Decapitated

When I first saw Planet of the Apes as a kid, I shivered when Charlton Heston encountered the top half of the Statue of Liberty jutting out of the sand at that disturbing angle. Liberty Enlightening the World––rotting away in the tide.

That image has always stuck with me; maybe that's why I was surprised to see this photo (below) of Seattle's Statue of Liberty head, rising up at that same unsettling angle. (It's not a hot air balloon... it's just a big head.) Whatever the intended symbolism, I think it's totally hilarious... Decapitated freedom?

I did a bit of research (because that's the kind of guy I am). It turns out, one great Statue of Liberty head started it all. Before the original Statue of Liberty was ever shipped to the United States, its head was put on display during the 1878 Paris Exposition in the garden of Trocadéro Palace. It could hold 40 visitors at a time.


• Planet of the Apes - Statue of Liberty Scene

Gone to Maker Faire!

Most of D+R will be at Maker Faire this weekend. Don't be a chump and miss it! Get there early, get there on a bicycle, get there on public transport. If you wait until Sunday at 3PM, you probably won't get there. Say hi. We are easy to find. I will be twittering.

Twitter: Mister Jalopy

(D+R co-hosts, where are you this weekend? Add your Twitter to this post, if you like.)

Cave House

The LA Times recently ran a story with plenty of photos about a house built in a cave.

The Sleepers — Curtis, Deborah and their children, Kian, Perry and baby Theodore Wesley — live in a cave, a 17,000-square-foot gouge in the earth left by a 1930s sandstone mine. It’s Tom Sawyer country here in Festus, Mo., just a few miles from the Mississippi River, and the Sleepers showed their adventurous side by making their home 45 feet under a forest (and a neighbor’s home).

Garage Sale Report - May 23, 2009

Why would I buy this? Well, I thought it was a no-brainer. At a garage sale, on a major thoroughfare, at the end of the day, lots of people had passed by and decided it wasn't worth it.

There are original antiques. Then, there are period reproductions. And finally, modern recreations. For example, consider the Stickley settle. All the wood is quartersawn oak and it looks as good from the back as it does from the front. As its popularity grew, others started making high quality reproductions with the same perfect tiger stripe oak. Then, somebody decided they could sell it for half the price if they did a version with lesser secondary woods where they were not visible. Then a shrewd, but unimaginative, individual decided they could halve the price again if it was all lesser wood and, instead of traditional joinery, the piece was screwed together. Let's put a pin here and call it 'end era reproduction.'

As the original was terrifically expensive, reducing the price by 75% put it into the hands of lots more people. But, at the same time, if your great grandparents had bought an original Stickley settle, you would still own it. And it would be worth a fortune.

Eventually you end up with this. Funny thing is, it is probably more comfortable than the original Stickley. Well, for six months until the arm breaks off.

So, why would I buy an end era reproduction of a "mission-style" dry sink? It is falling apart and made of plywood. The low end quality and missing pieces would never justify an economical or sensible repair. Could my man Caleb restore this piece of furniture to perfect? Of course! He repairs Nakashima, restored the cabinets in a Lautner house and creates extraordinary furniture of his own design! But, it would be squandering his time and talent. So, again, why would I buy this?


As a source of raw materials. That marble top weighs 50 pounds. The 5 Minton Hollins English Arts and Crafts thistle tiles are perfect. Dusty, but without a chip or scratch. Occasionally I will find one nice tile but I never find five perfect matching tiles. Imagine those over a sink or fireplace.
And an exquisite brass towel rod. Elegant as can be, it would disappear in a kitchen, never calling attention to itself, but you would know how perfect it was every day.


Look beyond what is there.

Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann Double Bed

From Sothebys:

EMILE-JACQUES RUHLMANN, 1879-1933
LIT CORBEILLE, PIÈCE UNIQUE, 1928

A UNIQUE AMBOYNA VENEER, TULIPWOOD AND GILT BRONZE DOUBLE BED BY EMILE-JACQUES RUHLMANN, 1928. STAMPED TWICE

Mid-century modern? Sure, lots of nice stuff from that era but I prefer early-century modern.

Lit Corbeille Bed at Sothebys

R.I.P. Ethel the Chicken

R.I.P. Ethel. Survived a coyote attack in April 2009, fell victim to a raccoon in May 2009. She was a good chicken and our family will miss her. (Photo by Dennis Nishi)

Mid-Century Vacation House Designs

Grain Edit scanned a brochure of plans for vacation homes made of plywood.

