The lovely ladies of Design Glut have invited me to their Laser Party on Thursday. It’s being held at NY Designs’ prototype lab
They’ve asked a group of designers to come hang out and have a night of free laser cutting and etching. It’s pretty much a party from the future.
I’ve re-worked the Monster Mirror design, so it can be cut with the laser. I’m excited to see how it turns out.
Robot sculptures by Gordon Bennette. They are in a store window on 5th Ave at 16th St. Totally worth checking out if you’re in the neighborhood.
Last post on the MAD Salon, I promise.
Christina Latimer, a great photographer, was kind enough to share some of the pictures she took at the event.
Thanks Christina. Check out some of her work at bailliwik.
The DIY Salon at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) was fantastic!
So many people showed up ready to make, it was great. And almost everybody who tried the star, stuck it out. Even though it was much more complicated than I originally thought and my directions were sketchy at best.
You can get the star light mini template here (pdf). And the directions to make it below:
1. Wrap the center of a piece of 22 gauge wire (around 5 - 7 inches long) around a Christmas tree light bulb
2. Place the template over a manila folder and using a nail, punch a hole in each of the dots. Make sure to press hard enough to go through both sides of the folder.
3. Using an exacto knife or scissors, cut out the star and the backing. See the template for details
4. Using a hole punch, punch a hole in the center of the star and the backing.
5. Bend the wire, using needle nose pliers, to match up to the two small holes on the backing
6. Using double sided tape, tape the backing to the star. Make sure to line up the punched holes. Check to see that a Christmas tree light bulb fits in the hole. Put this aside for now.
7. Using an exacto knife, score the outside bends on the folder. See the template for details. (If you are making two stars at the same time, now is a good time to score the outside bends on the second half of the folder.)
8. Open up the folder and score the inside bends. See the template for details. (If you are making two stars at the same time, now is a good time to score the inside bends on the second half of the folder.)
9. Using and exact knife or scissors, cut out the remaining pieces. See the template for details. (If you are making two stars at the same time, use and exacto knife and punch hard to make sure you cut through both sides of the folder.)
10. Break the bends.
11. Using clear tape, tape the two folded pieces together.
12. Using double sided tape, tape the inside of one flap on each of the star points.
13. Attach the taped flaps to the star/backing/wire assembly.
14. Using a hot glue gun, run a small bead of glue on the taped flap (one at a time), and secure the other flap down. Do this for each star point.
Want to thank Jessica, Dess, and Molly for making this happen.
AREAWARE - The Drop from kendall mills on Vimeo.
Thanks to Kendall Mills for making the video. It shows all of the hard work that went into a great show.
Around the 1 minute mark you can see them set up my mobile on the right side of the screen. And just because I’m really narcissistic, around 1:26 you can see me stand by it while my picture gets taken.
Kiel set me up with a sweet location. The mobile was hanging over a fantastic table and bench from Bear and Lion. They make some fantastic furniture.
It was an incredible show. There was a piece by Yoko Ono, a Chuck Close spotting, live graffiti under the High Line, free booze. It was fantastic. Open till Oct. 17th, check it out if you can.
Go see Apartment Therapy’s post on it, much better pictures than I took.
I recently visited Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s homestead. It was incredible. I have rarely been to a place that has inspired me so much, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
Growing up, my favorite founding father (everyone had a favorite founding father, right?) was always Ben Franklin. Let’s face it, he had the best marketing. But after watching HBO’s John Adams mini-series (I can not recommend this enough, it will make you want to be a better American), I really started groovin on Jefferson. I loved the shots of him at Monticello, writing to Adams about how much he loved his home. I needed to see this place.
I knew Jefferson was a lawyer, a politician, and a writer. But I never knew what a Renaissance man he was. He was an architect (designed Monticello and the University of Virginia), a meteorologist (possibly the first in America), a musician, a zoologist, a botanist, an inventor, and a gadget guy. Monticello is now a museum and all of these aspects of his life are on display there.
Mastodon bones, given to him by Lewis and Clark, are on display (the man had dinosaur bones in his house). He has a giant 7 day clock, which he designed, that requires cannon balls as counter weights. He has a wine bottle dumb waiter hidden in the dining room fireplace. He used a polygraph to duplicate every letter he wrote. He invented automatic closing/opening doors. He invented double pane storm windows. He surrounded himself with books and art.
This place made me want to be better.
I was at the Whitney Museum the other day and came across the Art-o-mat in the gift shop. A very cool (and cheap) way of getting your hands on some art.
I got a cool little wooden sculpture wrapped up like a pack of cigarettes. I love this idea.
I went to the Gowanus Studio Space Jell-O Mold Compettion this weekend.
Saw some great stuff and the GSS is a pretty cool space. Go to Eat Me Daily for way better pictures and descriptions.
