Cool Hunting
| 05 December 2008view entries from: this week | this month | view previous day | view next day |
CH Gift Guide: Deals and Steals
by Doug Black
When economic times are tough, our inner bargain-hunter begins to show. To help you tighten the proverbial belt this holiday season, we made a special section of our 2008 Gift Guide dedicated to exclusive Cool Hunting discounts. You can drop 25% off a pair of Freehands gloves, or get a special CH price on the ultra comfortable basics from NUMBER:Lab. And if you need help wrapping it, you can pick up the Western-inspired Navaglow Tape at a cut-rate price.
Check out the Deals and Steals section for more updates in the coming weeks.
Design Miami 2008: Al Sabah Art & Design
by Brian Fichtner
Easily the most intelligent, holistic and culturally relevant exhibition in the Miami Design District, Al Sabah's debut of "East meets West" was a revelation. The collection consisted of two components. The charming Dutch designer Pieke Bergmans worked with Sabah for several months, traveling throughout the Middle East, in selecting indigenous furnishings to which she later, back in The Netherlands, applied her viral forms of molten glass (see our earlier post here). The resulting pieces, an audacious display of transformation through destruction, were altogether stunning.
Houda Baroudi and Maria Hibri (Bokja) presented a series of furnishings which married modern Western forms (such as a Vladimir Kagan sofa and the Eames Lounge Chair) with traditional Eastern fabrics. The hybrids, often comprised of several different fabric patterns stitched together with immaculate precision, speak to the beautiful complexity of multiculturalism today.
Barack Obama at Art Basel Miami Beach 2008
by Brian Fichtner
Shephard Fairey isn't the only artist to capture the zeitgeist of this historic year through the visage of President-elect Barack Obama. Throughout Miami, Mr. Obama was seemingly everywhere, as works featuring his likeness were given prominence by exhibitors. One couldn't help but feel comforted by this collective embrace of the potential he represents, even as news of the economic crisis continued to put a damper on the fair.
In the Art Miami venue, New York gallerist Sarah Hasted was quick to sell a 2004 portrait of Obama by Martin Schoeller.
At Scope Miami, Keszler Gallery presented Obama silkscreens by Russell Young.
And outside of the Scope venue, one of Los Angeles' most prominent street artists, Mr. Brainwash (aka Thierry Guetta), created a mural of Barack Obama as Superman.
At the Art Basel | Miami Beach Convention Center, Deitch Projects presented "Barack," a 2008 oil painting by Kurt Kauper, while David Zwirner Gallery exhibited "Barack, 2008" by Yan Pei-Ming.
Alan Warburton
by Lost At E Minor
Cambridge artist Alan Warburton collaborated with a non-art audience to produce this series of work in which he asked volunteers to use fruit to explain politics. "In Caracas, Venezuela, volunteers explained the complex and lively political scene using melons and in Cambridge, diverse residents used locally picked apples to explain the issues that affect the city," he says of how the series unfolded.
Vinyl Is Forever
by Karen Day
In the spirit of classic slogans like I ♥ NY and Virginia Is For Lovers, Soundscreen Design pays tribute to the continual obsession of music junkies' everlasting love of vinyl records with a series of collaborations wherein designers and studios create iconic interpretations of the phrase Vinyl Is Forever.
Hamburg-based graphic design and illustration studio, Human Empire inaugurates the collection of limited edition shirts, hoodies and tote bags with a retro-inspired graphic printed on environmentally-friendly, organic cotton fabrics, with each item featuring the studio and edition number. The goods can be found at Insound, the leading online indie music store known for being the first to sell music by the likes of Interpol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Tapes ‘n Tapes and more in addition to limited-edition 7”s and classic album re-issues.
