Frederick Kiesler Bookshelves

Circa 1935.

Frederick Kiesler Bookshelves at Sothebys

Overpoweringly Beautiful Blossoms

(click for huge)

From Okinawa Soba's Flickr stream, several vintage photos of geisha. This one stood out to me not only because it's strikingly pretty, but because it's unrestrained in a way that I don't associate with Japanese aesthetic. Instead of a few wandering tendrils of blossoms, she is completely enveloped by an explosion of dense blooms.

Link

Tangerine Schwinn Le Tour

The legendary bicycle brand Schwinn has become a mere department store marquee, but there was a time when they were a bold, vibrant, Chicago-based company. Some of my favorite bicycle paint jobs are on modest, suburban Schwinns.

Tangerine Le Tour at Coco's Variety

Bosozoku Van Meet At Fuji Speedway

Oh, Alain Bublex, you have my deepest sympathies.

Miguel Varella-Cid's photos of Japanese Vanning Madness [speedhunters.com via my favorite van guru jj daddy-o]

Les Aérofiats by Alain Bublex

I feel awful for leaving a McDonald's Bacon & Potato pie atop the blog here for so long. So to make it up to everyone, I have decided to track down the answer to the world's most urgent question: what would the automotive present look like if only Jean Bugatti's Type 57SC Atlantic had been more popular? Or Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion Car? Or really, Georges Paulin's entire oeuvre for the coachbuilder Pourtout?

Well, I think the French artist Alain Bublex has started with the last one first. His Aérofiat series creates alternative design histories for the lowly Fiat 126 which all originate in the aerodynamic concept cars and custom carrosserie of the 1930s. Which basically means tricking out the little go-karts with ground effects that range from the insane to the impossible.

The prototype for Aérofiat 5.1 (2002), pictured above, will be auctioned off December 7, along with a collection of original drawings and plans. The estimate of EUR20-25,000 strikes me as both entirely reasonable and fantastical.

Lot 292: Alain BUBLEX, Aérofiat 5.1 2002 [artcurial.com]
Aérofiat Series gallery and writeup, in French [galerie-vallois.com]

McDonald's Pies Of The World And Asia

Time was when you could leave the US of A and be pretty confident that, no matter where you landed, McDonald's would have the old school, bubbly fried apple pies waiting for you. [Once, in London near the holidays, I found a mincemeat pie, with raisins and spices and a dollop of some custard-like stuff inside. It remains the only mincemeat anything I've ever eaten.]

But this is no longer the case. Both France and the Netherlands have killed the classic pie and replaced it with plexiglass case of baked goods. Germany's still fine. And Asia, most of Asia still has the OG pies. [Bonus: on a business school trip in 1994, I visited the McDonald's pie factory outside Shanghai. It was being run by a young lady from the Oklahoma family who'd been McD's sole piemakers for decades. Their first operation outside the US. I may be remembering the details a bit wrong, but I'm directionally correct. update: Whoops, it was Beijing, but yes, the Bama Pie Corporation.]

Anyway, flash forward to Tokyo, where my hero Andy of Reference Library, knowing of my thing for McDonald's pies, snapped a photo of a Bacon Potato Pie.

Which, well, thank you, Andy, but it appears to be old news to the nomads walking the earth, seeking out oddball McDonald's pie variations: chocolate orange, taro, corn?

A Working Archive | McDonald's pies of the world

Whodini Handmade Wallets

I just bought a new wallet: a limited edition "Aztec Billfold" by Whodini.  Hand-cut and sewn in Long Beach from rolls of vintage vinyl, Whodini's wallets remind me of the seat cushions in our old 1966 camper, which I was unaware I had nostalgia for until now.   The who behind Whodini is Jay Pezzelle, one man with a sewing machine, who creates some beautiful stuff.

The Limited Edition Victorian Vinyl Billfold

Whodini Handmade at Etsy

Metropolis II, by Chris Burden

Here's a work-in-progress video of Metropolis II, shot in the artist Chris Burden's Topanga studio. The technical term for it is a "kinetic sculpture," but it may be most easily explained as a model for a machine to make a Los Angeles.

