September 17, 2012 by collabcubed - 2 Comments

S.Alt City Project

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A mural for downtown Syracuse, designed by architects Cheng+Snyder, celebrates both Syracuse’s industrial past and its current status as an artistic hub, apparently. At first glance, the image is historical, depicting a pump house and brine distribution center. On closer inspection, viewers realize the image is a mosaic composed of dozens of unique QR code tile, each linking to a contemporary arts organization in the greater Syracuse region.

Between this mural and the Russian Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennial, it looks like people are starting to find interesting uses, as well as engaging ones, for the ubiquitous codes that never seemed, at least to me, to get people scanning.

Thanks David!

September 14, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

NYC Culture on the Cheap: Weekend 9/14

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This weekend’s picks for free and cheap things to do in New York. Affordable cultural events in art, music, dance, theater, food and general fun.

1. Art/Photography/Talks- Momenta Art presents Occupy Your BFF.Occupy Museums (Occupy Wall Street) will use the gallery’s resources to activate critical dialogue about the relationship between art and the market. Opening Reception, Friday 9/14, 6pm to 9pm. Exhibit runs through 10/28. FREE

2. Art– Randy Polumbo: Love Stream at Steven Kasher Gallery. Fun light sculpture exhibit partly in an Airstream trailer. Friday 9/14 and Saturday 9/15. Through September 29th. FREE

Also in Art: Johan Freeman and Justin Lowe’s Stray Light Grey multi-room installation at Marlborough Gallery. (See post) Friday 9/14 and Saturday 9/15. Through October 27th. FREE

3. Art/Performance – Steven & William Ladd: Shaboygen at The Invisible Dog Art Center, Brooklyn. Opening Reception, Saturday 9/15, 6pm to 10pm. Performances 7 & 9pm. Through November 3rd. FREE

4. Film – Solar Powered Film Series, at Stuyvesant Cove Park. Friday 9/14 and Saturday 9/15, 7pm to 10:30pm. FREE

5. Music – FIAF Opening Concert with Bill Frisell, guitarist at FIAF Florence Gould Hall Friday 9/14, 8pm. Advanced $30. At door $35.

6. Fashion/Performance– Williamsburg Fashion Weekend at Windmill Studios, Williamsburg. Friday 9/14 and Saturday 9/15 Doors: 8pm, Show: 9pm. $15 in advance. $20 at door.

7. Art Installation/Party – House Party: Andrew Ohanesian at The Boiler. Faithfully creating a spatially accurate, quintessentially American suburban home, which he displaces from its native suburban landscape by reconstructing it within the walls of the Boiler, a repurposed urban-industrial space currently functioning as a contemporary art gallery. Opening reception (House Party) Friday 9/14 7pm to 10pm. The Boiler, 191 N. 14th St. Brooklyn. Exhibit up through 11/18. FREE

8. Music/Light Show – The Joshua Light Show. live, colorful, psychedelic projections behind various musicians and bands including John Zorn and Lou Reed, at NYU Skirball Center. All weekend. Check listing for showtimes and bands. Tickets start at $20.

9. Architecture Walking Tour – Lost Streams of NYC, with photographer/historian Steve Duncan (see post). 2- to 3-hour tour (above ground). Saturday 9/15, 2pm to 5pm. $25

10. Architecture Talk – Andrew Moore: Images of Governors Island The renowned photographer gives an illustrated talk on the abandoned buildings of Governors Island. Saturday 9/15. 2pm to 3pm. FREE (the event is sold out, but it has been our experience with other talks, that not everyone who signs up, shows up.)

11. Architecture – Imagining the Lowline at the Essex Street Warehouse. A first glimpse at what the park might look like (see post). Starting Saturday 9/15 and Sunday 9/16 12pm to 6pm. Through September 27th. FREE

12. Music –Jim Lauderdale & The Honeycutters at Madison Square Park. Saturday 9/15, 3-5pm. FREE

13. Contest/Food– Chef One Dumpling Eating Contest, at Williamsburg Smorgasburg. Saturday 9/15 at 1 to 4pm. FREE

14. Food – Pig Roast at The Farm on Adderley in Prospect Park South, Brooklyn. Saturday 9/15 . 2pm to 8pm. $25/plate (including sides).

15. Dance – DanceNow at Joe’s Pub. Featuring the Top Ten Works from the 2012 DANCENOW Festival. Saturday 9/15, 7pm. $15 in advance; $20 at the door.

