DESIGN LECTURE: JASON MILLER

Never I imagined agreeing Jason Miller on anything conceptual. His pieces are beautiful, yet a little too maintream-design for me (well.. it's sort of expected from someone who worked for names like Koons, Ogilvy, Rashid). Regardless, I just read an invitation to tonight's lecture "OK As Is" by Miller at the Museum of Arts & Design, and couldn't agree more.

"Jason Miller will talk about those personal objects in our houses that we don’t display and yet can’t discard. Some are beloved, but unfit to show. They may be old, worn or broken, haphazardly fixed or homemade. It is their imperfections that give them their charm and soul. They have transformed from impersonal necessity to intimate relic, which is why we keep them. They are our ersatz heirlooms, objects we use to furnish our most personal spaces: the basement, the garage, the attic. And we enjoy them without consideration. Miller believes design does not exist in a vacuum: “I don’t believe in utopias. I think perfection is a pretentious and pessimistic goal. Accident, imperfection and specificity are much more interesting...”

The lecture will be today, Thursday Sept 28 6-7.30 pm with a reception following. It is free with museum admission.

BOOK DAY: IN CASA FAVORITES

Today was weird. We were hopeful that it'd be sunny, but those yucky clouds were in the ray way.
Sadly, there was no photo session today as planned.

Wednesday is our book day. And today, allow us to suggest you with these titles:
1. The Art of Looking Sideways
Smartly designed, fantastically written, and artistically composed by Alan Fletcher. We just love the brilliant content of the book; we feel the urge to spread the word to the world so everyone could consider having The Art... on their coffee table (well, at least to those who adore intelligent and sound graphic design).
2. OBJEKT: the design magazine
Great features. We've been trying to find fresh inspiration and we think OBJEKT presents excellent choices of design, home features, and miscellanious designer's collections. The mag is mod, fresh, truly inspiring (of course, one month is better than the other, just like any other magazines).

So have fun reading and building your brain's design structure.

p.s.
Good news for all of us who feel extra smart for buying great stuff in a small fraction of the suggested retail price: come and join other discount lovers for the Open Air Book Fair where books, Cds, and DVDs are sold for $1 and thrift clothes sold by the bag. Hey, did we mentioned snacks from Savoy??
When and where? Sat from 10 am-6 pm at 126 Crosby St (b/w Houston and Prince)

IN CASA KIDS: MUSEUM VISIT

Children are having a lot of fun in the museum. So why not taking them there often?

It is so fascinating and thrilling to see these little beings running around vast hallways filled with valuable artifacts: their bright faces are filled with excitement, curious eyes are wide-opened, and tireless legs are pacing fast.
This past Sunday, I am previledged enough to follow the path of Archer, the super-toddler, meandering around the American Museum of Natural History at the W. 79th.
Never I imagined that a 3-year old toddler would understand what a volcano is and would actually take a deep interest in understanding the concept.
It's amazing watching this energy-charged boy zooming from one site to another, or listening to him explaining me the different types of dinosaurus: flyingswimmingwalkingstanding. All in one word. This boy definitely understands much more about his surrounding than an adult might thought. He certainly is much more advance than a 3-year old me who was just starting to learn A B C.

So take your kids to the museum. Enjoy watching them going through the exhibition and be the enthusiasts of the newly-learned knowledge.

INDULGENCE: BOYFRIEND

Saturday in In Casa means indulgence: pet, lover, addiction. It is the time to rant about what makes us feel good.
This week, I am going to share a little about my own very indulgence.

My dear boyfriend has been away for some time now and I miss him every second since the day I dropped him off the airport. Well, ok.. maybe not every second... but you know what I meant.
I think I am just one very lucky girl. I have an amazing man I can call "home". Since he was away, I've been going back to my old bad habits like slacking of when it comes to eating (he's the one keeping me eating at least 2x per day, and NO, I don't have eating disorder. I am just a lazy eater), sleeping at 4-5 in the morning (regardless, i never failed getting up early, thanks), popping my joints (he is outspokenly terrified of me doing it), among other things.

Anyway, I miss him. He's been my life indulgence and without him I don't think I'll ever taste romance and true comfort. If I never met him, I would never know that such a hard worker truly exists. And that's just SO DAMN SEXY.
So Darling, continue working hard there, wrap the tasks with great successes, pack your belonging, take that airbus and go straight to my arms, will ya?