CHRIS BURDEN: Metropolis II [HQ] 1:50 [facebook via @gagosian]

Other Makes: Luigi Colani LeMans Concept

I suspect that the fearless German designer Luigi Colani has always expected, but never waited for, The Future to catch up with him.

For a 1970 LeMans Concept Car, Colani grafted a hand-sculpted, biomorphic, plexiglass-domed, pivoting cockpit pod onto the business end of a Lamborghini Miura.



This one-of-a-kind, once-a-millennium vehicle somehow made it off the European auto show circuit and onto a trailer, three decades later, in Cross Plains, Indiana.



Where it now awaits--less than 20 hours to go!--the first bid from its new steward:



$74,999, not including shipping or the costs of refabricating the plexiglass pod roof.



How odd that the seller would offer to refabricate the bubble, for money, on a car that clearly stands in need of a complete restoration. Why not offer to replace the missing downdraft carb [which is ornamental anyway, as there is "no engine at this time."]



Whatever its fate, it does make one wonder what other insane projects lurk in the heart of eBay Motors > Other Makes.

1970 Other Makes Other Colambo
Luigi Colani Lamborghini Miura LeMans Concept Car, starting bid, $74,999.00 [ebay via mondo-blogo]

Le Corbusier Manhole Cover & The Chandigarh Project

If the only alternative is to have all the stuff rot, deteriorate, or be destroyed, I guess it's better that the thousands of pieces of furniture and street fixtures Le Corbusier designed for Chandigarh, India's first planned city, get looted back to Parisian galleries and auction houses.

But I'm not sure that's quite how the Chandigarh Project has been going down.

In any case, on Friday, you can, uh, do your part in preserving Le Corbusier's legacy for future generations by buying some former government office furniture. Or perhaps a manhole cover, which had no doubt been subject to decades of abuse under the feet and wheels of insensitive Chandigarians.

Lot 258: Le Corbusier Manhole Cover, 1961, est. EUR15-20,000.

Brancusi Was A Maker

Lot 86: Lamp with carved stone base, est. EUR60-80,000.

Apparently, the sculptor Constantin Brancusi loved to make stuff, utilitarian stuff, everyday stuff, for his own use, and for his friends. Two of those friends, Natalia Dumitresco and Alexandre Istrati, amassed quite a bit of Brancusi-made objects. Now their descendants are selling it off, coal stoves, suitcases full of vacation clothes, cigarette holders, mailboxes, the whole works.


Lot 89: Coal stove from the darkroom, which he occasionally placed on bases and photographed, est. EUR30-40,000.


Lot 91: four plates, hammered steel, est. EUR2-3,000.

Fonds Constantin Brancusi provenant de la collection d’Alexandre Istrati et Natalia Dumitresco, Nov. 30 [artcurial.com]

First Wonder Woman Concept

Illustrator Harry G. Peter's 1941 concept of Wonder Woman is fascinating to me --not so much the character design itself, which here resembles an early Snow White -- but the penciled-in correspondence between the artist and WW's creator, William Moulton Marston.

Dear Dr. Marston,

I slapped these two out in a hurry. The eagle is tough to handle as when in perspective or in profile he doesn't show up clearly — The shoes look like a stenographer's.

I think the idea might be incorporated as a sort of Roman contraption.

Peter

Dear Pete -

I think the gal with hand up is very cute. I like her skirt, legs, hair. Bracelets okay + boots. These probably will work out + see other suggestions enclosed. No on these. See suggestions enclosed for eagle. Braziers I suggest may work better in curved or slanting stripes - red + white. With eagle's wings above or below breasts as per-enclosed? Leave it to you. Don't we have to put a red stripe around her waist as belt? I thought Gaines wanted it — don't remember. Circlet will have to go higher — more like crown — see suggestions enclosed.

See you Wednesday morning — WMM

The sketch recently sold for $33,350.

from ComicBookMovie.com

Obsidian Mirror-Travels at Getty

GETTY

Interpreting pre-conquest Aztec manuscripts, this anonymous document dates from 1810 but looks like it could have been done for this seasons Supreme skateboard decks. Or it would be a perfect Hermes scarf.

GETTY

Fascinating reading at the Getty site of pre-Columbian Mexico through the lens of Europeans. Looks like an amazing show.