**UPDATES: Film – LCD Soundsystem’s Shut Up and Play the Hits at The Well, Brooklyn. Saturday 9/15, 7-11pm, 18+ to enter. FREE

Food – Unsold Supper in Union Square. Farmers contribute unsold produce that gets cooked and shared in exchange for creating a gift for the farmers. Barter of craft for food. Saturday 9/15, 4 to 6pm. FREE

Fun – NerdNYC’s RECESS a day full of tabletop games, from cards to Trivia and more at 440 Lafayette St. 18+ with ID. Saturday 9/15, 11am to 10:30pm. $20.

Check back for possible updates and take a look at our previous Culture on the Cheap posts for additional ideas. Enjoy!

September 13, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Stray Light Grey: Freeman & Lowe

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Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe have collaborated on a few all-immersive abandoned room installations in the past years. The last show they had in NYC was in 2009 at Deitch Projects titled Black Acid Co-op which featured an exploded crystal meth lab among other things. Today, their latest exhibit opens at the Marlborough Gallery in Chelsea. Stray Light Grey, as the new show is called, conjures up the old OTB (Off Track Betting) facilities of the city’s past in its multi-roomed installation. They have converted the Chelsea gallery into what the neighborhood and its occupants were probably like back in the 90s—such as an OTB gambling parlor—shaping it into their own world. Upon first entering the gallery, visitors experience a smaller version of the usual gallery, but as they proceed other, stranger, rooms are revealed, some through holes in walls. The farther in one goes, apparently, the weirder things get. From a storage room to bathroom under construction and ripped out walls, continuing on to other rooms including the OTB-styled parlor and a plastic-surgery center. Artifacts, artworks and videos are dispersed throughout alluding to what is yet to come. And yet, one can never really be sure what to expect.

Stray Light Grey opens today and runs through October 27th, at the Marlborough Gallery.

via NY Magazine and Bomb

September 10, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Pay Phone Lending Libraries: John Locke

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Architect John H. Locke, who lives and works in NYC, has come up with a clever idea for repurposing the underused pay phone booths that adorn the streets of the city. Locke designed a set of lightweight bookshelves, made of milled plywood,to fit inside a standard booth. Hooks on the shelves allow the units to be easily and quickly snapped into place without the use of hardware. Locke has so far installed four of these shelves on the Upper West Side, and finds the reactions interesting. In some cases the shelves (and books) have lasted merely a few hours, in others a few days.

It’s a great, forward-thinking concept that makes for fun street art as well. Presently, John Locke’s project is being featured as part of the U.S.’s contribution to the Venice Architectural Biennale.

You can see Locke speak about the project here. Some of his other interesting projects here. And here’s a link to the class he teaches at Columbia: Hacking the Urban Experience.

via The New York Times

September 7, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

NYC Culture on the Cheap: Weekend 9/7

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This weekend’s picks for free and cheap things to do in New York. From art exhibits, to music, dance, theater, food festivals and more, free or affordable September 7, 8, and 9, 2012.)

1. Theater- 20at20 Beginning Tuesday, September 4th, and running through Sunday, September 23rd, tickets for all 20at20 shows are only $20, 20 minutes before the Off-Broadway shows. Check listing. All weekend

2. Spectator Sport/Food/Art– US Open Live 2012 at Madison Square Park. Sit back, lounge, and watch biggest names in tennis on the big-screen, live as it happens. Food & Beverages will be available and this is the last weekend to check out Charles Long’s drippy Pet Sound sculptures. All weekend. FREE

3. Art – Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s exhibit Voice Array at Bitforms Gallery, 529 W. 20th. Friday 9/7 and Saturday 9/8. FREE

4. Art/Experience/Tour – Chance Procedures in Motion, with Maria Chavez. Friday 9/7, 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Maria Chavez invites participants to join her in navigating the city by chasing subways in available directions. $20.

5. Dance – Eclipse Dance by Jonah Bokaer x Anthony McCall at the new Fischer BAM. All weekend (check for times & tickets). Friday 9/7 performance has a Pre-show talk with choreographer and artist. $20.

6. Music– Rafiq Bhatia, PEPEPIANO, & icewater at Cameo Gallery, 93 North 6th Street, Williamsburg. Ages 21+ Friday 9/7, 8pm. $8.