BOOK DAY: IN CASA FAVORITES

The picture worth a thousand words. From left to right, downward:
Andy Warhol's 'Giant' (Buy Buy Buy! It is worth every penny!!) $125, Caspar David's 'Die Erfindung der Romantik' $75, Phaidon's 'SPOON/100' $39.95, David LaChapelle's 'LACHAPELLELAND' $60.

IN CASA KIDS: MOVE WITH KIDS

Moving is a pain. Especially moving with kid(s).. from the planning and packing to traveling and unpacking. Who wants to hear all the screaming or wants to keep stopping them from running around unpacking boxes a second after you sealed them.

Believe it or not though, kids love to help. They love the feeling of being present and important (for better or worse), and believe me, assigning them some responsibilities can actually help both you and your kids during the moving process.

One project that I know will work is to have them draw or paint their
moving boxes. This helps for many reasons:
- They'll be busy being artistic. It'll help you to concentrate on your own tasks.
- They'll be very proud of their cute boxes sticking out from the rest of the super boring Uhaul cubes.
- It'll be easy for you to distinguish your kids' boxes from the other boxes.
- The fun boxes can be reused for your kiddie storage system.

So here are the steps:
- Pick a coloring medium that is carton friendly (avoid using paints as they tend to warp the boxes and take some time to dry), easy to be washed (in case of spills or marks on the wall) and age appropriate (e.g. crayon or colored pencils for toddlers, marker or fast-drying paint for older kids).
- Set up a work corner with the least traffic: arrange a tarp, plastic mat, materials, and anything else to make them feel comfortable.
- Be creative: set a theme, fun rules (three animals and a boy per box, one color per side, or anything fun like that).
- Let them help pack some of their stuff inside their boxes and let them help seal the boxes.
- Always acknowledge that they are doing a great job!

And then, have fun moving!

(As posted on the Apartment Therapy)

Does anyone notice today's clouds?
They are amazing.

MOUNTAINSCAPE MURAL

Our current fave:
Hunter's 'Mountainscape' mural.
8 parts, 12' x 8'4" $ 84.99 at the wallpaperstore.com or $ 89.99 at Sherwin-Williams online store.

GALLERY: FROM A TO B AND BACK AGAIN

Yup!
We finally have an atelier space right here in Brooklyn.
LOVE IT, still have a lot to do with the space improvement given the square-footage. And what a cool space it'll be.. imagine all these awesome progressive kiddie designs that are going to be born here.
And the tableaux: Manhattan Skyscraper-scape, cool industrial topography... we cannot be more grateful as it is!

Now back to business.
We were at the "From A to B and back again" at Heidi Cho gallery opening yesterday. It's such a cool exhibition; Happy seeing Alex and Christine from the Redstr Collective again. As always, we were presented with both cool designs and interesting stories from these two.
Redstr, good luck with the Henri Bendel chocobar project. And by the way, love that "Burning Bush" lighting idea!
On the other note, it is too bad we missed saying 'hi' to the brilliant Dave Alhadeff. (You know I still owe you a six pack or a bottle of wine...I promise. SOON. -Alice)

OK now.
What is a blog without the critiques. So here it is.. a list of what's cool and not so cool from the exhibition.

COOL
- Redstr Collective's Alma Fortune Cup.
What a cool thing.. I always hate way-too-designed designs, but this duo always knows how to be refreshingly relax and playful with their (tasteful) designs. So, THUMBS UP for the cup!
- Andrew & Andrew's Cookies.
What is more brilliant than "printing" the serving suggestion and nutrient label directly on the food.
- John Pomp's hand blown glasses. PRETTY!

NOT COOL
- Hivemindesign's Rune Bed.
Good Lord.. what an awful bedspread craft to be proudly displayed in such exhibition. We are sure some people must be into this kind of freakish design for their bedrooms, but definitely not us.
- The Design Can's Skew Shelves.
Ngg... is Zaha Hadid your hero or something?
Keywords: boring, boring, too designed boring stuff, boring. Tortured lines are off the season.

INDIFFERENT
- Matt Gagnon's Wooden Screen.
Hmm.. not so sure why it is still around. Design asides, we still like Matt. We think he is a pretty cool guy... and from what we've heard (psst!), at least more of a gent (and cuter) than Jason Miller who would hit on every design babes across Brooklyn and beyond (of course we don't really know the truth :p).

That's it for now! Have a good weekend, everybody :)