Muppets, Behind the Sound

SoundWorks Collection: The Sound of The Muppets from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.

This makes me want to see The Muppets even more than I already do!

via Portable.tv

Sophie Duran

Dreamy, surrealist printed textiles by Sophie Duran. I love the fluid quality of the velvet one above, depending on how it lays the image is constantly being obscured. Lovely hangtags, too.

Found via Miss Moss

Museum for African Art

The colors and letterforms in this logo are just right for the forthcoming Museum for African Art. It has a vibrant, African vibe to it without being cliche. Apparently the design firm, Original Champions of Design, was inspired by African textile patterns and colors as well as the architecture of the forthcoming museum space, particularly the trapezoid shaped windows.

Alexander McQueen - Behind the Scenes

Here's a glimpse into the balanced mix of beauty, guts, poise and nerves inherent to all fashion shows, when everyone works up to the last second. This video seems to capture the exhilaration of a runway show; sewing up the last details, adding final touches. Then there's the bittersweet moment of the models the final march and then fading away, that speaks to the ephemeral quality of one season's collection and it's 15 minutes of fame.

via Fashionista

Dreamcatcher or choker?

Maybe both...

Isabel Marant choker, La Garconne.

Riikka Sormunen

Incredible use of color and pattern by the illustrator Riikka Sormunen. The best part of this illustration is the sheer fabric draped over the girl's hat.

Floral Foliage Harvest

This seems like the best way to bring a bit of that fleeting fall foliage indoors as the weather gets colder. These wild arrangements recall the paintings of Dutch Masters, especially the way they're photographed.

Amy Merrick for Design*Sponge

The Trouble I've Been Looking For

Charli Ljung for Dossier Journal. What kind of photographic process is this?

Valentino Haute Couture 2011

Sublime.

Wendy Nichol Fall 11 Look Book

Wendy Nichol AW2012 Lookbook from Wendy Nichol on Vimeo.

A sparse, gritty, wild West inspired video look book.

via Refinery29

Optical Illusion

A clever and covetable tromp l'oeil.

Leanne Shapton

Whether they be rows of sausage ravioli or flowers on a Chanel silk blouse, these varied, disparate patterns come alive when they're rendered and obscured by the loose and imperfect strokes of watercolor paint.

Leanne Shapton for the New York Times

Thanks Florian!

Less is More

Just a simple tilt of a striking photograph can add a layer of mystery and movement to a design layout. Fluid, graceful, minimal.

via Many Stuff

Love

I think this picture pretty much says it all.

via Gretchen Jones tumblr

Ampersands

Sometimes the ampersand is the most interesting character of the set. These are some of my favorites.

Via this blog.

Paristocrats

The thing I love most about fashion is it's ability to transport me into this imaginary world - far away from the realities of everyday life. Nevermind that most of the clothes are unaffordable and most people don't look like models - those details become irrelevant when you jump into the parallel universe of a great fashion story.

Image from Paristocrats.

Life - Keith Richards

As a person who is endlessly fascinated by the music and culture of the 1960's, I loved reading more about it from Keith's point of view through his countless stories about living life (dangerously) on the edge. "Keef" is definitely the ultimate rock star, then and now.

Life by Keith Richards

Lover the Label - A Dance for One

A Dance For One. from LOVER® on Vimeo.

Another inspiring fashion video, this time from Australia's Lover the Label. I can see heavy influence by the photography of David Hamilton (below) and the dreamy cinematography of the film Picnic at Hanging Rock (bottom). I think it's safe to say ballet is a current trend in fashion.

Candelaria

I wish I could fly over to Paris right now and have a cocktail and some tacos at Candelaria, the new taqueria/cocktail den designed by David Rager and Cheri Messerli. It's so thoughtfully designed and decorated - they commissioned several artists to help complete the space. Sort of modern and bohemian at the same time, it would be my favorite place to hang out if it were located in New York City.

While listening to songs from Carole King's Tapestry, I slid into one of my habitual roundabout internet surfing sessions, when one curiosity leads to another, and another, then another. From CK's Tapestry I started researching woven tapestries, first stop Wikipedia. Found a couple of interesting ones, of a tapestry (Chuck Close) and tapestry as painting subject,




but then decided I'd get more out of a museum website, so I hopped over to the website of the American Folk Art Museum, which, I'm embarrassed to say, I've never been to. This is sad, given the fact that I've been conveniently volunteering right next door at MoMA for years now. Anyway, before I got any further with tapestry research, I was distracted by the art of Eugene Von Bruenchenhein and his aptly named exhibit: “Eugene Von Bruenchenhein: ‘Freelance Artist—Poet and Sculptor—Inovator—Arrow maker and Plant man—Bone artifacts constructor—Photographer and Architect—Philosopher’”.





This exhibit name attempts to express, or reign in, the magnitude of his weirdly inventive and exhaustively productive life as a self-taught artist. The few images I've pulled jump from his wife acting as pinup, her tapestry-like dress almost blending into the wallpaper behind her, the architectural sculpture made of painted and glued chicken bones and the clean minimal drawings, rendered with a ballpoint pen. I was so intrigued I had to find out more, via Roberta Smith's glittering review.

All this to say, I made one last internet leap to report this all right here along with the announcement that I will be paying my first visit to the American Folk Art Museum, imminently, where I'll learn about tapestries and let Eugene inspire me.

Christoph Niemann for The New Yorker

I was so touched by the new cover of The New Yorker, illustrated by Christoph Niemann. It has such a solemn grace, a poignant visualization of the catastrophe in Japan but also a nod to the signature qualities of Japanese art.

Spring Rain

Despite the fact that there was fresh snow on the ground this morning in Brooklyn, it's officially spring. Seeing rain and snow fall on fresh sprouting crocuses and daffodils is a bit frustrating, but I'm happy to see that plants are starting to bloom and that this spring rain will give way to a new season.

Paintings from David Hockney's Weather Series.