The booklet was produced by the Douglas Fir Plywood Association and features floor plans and dimensions for 18 vacation homes built with fir plywood. Included are plans for homes designed by modern architects such as George Matsumoto, Frederick Liebhardt, David George and Henrik Bull.

The illustrations are by Bob Wandesforde (b.1920 - d.1990). Bob was a freelance designer and Charter Member of the Seattle Art Directors Society.

Makeshift Ladder

I'm having some much-needed work done at my house and this morning I saw one of the guys making what looked like a ladder. I was correct. Why? He explained to me that the tool truck was at another job site which meant he'd have to make some of his tools. If any stone hammers appear, I will document and report back.

Previously on D+R: Elegant Solution

Questionnaire Music Video

This is one of the first music videos I recall seeing on tv. We would have had three or four channels at the time. We didn't get MTV until 1987 and this aired around 1981 (I was nine years old). It looked like nothing else I'd ever seen and was super exciting to me. And you couldn't record it, or play it back or summon it up on YouTube. Just cross your fingers and hope to die they'd play it again, and as it was commanding your rapt attention pray that mom wouldn't suddenly decide that it was time for you to unload the dishwasher. Some really early computer animation and trailing effects with lights and neato grid projection (which I'm a big sucker for). But, how'd they do the woman's illuminated dress? Black lights? I don't get it.

Link: Chas Jankel - Questionnaire (Thanks, Scott!)
More early computer animation in a music video:
Elvis Costello - Accident's Will Happen (1979)

Previously on D+R: Nancy Nova Made in Japan

Wharton Esherick's Captain's Bed

In 2000, the Wharton Esherick Captain's Bed was sold for $24k which was more than double the auction estimate.


Now, 9 years later, it was been stripped and refinished to be auctioned again on June 2. This time, the estimate is an optimistic $30,000-$40,000. Should it have been refinised? Greg considers.

Wharton Esherick, Captain's bed, USA, c. 1925, at Wright,

A POPLAR CAPTAIN'S BED, WHARTON ESHERICK at Christies, 2000

Stunning Modernist Posters at Swann's Auction

Swann's Modernist Poster Auction

Very Rare Sale at Coco's Variety

1936 Schwinn Liberty, Chicago, Illinois

For the first time ever, my retail store is having a sale. Starting this instant and ending on Monday. There will be uncommon values and rarities from my personal collection.

Coco's Variety Memorial Day Sale

Cornball Signs

I found these corny vintage wood signs today for a mere $3 each! Haw haw! Other rib-ticklers I passed up were "Think or Thwim" (killer!) and a stork bringing a baby with "Somebody GOOFED!" (Oh, stop it!). Ahem. I love the randomly urgent lettering.

Found: A 1960s Milton Bradley "Bump Ball"

This week I found a mysterious time capsule sitting curbside on a street in San Francisco: One (1) Milton Bradley Bump Ball, circa 1969, complete in original box.

So what was one supposed to do with the Bump Ball? According to this site:

"Apparently, the idea was to toss the ball in the air and keep it from hitting the ground by pressing it between you and the nearest hot chick while gyrating to the Bump Ball© theme song. A 45 of the song was included with every ball. "It's time the boys got closer to the girls," the album cover continues. The concept had everything. Dancing. Sex. Balls. Rock n' roll. How could the Bump Ball© fail?

Mitch O'Connell at Packer Schopf Gallery

Artist Mitch O'Connell has a show at Packer Schopf Gallery. Here's a Flickr set of the paintings - wow!

Unconsumption of Objects

The New Yorker 5/11/09

Rob Walker of the New York Times (who wrote Handmade 2.0 and astutely pegged the DIY movement as an "independent work movement" as much as an "independent craft movement") has a new blog, Unconsumption.

Unconsumption is a word used to describe everything that happens after an act of acquisition.

Unconsumption is an invisible badge.

Unconsumption means the accomplishment of properly recycling your old cellphone, rather than the guilt of letting it sit in a drawer.

Unconsumption means the thrill of finding a new use for something that you were about to throw away.

Unconsumption means enjoying the things you own to the fullest – not just at the moment of acquisition.

Unconsumption means the pleasure of using a pair of sneakers until they are truly worn out – as opposed to the nagging feeling of defeat when they simply go out of style.

Unconsumption is not about the rejection of things, or the demonization of things. It’s not a bunch of rules.

Unconsumption is an idea, a set of behaviors, a way of thinking about consumption itself from a new perspective.

Unconsumption is free.