Obsidian Mirror-Travels at Getty

Bolide Design Catalog from 1970 Paris Exhibition

 

 

I would say that the Musee` Des Arts Decoratifs was ahead of their time by featuring modern race cars as high design in 1970. I would love to flip through this catalog, but my curiosity is not at a $89 level.

Bolide Design Exhibition Catalog on eBay

The Final Curtain By John Dogg

In 2007 in his Guggenheim retrospective catalogue, Richard Prince finally 'fessed up to being the artist behind the fictitious artist John Dogg. Dogg had begun showing in the 1980s at American Fine Arts, the gallery run by his co-creator, Colin de Land, who passed away in 2003.

I guess Dogg poured a few out for de Land since then, because in 2005, he showed The Final Curtain, a hippie-meets-trailer trash doorway bead curtain made from empties and plastic six-pack rings.

It was in Neville's bad boy summer show at Gladstone, where the Rubells bought it, and then holy smokes, they just sold it at Bonham's? Were they trying to be sly or something? How odd.

And what an odd, contradictory, incomplete listing. No mention of a certificate? The variable dimensions? Maybe it was an edition, and the Rubells didn't even sell theirs? Their installation shot does seem to have fewer cans. Are the cans archival? Did John Dogg really drink that much Vanilla Coke? So many questions.

Lot No: 174 - Richard Prince as John Dogg,
The Final Curtain, 2005, sold for $24,400. [bonhams]

Mary Blair's House for Sale

Did this house belong to the Mary Blair? I think so. The listing mentions an art studio, but I don't see it pictured. It appears to require a bit of maintenance, but I think 2 weeks worth of sandpaper, stain and Thompson's Water Seal would make a world of difference. Repaint the forest green trim a nice dark slate?

Lee and Mary Blair's House

Period photos here

Beach & Colby

At Reference Library

Bernard Madoff X LL Bean Totes

Alright, I mourn for Belgian Shoes, and I didn't get these actual Madoff Securities off-site swag tote bags. [Wow, they went for $4,000.]

But I bet I could order up one just like it from LL Bean right now.

Lot 370 Tote Bags, eset $650-930 [!] [txauction.com]

90 Pairs of Belgian Shoes

Good grief, is this why the waitlist is 18 months long? Bernard Madoff had 90 pairs of Belgian Shoes. New in box. When the whole point of Belgian Shoes is to wear them, let them mold to your feet. And then get the glove leather sole replaced with a rubber one.

Since I missed the US Marshall-ordered auction today, I suppose I'm glad that they weren't my size.

four lots of 18, one of 6, and one of 10, with estimates were $50-75/pair. [txauction.com]

Michael Leon Letting His Batik Flag Fly

Michael Leon is a flag-loving skater/artist on the Hypebeast press release circuit. This batik US flag was a highlight of "Vexhall," Leon's recently closed flag show at Pool Gallery in Berlin.

It's an edition of 10, no two alike, I'm sure.

Vexhall by Michael Leon, curated by Arkitip [pool-gallery.com via cosmic-dust]

Campagnolo

Earliest Known Monopoly Game at Auction: Malcolm Forbes' Collection

Handmade in 1933, this Monopoly set is the earliest known surviving example. So charming. Makes me want to get out a piece of oilcloth and design my own board game. Perhaps take an existing game that is rather mundane in appearances and use the existing tried and true rules to craft your own version with a new theme. Like a Sorry! hack.

Handmade Monopoly at Sotheby's (Est. $60,000 - $80,000) 

Also, Admiral Peary Expedition from pewter scraps

LIke A Bike Basket

I swear, I took pictures in Amsterdam of things that weren't made of bent steel pipe, too.

In a country full of bikes that, frankly, all look kind of beat, this was the basket I liked the most. No manufacturer information was available, but you can see every weld, right? Just pop over to shop class and make your own.

Tank Tote Torch

We were in Amsterdam this week. When we went to FOAM, the contemporary photography museum, I had to ask why, in a city of canals and non-stop rain, they were having water delivered on a pallet.

I should have just waited. Because the empty Tank Totes were the lamps by which the mob would locate the museums participating in Museumnacht. They looked pretty sweet.



