SOTHEBY'S SERIES: YOUR ART WORLD

Have you seen the video documentary series created by Sotheby's? It's pretty incredible, following four different topics: the artist, the collector the auction house and the auctioneer (rostrum). Not surprisingly, they have interviewed a lot of big name people (Jeff Koons! Tobias Meyer!), making this a unique opportunity to hear from the best of the best in their field.


If you have ever been curious to learn more about how the art world works, check out each of these videos here.

CARSTEN HÖLLER: EXPERIENCE

I am super excited to check out the latest exhibition at the New Museum called Carsten Höller: Experience. There are lots of complicated art historical reasons why Höller's work is really interesting, but on the most basic level it's fun! The whole museum has pretty much been turned into a giant playground, complete with carousel swings and a giant (multistory!) slide.  Cool, right?


Get all the goods on the show here.

LE ANIMALÉ

I am totally digging this funky Etsy shop le animalé. It sells handmade jewelry and 'totems'—little animal figurines you can carry around in your pocket (or put on display!) as a kind of good luck charm. But what makes the shop special is the quirky humor behind the products. I love the fact that you can buy a "masked red fox"—a fox wearing a bunny mask—or a dust bunny. Cheeky! Plus it doesn't hurt that the packaging and overall shop design is really great; how fabulous are the description cards that come with your little animals?


Check it all out here.

BLOG CRUSH MEETS THE WEDDING FILES: OH HAPPY DAY

I have a whole lot of girl crush on Jordan Ferney—the mastermind behind the gorgeous blog Oh Happy Day. I have been reading OHD for a couple years now and I have to say I have bookmarked so many of her posts that I might as well start a whole new folder on my computer dedicated solely to her brilliant ideas. She is currently spending the year living with her husband and adorable boys in Paris and, I swear, her posts have become even more beautiful (what is it about Paris? Is there a law that everything about it must be drool-worthy?). Simply put, her blog is chock full of clever DIY ideas, wonderful project suggestions and fabulous travel and activity guides.


Not surprisingly, I have come across a number of projects that are perfect for my wedding inspiration board. Here are my favorites!



Giant Confetti Bags



Tiny Tassels



Weather Balloon Signage



Mini Pinatas



Lemonade Favors


(all photos taken by Oh Happy Day)

STUKENBORG PRESS GOES GLAM

Remember Stukenborg Press? I wrote about it here. Well now they are doing their beautiful dice prints with metallic gold ink to stunning results. I actually gave in to my Fab.com temptation and bought a couple of these prints, which arrived in the mail yesterday. I have to say that they are even more luminous in person!

Get your own here.

RAD AD

Love this: the music, the idea, the execution. Its advertising at its best! Way to go Faber Castell—a company that makes wonderful art materials and now wonderful commercials!


Thanks to DesignMom for the tip.

PRO: FORMA

I love a store that knows its art history—these patterns from FORMA are based on Russian Constructivism. The result is a great combination of geometry and personality. Who wouldn't love to get a present that looked like that?


Check out all the goods here.

FAB.COM

I am crazy in love with the new flash sale site Fab.com. Literally, I think I have had an account with them for three or fours months and I think I have purchased eight or nine gifts (some for myself, some for others, ha) already. Pretty much every week they have some sort of vendor--jewelry, stationery, housewares, furniture, electronics etc.--that will catch my eye. This week's lineup is particularly killer with OClock watches (posted about here), mas! jewelry, and Blu Dot furniture.


This stuff is sure to sell out fast, so head over to Fab to check it out before it's gone.




(Note to reader: This is not a sponsored post. As always I write about products and vendors that I have tested and can happily give my 'obsessive' stamp of approval. I can therefore personally say that Fab.com has excellent service and goods; how could I help but share the love?)

CHRONICLES OF A BIBLIOPHILE

I don't know what it is about fall, but recently I have been daydreaming about cuddling up with a good book. Of course because of school I read for hours and hours everyday, but I am talking about fun reading. Here's a quick rundown of the best books in my Amazon cart right now.


