David Hockney, Vogue Paris 1985

Speaking of David Hockney, in Paris, here are a few of the 40 pages of fantastic photo collages, paintings, drawings, and writing he contributed to French Vogue for the Dec 1985-Jan 86 issue. I bought this on the newsstand when I was going to college in Paris. I've always loved the desk photo, mostly because of the Pistilli Roman book and the Lubalin Graph Dog Biscuits, but looking at it now I think what a cool project that would be to make a desk like that, that looks like a Google street-view of a desk, as taken by a Corgi toy. It looks like it's taped to the wall with its own cubist, fragmented sides. (Mr. Hockney, let's make some furniture!)

Also, check out our friend J.B. Taylor's post "When David Met Celia", which was the catalyst for these Hockney posts.
... and that's Hockney's cubist portrait of Celia Birtwell on the cover.

And also visit other friends' Dominic Lutyens and Kirsty Hislop's blog:
http://flashinonthe70s.wordpress.com/

plant + levelor + sun = Hockney

Director Mike Nichols' New York City apartment, 1980. Besides the big Josef Albers painting, what I've always liked about this room is the simple plant in front of the sun splashed Levelor blinds, and and how it looks like a room David Hockney might've wanted to paint. It also helps that there's an actual David Hockney drawing on the bookshelf, and the upholstery looks like a Celia Birtwell design. And although it looks like a close-up of the window, below is actually Hockney's newest work- on iPhones and iPads, which, if you're in Paris before January 30th you should check out. It's nice to see him getting back to his plant/blinds/sunlight roots, but in such a crazy
 sci-fi way.
Watch the interview here

Think minimalist. It's more intellectual.

And other state-of-the-art advice from 1984's The Yuppie Handbook.

click to enlarge.

Herb Lubalin Ampersand

Ampersand designed by Herb Lubalin for Upper & Lower Case Magazine, 1970. 

This 3-D version is a leftover from a type/writing themed installations project we've been working on lately for an ad agency. More soon.........

Bulloww-Up

We don't usually buy records anymore unless there's a poster inside, but here are the latest exceptional exceptions.
Lalo Schifrin's Bullitt and Herbie Hancock's and the Byrds' Blow-Up.

The Ghost and Mrs. Snowblood

Squeaky-voiced 1930's actress Jean Arthur's house in Carmel California, 1976.
Equal parts Lady Snowblood and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir,
with a little helping of the Mines of Moria and Fangorn Forest.

And that's just the living room.

Boing Boing

Awesome cantilevered hangout with springy net seats from Joan Kron and Suzanne Slesin's seminal 1978

industrial style & design opus, High Tech. 

Which, if I had to choose only two design books to have in a library,
would be one of them. 

Mezzanine into the woods made by Michael Jantzen (of Illinois, who has very lucky kids).

click to enlarge.

this old thing

Recent yard/estate sale acquisitions of the clothing variety:

Top: Vintage Patagonia Gore-Tex raincoat, with a Patagonia decal where the front patch usually is.

David Hicks wallet, of the softest kid glove leather ever, with a tiny leather address book. Never used, from Japan in the 70's.

Vintage New York Times t-shirt- almost as soft as the wallet- promoting their classifieds section.

1940's Hermes silk scarf featuring a pack of antsy hunting hounds chomping at the bits.

The ubiquitous L.L.Bean hunting boots, this time with leather kilties- that fringed tongue, and a 1976 Maine Road Atlas which has little dots showing every farm in the state. Kind of fun if you're out in the country and you want to show the kids some cows and goats. Also good if you go out and forget the GPS.


related: Mainer and founder of Patagonia Yvon Chouinard on finding his own way and building a successful and responsible business here, from a talk he gave at University of California Santa Barbara in 2005. It's an hour long, and well worth watching.

Woody Allen's apartment, NYC, 1972

Living room, and part of the large rooftop country garden.
"In a typical seriocomic aside, he once told The New Yorker, 'I think I can say, though this is not for publication, that I have the most beautiful apartment in New York' ."


From Architectural Digest, Nov/Dec 1972.

Aqua non viva

So long glass things on the window sill, hello babyproofing.