7. Animation/Film – Saturday Morning Cartoons with Augenblick Studios. WEIRDO CARTOONS from the past 100 years. At Bellweather, 594 Union Ave., Williamsburg. Saturday 9/8. Noon to 2pm. $10 includes homemade cereal, milk and mimosa or modelo.

8. Performance Art – Flux Factory’s Public Trust. Series of art and performance art events. Two events on Saturday 9/8, Physical Audit and Le Grand Slam Guignol. Check listing for details. FREE

9. Art/Design – Stephen Powers Murals: A Word is Worth A Thousand Pictures. Joshua Liner Gallery, 548 W. 28th St., Friday 9/7 and Saturday 9/8, 11am to 6pm. Through 9/29. FREE

10. Art/Music/Food – ArtOnBrighton at the NY Aquarium in Coney Island/Brighton Beach. Art installations, Music, and Eats celebrating the creative post-Soviet Immigrants of Brighton Beach and beyond. Saturday 9/8, Doors at 7pm. $10 advance, $15 at the door.

11. Art – Chris Ware exhibit: Building Stories at Adam Baumgold Gallery Saturday 9/8. FREE (through October 27th)

12. Art/Music/Food –SculptureCenter’s LIC Block Party. Artist Market, Food Court, Stage with Live Music. Jackson Ave & 43rd Ave, LIC. Saturday 9/8, 12-5pm. FREE

13. StreetArt/Art/Salon Party– Pearly’s Beauty Shop Pop-Up, Exhibition Space, 25-25 44th Drive LIC. The artist Swoon hosts a pop-up salon/party of ecstatic aesthetic embellishments to support the creation of a community activated arts center. Saturday 9/8 at 7pm $20 entry. $5 and Up for Salon services.

14. Music/Literature/Comedy – John Wesley Harding’s Cabinet of Wonders at City Winery. A night of music, readings, and laughs with an array of guests. Saturday 9/8 . Doors 6pm. Show: 8pm. $25 to $35.

15. Theater – The Zebra Shirt of Lonely Children (part of the Fringe Encores Series, best of the Fringe Festival) at the Huron Club, 15 Vandam St., Saturday 9/8, 8pm. $18.

16. Art/Crafts/Food – UrbanSpace Meatpacking. Arts and Crafts and food Marketplace. Under the High Line across from the Standard Hotel. All weekend. FREE

17. Dance – Fall for Dance tickets go on sale Sunday 9/9, 11am for performances between Sep 27 to Oct 13. All tickets $15 but they go fast!

18. Talks/Design/Film – The Public Open offers tickets to FREE events such as talks by Interactive Artist Ben Rubin (see our post) and Pentagram Partner Paula Scher on their contributions to the new Public Theater, and films of some of the Public’s previous shows. Events are in October but you must RSVP for tickets and they are available now.

UPDATES:

Art: GO: Brooklyn Community-Curated Open Studio Project – Saturday 9/8 and Sunday 9/9, 11am to 7pm. FREE

Dance: DANCENOW Festival at Joe’s Pub tonight, Saturday 9/8. Doors open at 6pm; Show 7pm. $15 in advance; $20 at door.

Food: Smorgasburg Sundays starting Sunday 9/9 at the cool Tobacco Factory in Dumbo near Brooklyn Bridge Park. Over 75 food vendors. 11am to 6pm through 11/18. FREE

Check back in over the weekend for possible updates or check our previous Culture on the Cheap posts for additional ideas. Most of all, have a great weekend!

September 5, 2012 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Steve Duncan: Undercity

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Steve Duncan is an urban historian, explorer and photographer of the urban underground. He has photographed sewers and underground rivers in cities from Antwerp to Yangon, with particular focus on the underground hydrological and wastewater infrastructure of New York City, Los Angeles, Paris, and London.

Through his photography, historical research, public talks and tours, Duncan seeks to communicate his profound enthusiasm for these underground marvels, focussing on how hydrological and wastewater technologies conform to their natural environments and relate to broader histories of design, ecology, public health and public works.

In so doing, he illuminates infrastructures that we take for granted and reminds us that contemporary challenges of wastewater are much more than a technical policy issue. They connect us to our past, and just might motivate us to demand comprehensive, long-term infrastructure planning in the future. Plus, they are beautiful places to visit.

