It's an open-source, cross-platform tool that allows you to export 3D models as a single Google Earth Placemark (KML) file. The project was inspired by the Open GL extraction utility OGLE (also by Eyebeam), which allows for the capture and re-use of 3D geometry data from 3D graphics applications running on Microsoft Windows.

Some of the potential uses for Maya2GoogleEarth are:
-Remix or augment city architecture, with your own creations
-Extract your in-game character with OGLE and bring them into Google Earth
-Design buildings and then show them at their correct geographic location

They've even stated that the first person to have Godzilla attacking Tokyo will have it posted to the site.

The image above are of gnomes from MMP online game WoW implemented into Google Earth.