Han Eyeglass Frames

by Tim Yu

Whether you're myopic or not, these Danish-designed frames by Han are timeless and versatile — great as either sunglasses or spectacles.

Founded on 1 May 2008 by Hankjo Benhavn, the brand blends designs that have stood the test of time with traditional craftsmanship and a twist of originality to create a classic look. We like that they're neither too round, too slim nor too Wayfarer-like and the way the monochromatic looks strike a delicate balance of both shape and simplicity. Offering a level of customization, the type of lens including shade, prescription and polarization can be specified to meet your needs.

Han comments, "Classic isn't boring, but is a factor that can continue to inspire and relive itself over and over again." To see all models and for more info including locations of retailers (only available in Denmark, Sweden and the U.K.) visit Hankjobenhaven. Price available upon request. Contact Han directly at contact [at] hankjobehavn [dot] com.

Timeless frame pictured above and after the jump.

The Ayurvedic Yoga Massage Guild

by Max Gold

Largely unknown in the West, Ayurvedic Massage combines deep tissue massage with coordinated breathing and yoga stretching. Brad Teasdale and James Winstanley have spent much of their lives traveling through Asia, studying the art of Ayurvedic Yoga Massage.Teasdale and Winstanley recently returned from Asia with the intention of sharing AYM with the West and to begin they founded the Ayurvedic Yoga Massage Guild. A typical session is a practice for both the client and the practitioner and yields deeper, more lasting benefits than only relaxation. Teasdale talked to CH about the practice.

"In the simplest way, the goal of this work is to bring the physical body of the recipient back to a place of harmony. I have been a student of forms for all of my adult life, and this is the most comprehensive and intelligent way to approach the body. It weaves many disparate elements together into a comprehensive and practical form. As with the martial arts, when one studies and closely adheres to a form, there is freedom. Freedom within form."

The Ayurvedic Yoga Massage Guild offers courses to become certified to practice the entire first AYM series. If that's not for you, the guild offers a seven-day AYM certification retreat brings the participants to a treetop pavilion in Nosara, Costa Rica to learn the skills and framework for immediate professional practice. The retreat is in partnership with Nosara Yoga Institute and is applicable to all forms of holistic healing and spiritual practice, making this immersion an enriching experience for any type of student.

Teasdale and Winstanley have created a program that strives to heal from the ground up. Teasdale explains, "When the breath and body are in harmony, the mind is at ease. When the body and mind are in harmony, the energy or 'spirit' flows naturally. The goal of the Ayurvedic Massage practitioner is to create and hold that sacred space for the recipient to heal themselves."

Car Hood Coffee Tables

by Ami Kealoha

Using hoods from vintage American cars, Joel Hester handcrafts coffee tables in his Dallas, TX studio. Taking advantage of the bright colors of yesteryear and the patterns created by oxidization, the one-of-a-kind steel pieces add industrial chic to living rooms.

Tables start at $850 and Hester also makes bed frames, desks and other furniture to suit all your yearnings for metal.

via Bem Legaus

Christopher Chiappa

by Brian Fichtner

Christopher Chiappa produces artwork both visceral and subversive. In his studio, an ever-growing blob of solidified expanding foam consumes a Weber grill. The mass is riddled with a fury of knives fashioned from masonite, as if to kill off the uncontrollable beast. The piece has taken on a life of its own. Indeed, one of Chiappa's greatest strengths as an artist lies in his ability to relinquish conscious control and let his projects follow their own path and, ultimately, assume their own meaning.

Chainsaw Rocker (at right, more images after the jump), a 1:1 reproduction of a Honda Accord car seat, came from a junkyard find that Chiappa had kicking around his studio. While working with chainsaw sculptors on another project, he managed to convince an artisan to make a rendering of the seat ("Chainsaw guys only want to carve eagles and bears and wolves and shit," Chiappa told me). The resulting sculpture, replete with functional brass plated rockers, is one of those delightful convergences of high- and low-brow. It's currently on view at Moss Los Angeles, price upon request.

Conceived at a time when Marcel Wanders' Knotted Chair and Hella Jongerius' Kasese were recently canonized by inclusion in MoMA's permanent collection, Chiappa's Latin Covers are an attempt to blur class distinctions and reinvigorate designs he felt had lost their sense of wonder. "There's this whole notion of high-end design and who it's for. The audience it's for is so specific, so educated... I wanted to tear that down" he said. Deployed during the city's less sanitary days, latin covers were once used to protect taxi upholstery. For the Knotted Chair and Kasese, they serve as protection and commentary. After tracking down a producer in Long Island City, and again, after some convincing, Chiappa had detailed covers made for the chairs (including gold piping for the trim). For Chiappa, the covers impregnate the chairs with a false language — "low class bling" — that flip them into a whole new realm.

Chiappa's forthcoming exhibition,"Swiss Cheese," evolved from a simple design into a serial sculpture project. Originally, he was looking to simply create a book-stand for American Psycho: a self-conscious reflection on the tastelessness of displaying one's favorite books. But the metal stand didn't turn out quite right: "It looked a little too much like Grcic," he said, referring to the German designer. So he drilled holes in it and had it powder coated yellow. But then it started to take on a cartoonish quality. Still, the holes had fermented an idea and Chiappa, as he traveled around the country, started buying Swiss from delis and developing ways to translate the food into sculpture.

In the end, he's found a method of turning stencils into CAD drawings that yield deceptively simple renditions of actual Swiss, only in a larger-than-life scale. As paintings, the project could conceivably work but when produced in three-dimensions and mounted off the wall, the Swiss cheeses deliver a trompe l'oeil effect that is simply awesome. "I like when a magician shows you that he's doing a trick, but he still gets you anyway. That's what I like about art," he explained of the sculptures.

Swiss Cheese
4 October–8 November 2008
Opening reception: 4 October 2008, 6-8pm
Kate Werble Gallery
83 Vandam Street
New York, NY 10013 map
tel. +1 212 352 9700