All photos by Steve Duncan

via urban omnibus

August 30, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

NYC Culture on the Cheap: Weekend 8/31

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Here are our free and cheap suggestions for things to do this Labor Day weekend 2012 (August 31 to September 3) in NYC. We’ve included some staycation ideas as well as fun and easy day trips within an hour or two from New York via public transportation.

1. Music- AM & Shawn Lee at the Knitting Factory. Friday 8/31. Doors 7pm. Show 8pm. $10 to $12.

2. Art – Avery McCarthy‘s Destination: Unknown. Includes a large, vast canvas framed by LED lights, allowing itself to be both an optical trick and aesthetic object: a modern day vanity mirror of total blackness. At Orchard Windows Gallery. 37 Orchard St. Fri, Sat, Sun 8/31 to 9/2. FREE

3. Day Trip/Food/Culture – Mitsuwa Marketplace A little taste of Tokyo only a bus ride away. In Edgewater, NJ, this shopping center immerses you in Japanese culture with a food court, books, magazines, toys and a supermarket filled with Japanese products. Take the shuttle bus from Port Authority. $3 each way. All weekend.

4. Music/Party – Swimming with Sharks at The Standard’s Le Bain. Saturday 9/1, 3pm-9pm. FREE with RSVP.

5. Architecture – Vertical Tour at the Cathedral St. John the Divine. No need to go to Europe to tour a spectacular church. This tour takes you up to parts of the Cathedral you never knew existed! Saturday 9/1, 12pm still available. $15 Get tickets here.

6. Day Trip/Art – DIA:Beacon in Beacon, NY. Beautiful galleries filled with spectacular installations and all your favorite contemporary artists. MetroNorth from Grand Central or 125th Street gets you within steps of the building, 80-minute train ride. Train and admission package: $31.50 for Adults. All weekend.

7. Food/Views – La Marina in Inwood. It’s a waterfront resort in Manhattan. Beautiful views of the Hudson and GW Bridge. Take the A-train.

Alternatively in Food/Views: Brooklyn Crab in Red Hook on the waterfront. Free Shuttle Bus or the IKEA Water Taxi from Pier 11. All weekend.

8. Architecture Tour – Before Brooklyn Bridge Park. Learn about the history of Brooklyn’s waterfront with architectural historian and author, Matt Postal Saturday 9/1, 11am.$20. Tickets.

9. Music – Troublemakers; Midnight at Arlene’s Grocery. Saturday 9/1, 12am. $10

10. Fun/Leisure – Unicycle Fest on Governors Island. World-famous riders will display their skills, and members of the public will have the opportunity to try one-wheel riding. Saturday 9/1 and Sunday 9/2, 12pm to 5pm. FREE.

11. Day Trip/Relaxation/Food/Fun – Spa Castle. Okay, maybe not so free or cheap but if you consider what a spa trip costs…this looks pretty good. We’ve yet to try, but have heard good things. A sort of “Disneyland” of spas, in Queens no less! Weekdays $35; weekends $45.

12. Fun/Music/Food/Culture – West Indian Day Parade and Festival, Eastern Parkway near Brooklyn Bridge Museum. Labor Day, Monday 9/3 starts at 11am.

Also, in Comedy/Improv: The Friday Night Sh*w at the Magnet Theater in Chelsea. Friday 8/31, 11:30pm $5.

Also, in Food/Music/Beach: Caracas Rockaway at Rockaway Beach at 106th St. has music events Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 4pm. (Though, lately, we’re partial to the beautifully wide unpopulated beach at 67th, if you’re okay with limited food and bathrooms…shhh.)

UPDATES:

Art/Music/Design/Experiment: Stranded V: Laboratory, a night of eureka moments, bold experiments and a Nobel-worthy science fair built by King’s County’s creative catalysts. Saturday 9/1, 10pm-5am, at the Pfizer plant in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Near the JMZ and G trains. 21+. $26 Tickets here.

Music/Food: Mister Sunday Labor Day Weekend Special; Eamon Harkin and Justin Carter at Gowanus Grove. Sunday 9/2, 3pm-9pm. $10 advance; $12 door.

Performance: The Moth StorySLAM, Monday 9/3 at The Bell House, Brooklyn. 7:30 doors; 8pm starts. $8 at door; $16 advance. 21+

Or check our previous Culture on the Cheap posts for links to Free Met Opera HD, PS1’s WarmUp, and ongoing museum exhibits that we recommend. Have a great weekend and check back for possible updates!