(left to right, by category)


FICTION + POETRY
Billy Collins, Horoscopes for the Dead
Elizabeth Hun Schmidt, Poets Laureate Anthology
Maira Kalman, And the Pursuit of Happiness
Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything (technically not fiction or poetry, but fun like it anyway!)


DECOR
Christiane Limieux and Rumaan Alam, Undecorate
Grace Bonney, Design*Sponge At Home


ART
Johan Kugelberg, Beauty Is In the Street
Scott Ropthkof, Glenn Ligon: AMERICA
John Elderfield and Jim Coddington, Willem de Kooning: A Retrospective
Douglas Eklund, The Pictures Generation: 1974-1984


DESIGN
Alston Purvis, A Visual History of Typefaces & Graphic Styles, 1901-1938
Rudy VanderLans, Emigre No. 70, The Look Back Issue
Ellen Lupton, Thinking With Type, Revised Edition
Steven Heller, Merz to Emigre and Beyond: Avant-Garde Magazine Design of the Twentieth Century


What books are you dying to read or own?

COLOR FOR YOUR MONDAY

Whenever I wake up feeling a bit uninspired, I just hop onto Pinterest and knock myself out of it. As usual, my 'Chroma' pinboard is making my giddy with brilliant rainbow goodness.


See all the links to the beautiful images above here. Check out my other boards here.




(Need an invite to Pinterest? Just send me an email and ask! I will hook you up.)

LET'S GET PERSONAL(IZED)

I am loving the personalized (reasonably priced!) notepads on offer at Paper Source. They have tons of really adorable designs—one for every personality and interest. Check them all out here.

HERB & DOROTHY 50 X 50

I have had the darling movie Herb & Dorothy in my Netflix queue for a while now. Now the director, Megumi Sasaki, is raising money to film a sequel which will track Herb & Dorothy's amazing new project: to donate 50 works each to 50 museums in America—one from each state— from their enormous collection.  How cool is that story?


Help Sasaki jumpstart her funding by donating to her Kickstarter project here.

DISCOVERY CENTER

Did you have a good long weekend? Even though it was absolutely beautiful here in New York, I spent the whole weekend inside writing a paper. Bummer!


On a different note, how cool is this new Children's Library in Queens? It makes me think of all the wonderful hours I spent getting lost in the story of a new book as a kid (or, for that matter, now!). Get more information about this beautiful building here.

DAVID SMITH: CUBES AND ANARCHY

For the past several months I have been working on an amazing exhibition—David Smith: Cubes and Anarchy—as part of my job at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The show opened yesterday and, if I do say so myself, it looks great! The idea behind the exhibition is to trace the artist's geometric impulse throughout his career, trying to debunk the myth that Smith was purely an Abstract Expressionist who only turned to concrete form at the end of his life. With that said, the show features exquisite examples of the artist's work from the 1930s through the 1960s, including his rarely exhibited, but thoroughly fascinating, photographs.


David Smith: Cubes and Anarchy is on view until January 8, 2012. Learn more about the exhibition here.


Image credits (bottom three works):

David Smith (1906-1965)

Zig III, 1961 (detail)

Painted steel

93 x 124 x 61 in. (236.2 x 315.0 x 154.9 cm)

The Estate of David Smith, New York, Courtesy Gagosian Gallery

© The Estate of David Smith/Licensed by VAGA, New York.

Photo by Jerry L. Thompson

David Smith (1906-1965)

Cubi I, 1963

Stainless steel

124 x 34 ½ x 33 ½ in. (315 x 87.6 x 85.1 cm)

Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Special Purchase Fund

© The Estate of David Smith/Licensed by VAGA, New York.

Photo © Detroit Institute of Arts/licensed by The Bridgeman Art Library

David Smith (1906-1965)

Untitled, 1963

Spray enamel on paper

14 x 19 in. (35.6 x 48.3 cm)

Jon and Mary Shirley

© The Estate of David Smith/Licensed by VAGA, New York.

Photo courtesy of the Estate of David Smith, NY