Rob is also the author of Buying In: The Secret Dialog Between What We Buy and Who We Are and the blog Murketing. I've had the pleasure of talking with Rob on numerous occasions over the years about the swelling of interest in hand-making, recycling, independent entrepreneurship and the new frontiers the internet introduces to the marketplace. His focus on the Maker and DIY movement has offered a really enjoyable perspective on the significant shifting and merging of multiple movements (feminism, crafting, environmentalism, independent workers) and how they all interlace and contribute to one another.

Link

Then and Now #10: Tear Mender

Steve Lodefink unearthed one of those rare instances in which a "Now" (right) looks better than a "Then" (left). But until we see a lot more similar examples, this goes in the "exception that proves the rule" column. (Tear Mender was reviewed in Cool Tools this week.)

Lego Kits of Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings

Lego just introduced two new "Architecture" kits based on Frank Lloyd Wright designs. The first in the series are Fallingwater and The Guggenheim Museum. These look fantastic! (via PrairieMod)

Les Animaux - Drawing Modern Animals (C. 1920)

Les Animaux Tels Qu' Ils Sont (via things)

Giant Anatomy

I'm not a big fan of Damien Hirst, but this 20ft bronze sculpture made me chuckle (though, at £1 million, it probably should sweep me off my feet!)

If Hirst's sculpture looks familiar, maybe it's because he swiped the design from a toy company... it's an enlarged replica of Humbrol's 14" Young Scientist Anatomy Set, by Roman Emms.

As you can imagine, Humbrol wasn't so pleased about Hirst's sculpture, so the company turned around and sued Hirst. The result, according to Artnet News...

Damien Hirst has agreed to donate an undisclosed amount to two children's charities.

Vistosi Italian Glass Birds

Alessandro Pianon for Vistosi
'Pulcino' blue glass bird sculpture, circa 1960

Peter Pelzel for Vistosi
'Pulcino' orange glass bird Sculpture, circa 1960

Vistosi Glass Birds at Bonhams

William Morris for Morris & Company

At Bonhams Design Auction, a gouache wallpaper sample created by William Morris. Though the artwork is breathtaking, I find the printer's instructions to be a remarkable connection between artist and viewer. Art and commerce, gracefully combined. We should all be so smart.

Original William Morris Wallpaper Design at Auction

Jane's iPhone

My daughter Jane said she wanted an iPhone like me, but she wanted to make one, not buy one. Here it is. I'm thinking of trading.

8-Ball Amplifier

J.K. built a guitar amplifier and housed it in a Magic 8-Ball. The potentiometer knobs have the dual purpose of propping up the ball!

Japanese Sticker

When I went to Tokyo a few years ago, my favorite souvenirs were funny little stickers that conveyed unintentionally poignant or touching messages. Like this one (above) that I keep on my cell phone. Or a smiley face with a curving arrow that says "Return. I have changed my way of living". Another good'un was of a stoic rat over the words "Garbage in, garbage out."

Japanese Stickers on Etsy

"Mon Oncle" Modern Home Replica

The maddeningly modern home from Jacques Tati's classic 1958 film Mon Oncle has been re-created full-sized  - inside and out - at the 104 Centquatre in Paris coinciding with a comprehensive Tati Retrospective at the Cinematheque Francaise.

Faithful in every detail, the "Villa Arpel" even features the infamous spitting fish fountain. 

But catch a flight to Paris fast!  The whole house comes down May 31.

Fabuleux!

A clip from Mon Oncle...

...and constructing the replica!

More images on ChimayBleue's Flickr

Garage Sale Report - May 15, 2009

I think clock repair and watchmaking have got to be the ultimate skills. As I have a project in mind that relies on clock movements for locomotion, I bought a gaggle of handsome, if broken, clocks to determine if I am able to fix them. If anybody has any recommendations on books or resources on repairing these modest clocks, please forward me the info.

I also bought three piano action models. They are glorious.

Stainless Steel Desk

Today, I stumbled across this desk which proved impossible to resist. Though a sucker for industrial furniture, I turn down more stainless furniture than I buy. Often times, the prior use was so specific that it is not directly applicable to real life. However, this desk is exactly what a desk should be.

Not stunning now, this desk will be magnificent after 2 hours of Goof-Off and Simichrome. I will post 'after' pictures.

Found in desk drawer.

Perfect Irony

click to enlarge

Musical dualities (on April 4th).

via Invisible Man

Vintage Posters at Christies

Vintage Posters at Christies (Via Hemmings, Thanks Coop)