August 28, 2012 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Orbis Building: ARM Architecture

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Australian firm ARM Architecture definitely has a unique style and approach to building design (see our post on the Portrait Building for another interesting example.) Taking their cue from Viennese architect Adolf Loos — who believed that apartment buildings fulfill different functions inside (a place to live) than out, where they should contribute to the quality of the street — ARM has some very unusual, leaning toward surreal, façade designs. One of their most recent projects, due to be completed in 2014, is the Orbis Building. A 7-story apartment building in South Melbourne, Orbis was inspired by the works of sculptor Anish Kapoor and surrealist Rene Magritte. The exterior plays with the perceptions of space and depth with its reflective gold concave and convex shapes. It’s interesting to see how the architects have continued, more subtly, these forms in the entrance lobby’s spherical caverns, and the apartments’ windows and balconies.

Orbis is the latest in a series of developments by the ARNO Corporation, which seeks to merge the boundaries of art and architecture and create buildings that themselves become works of public art. 20% of the apartments have already been presold.

August 17, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

NYC Culture on the Cheap: Weekend 8/17

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Our picks for free and cheap art, music, performance, and food events this weekend (August 17 through 19, 2012) in New York City:

1. Music/Dance/Food– Lunch Break lunchtime dance party; DJ Michna at Le Poisson Rouge with free lunch and vodka. Friday 8/17 at 1 to 2pm. FREE 21+ RSVP

2. Food/Music/Sport – Jaguar Chill, Life-size snow globe at the High Line housing a skating rink including free skates, demos from professional skaters, and some Jaguars. Plus treats that (at least when we were there yesterday evening) included People’s Pops, Van Leeuwen ice cream, pulled pork sliders and more, as well as beverages, all free. 10th Ave and 17th St. Friday 8/17 12pm- 8pm, Saturday 8/18 12pm-5pm. FREE

3. Art/Beach – Rockaway Beach Sandcastle Competition Watch artists Ryan McNamara, Tom Sachs, Snarkitecture and more battle it out with their sand creations. Friday 8/17 at 3pm. 86th Street Beach. FREE.

4. Music/Art – Dumbo Summer Friday. An evening of music, art and technology underneath the DUMBO Archway with bands Bosco Delrey, Zambri, Prince Rama, and Javelin. Friday 8/17, 2pm-9pm. FREE.

5. Film/Party – Love Story by Florian Habicht. A funny meta-fictional romance. Rooftop films. 350 Grand Street. Friday 8/17, 8pm – 1am (film at 9pm).$12

6. Music – Though not exactly NYC, the Lackawaana Music Festival is just a Path ride away in Hoboken. Tokyo Police Club, Vacationer, and many more. Pier A, Hoboken. Saturday 8/18, 12pm to 1 am. FREE

7. Theater – Mormon in Chief. Unassuming Mormon, Connor Jorgensen, becomes the center of national media frenzy when his tweets about a Mormon presidential candidate go viral. Play by Matthew Greene. Saturday 8/18 at noon, Sunday 8/19 at 7pm. $15 in advance, $18 at door. Much more theater at FringeNYC.

8. Art/Photography – Lunch Hour NYC at the NY Public Library, Friday 8/17 and Saturday 8/18, 10am-6pm. Continues through February 17, 2013. FREE

9. Music – The Kills; Hudson River Park Pier 63, Saturday 8/18, 5pm. FREE

10. Music/Dance/Food – Jazz-Age Lawn Party on Governors Island. “One of the most memorable parties of 2009 and 2010” says the New York Times. Dress up in your best vintage clothing and head on over. Saturday 8/18 and Sunday 8/19, 11am to 5pm. $15.

Also, similar but totally different – Improv Everywhere’s zany Black Tie Beach. Saturday 8/18. Location to be disclosed Friday (today). FREE

11. Comedy/Performance – Upright Citizens Brigade All-Stars of Improv. East River Park Band Shell, Cherry St. and FDR. Sunday 8/19, 7pm to 8:30pm. FREE

12. Drink/Fun/Views – One of NYC’s best kept secrets: The WillyWall, Manhattan Sailing Club’s floating clubhouse sits in the Hudson River with a bar atop and beautiful views of Manhattan, Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Reserve Admiral’s Launch boat service to WillyWall which departs every half hour from North Cove Dock in Battery Park City. Fridays 5:30pm to 10pm. Saturdays 3pm to 10pm. $10.