And a used 275-gallon Tote Tank is just like $50-75 on eBay. Seal the lights and fill them with water, and you could build a whole glowing house out of these things. It'd be like living in a cross between a world's fair pavilion and a nuclear reactor. The toy version of shipping container architecture.

Mister Jalopy Talk in Nashville

From The Curb Center:

Mr. Jalopy: Curb Creative Leadership Series, Free Public Lecture, Nov 8. at 4pm

Mr. Jalopy will be the featured speaker for the November 8th public lecture sponsored by the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy at Vanderbilt. Mr. Jalopy seeks to empower and challenge consumers to repair, rebuild, reuse and reinvent mass-produced goods. Mister Jalopy is an experimental welder, woodworker, bicycle and auto mechanic, writer, photographer, electronics troubleshooter, teacher, furniture rebuilder, garage saler, activist, blogger, editor, speaker, fabricator, builder, large appliance repairman, designer and entrepreneur.

Mr. Jalopy will speak as part of the Curb Creative Leadership series at 4:00 p.m. Monday Nov. 8th in the Curb Center Atrium at 1801 Edgehill Avenue (corner of 18th Avenue South and Edgehill).

For more information please call: 615.322.2872.

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

Learn More:

http://www.misterjalopy.com/

Yeah! Come say hello!

Enormous Microscopic

Two of my favorite arts players come together this Saturday for a total DIY science art freakout at the Hammer Museum. Phil Ross' Critter Salon joins local heros Machine Project for a night of hands-on microscopic action. I will miss it, as I am on my way to Vanderbilt in Nashville to share my particular brand of tricked out DIY science.

Phil's artwork makes me think differently about the world.

Go see Phil, go see Machine on Saturday, then fly to Nashville on Monday and we can hang out there.

Critter Salon x Machine Project x Hammer Museum

Disclosure: I am on the board of Machine Project and these are all my friends.

A Specialist In The Hilarious Deployment Of Exclamation Points

Lot No. 131
Five c. 1900 air bladder Condoms

in original cardboard box with maker’s label. Size (of box!) c. 26 x 6 cm. (WU).

Specialist: Simon Weber-Unger
estimate EUR 300,- to 500,-

The venerable Viennese auction house Dorotheum has specialists in many fields, as the catalogue for the upcoming Nov. 11 Scientific Instruments, Models & Globes sale attests. If you are interested to see five 110-year-old fish bladder condoms in person before you buy, they will go on public view Nov. 4.

For the rest of us, there is a hi-res zoomable photo. Here is the label, because seriously, when are you ever going to see another?


["longs expressly" "Fish bladder with cross-eagle head"]

And here are some careful notations of their remaining uses made, presumably, by the condoms' previous owner[s?], and a closeup of that cross-eaglehead:



Good luck!

I'm Sorry, A WHAT In The Shape Of A WHAT?

"Atomic Cake
From left: U.S. Navy Vice Admiral William H. P. Blandy, his wife, and Rear Admiral Frank J. Lowry cut a cake made in the shape of a mushroom cloud at a reception for Operation Crossroads, November 6, 1946."

The cake was ordered by a member of Admiral Blandy's staff from a bakery in East St. Louis, Illinois. Eugene Kuehn and "a bakery supply salesman named L.Y. Stephens" designed it using "angel food puffs," and arranged for it to be shipped to Washington by car.

It's on LIFE's site now, but this image was actually first published in the Washington Post, on the Society page, where it was led above-the-fold coverage of the reception.

The photo so outraged Reverend Arthur Powell Davies, of Washington's All Souls Church, that he condemned it in a fiery sermon, which in turn set off an international media furor.

Bill Geerhart has an engrossing writeup of The Atomic Cake Controversy of 1946 on his Cold War blog, Conelrad Adjacent.

life.com via boingboing]

Overwrought Teen Angst's Citizen Kane

This is the best. Spliced from fan videos, think of this as an It Gets Better video for everybody. Whether you are LGBT and in peril or channel flipping and drinking Scotch neat at midnight, this the video track for your epic alone moments.

Also, it is the best (unintended) advertisement for liquid eyeliner that I have ever seen.

Placebo 'Running up that Hill'