Also in Film: Cosmopolis, directed by David Cronenberg opens. The director will be speaking at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center at two screenings. Friday 8/17, 6:30pm and 9:15pm.$13.

Also in Food/Music/Beach: Back to the Beach in Staten Island. Music, food and activities plus fireworks. Saturday 8/18 and Sunday 8/19. Noon to 9pm. FREE

Also in Art: Quay Brothers at MoMA. Great show. Through January 7th. FREE Fridays from 4pm to 8pm.

UPDATES…

Also in Comedy/Music: Heart of Darkness at Union Hall in Park Slope. Comedian Kate Berlant, music by The Bowery Riots and The Forgiveness. Saturday 8/18 at 8pm. $8 advance, $10 at the door.

Also in Film: Festival Express screening (documentary on Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead and The Band’s train ride together) at City Winery on Varick St. Sunday 8/19, doors opne 6pm. Film at 7:30. FREE

For more ongoing summer weekend suggestions see our previous Culture on the Cheap posts here, here, here and here. Also: check back throughout the weekend for possible updates.

August 16, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

FreelandBuck: Slipstream

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New York and Los Angeles based architectural firm FreelandBuck, run by principals David Freeland and Brennan Buck, has created an installation currently on exhibit at the Bridge Gallery in NYC titled Slipstream.

…Architects have used digital software to imbue structures and spaces with some of the same qualities as Da Vinci’s meticulous drawings: fluidity, undulation, instability and temporality. But while software has allowed architects to create novel, dynamic forms digitally, they have struggled to translate these qualities to the physicality of the material world. Slipstream is a physical structure that confronts that leap directly, translating a 2-dimensional digital line drawing into 3-dimensional space.

Alluding to Lebbeus Woods’ 2010 ‘Slipstreaming’ drawings of flow, the installation is a single drawing extruded through the gallery space and cut away to produce a set of interconnected spaces. The linear extrusion acts as both structure and dynamic visual filter, shifting views through the installation and between the spaces it defines. It’s integrity as a structure is masked by both its redundancy and bright coloration.

The exhibit runs through August 24th at the Bridge Gallery on Orchard Street.

Photos courtesy of the architects; Carles Faus; and the Bridge Gallery.

via archdaily

August 16, 2012 by collabcubed - 2 Comments

Slade Architecture Kitchen Cabinets

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Architects Hayes and James Slade of Slade Architecture (previously here) have designed a fun and clever set of kitchen cabinets. The wooden cabinet doors, coated in a smooth semi-gloss white finish, have minimalist outlined silhouettes of dishware and glassware etched into the sectioned panels. Very fun and a great centerpiece that catches your eye as you first enter the space.

Top photo courtesy of Slade Architecture; other photos collabcubed.

August 15, 2012 by collabcubed - 2 Comments

Tatzu Nishi: Discovering Columbus

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A couple of days ago we passed by Columbus Circle on our way uptown and noticed massive amounts of scaffolding around the Christopher Columbus statue. I assumed they were doing some repairs but, as it turns out, not at all. Em pointed me to the NY Times article that announced the new Public Art work by Japanese artist Tatzu Nishi, currently being built and due to debut on September 20th. The plan is to build a living room complete with couches, lamps and even a TV that surrounds the statue, six stories up from the ground. Visitors will be able to climb stairs or take an elevator up to the floating living room with Christopher Columbus’ head popping through the floor. Sounds very zany but very fun, too.

This is not the first time, nor probably the last, that Tatzu Nishi does something like this. Other similar ventures include surrounding a statue of Queen Victoria in Liverpool, England, with a temporary functioning hotel; creating a one-room apartment over the roof of a 14th-century cathedral — enclosing a bronze, angel-shaped weather vane — in Basel, Switzerland; and building a temporary hotel suite around the Merlion fountain in Singapore.

Discovering Columbus will be open to the public from September 20 to November 18, 2012. Admission will be free, but visitors will be required to reserve timed passes in advance through the Public Art Fund website.
UPDATE: FOLLOW-UP HERE.

Photos courtesy of the artist and the New York Times.

via The New York Times

August 14, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Straight Up: Cameron R. Neilson

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New York based photographer Cameron R. Neilson has photographed a collection of images with his camera leveled and pointed straight up. The series of photographs is aptly titled Straight Up. The abstract angles and shapes created by photographing city architecture this way is surprising and dramatic. Both recognizable and yet new. Though we tend to look up to some degree when walking city streets, ‘straight’ up is a less common angle. The concept for Straight Up started in NYC and has since grown to include cities across the country, and eventually Europe.

Straight Up will be exhibited at Openhouse, 379 Broome Street here in New York opening this Thursday, August 15th through August 22nd.

August 13, 2012 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Cool Pool at Holiday Inn Shanghai

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Jutting out from the 24th floor of the Holiday Inn Shanghai Pudong Kangqiao Hotel is a cantilevered windowed cube containing a glass-bottomed swimming pool. This very cool pool was designed, along with the rest of the hotel interior, by Singapore based architects Chan Sau Yan Associates. 30 meters long and 6 meters wide the pool offers views on three sides of its enclosure, plus above and below. It’s hard to decide what is more striking: to witness someone swimming above from the ground, or to be the person swimming looking down at the ground.

via juxtapoz, cnn, and trip advisor

August 3, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

NYC Culture on the Cheap: Weekend 8/3

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Our picks for free and cheap art, music, performance, and food events this weekend (August 3 through 5, 2012) in New York City:

1. Architecture – The Grand Tour each and every Friday throughout the year at 12:30 pm in the sculpture court at 120 Park Avenue, located at the southwest corner of E. 42nd Street and Park Ave. directly across from Grand Central Terminal. No reservations are necessary. Friday 8/3 at 12:30 pm. FREE

2. Video/Music – John Cage, One¹¹ and 103,at the High Line, 14th St. Passage. Black and white video and sound, 94 min, in celebration of the John Cage Centennial. Part of the new High Line Channel 14, outdoor video program. 1pm – 11pm, Daily (all weekend) through September 13. FREE

3. Film – King Corn Screening at the Culture Project 45 Bleecker St. Friday 8/3 at 6pm FREE. Reserve seats here.

4. Interactive Performance/Music – Phil Kline’s DreamCityNine performed by Talujon. World premiere. To take part in this event, download the stories as one file from the Artist Links — upload them to your laptop, smartphone, tablet, or MP3 player, and bring them with you along with your battery powered speakers, or blast Q2 Music through WQXR’s mobile app. Friday 8/3; 6:30 pm at Lincoln Center’s Hearst Plaza. FREE.

5. Art Event/Walking Tour – Telettrofono by Justin Bennett and Matthea Harvey, part of Guggenheim’s Stillspotting NYC. An audio walking tour that braids history with fantasy along and around the Staten Island waterfront. Starts at the stillspotting kiosk at the Staten Island Ferry terminal in St. George. 1.5 hrs, Saturday 8/4 and Sunday 8/5, from 12 to 7 pm. $12 adults and $10 for members.

6. Fun! – Summer Streets nearly seven miles of NYC’s streets are opened for people to play, walk, bike, and zip(!) from 7am to 1pm on the next three Saturdays 8/4 (and 8/11, 8/18) from 7am to 1pm. Check site for route and activities. There will be a zip line in Foley Square as well as free bike rentals. FREE

7. Food – Parked! A Food Truck Festival at South Street Seaport. Saturday 8/4 from 10am to 9pm. FREE

Also in Food: Hester Street Fair Olympics. Corn-on-the-cob and BBQ Ribs eating contests plus burlap sack races. Lomography Photo Tour of Fair here as well. Saturday 8/4 and 8/11. FREE

8. Art– Edouard Vuillard: A Painter and His Muses, 1890-1940 at the Jewish Museum, (saw this last weekend…lovely exhibit!) through September 23rd. Saturdays FREE all day.

Also in Art/Design: Century of the Child: Growing by Design, 1900–2000 at MoMA through November 5th, 2012. Fridays FREE from 4pm to 8pm.

9. Music – 54/10 Music Marathon; Alice Lee, The Henry Millers, Night Fevers play at Ars Nova Theater
511 West 54th St. Saturday 8/4, 8 pm. Tickets $10 online; $15 at the door.

Also in Music: Amadou & Mariam / Theophilus London / and Just a Band at Central Park’s Summer Stage. Saturday 8/4, 3pm to 7pm. FREE

10. Performance/Installation – The Murders of Crows at the Park Avenue Armory. The largest sound installation to date by artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, a compelling “sound play” that envelops the audience in an unexpected physical and aural environment. Through September 9th, but this Saturday, 8/4, from 12pm to 7pm, FREE

11. Talk/Film Presentation – Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell and David Frankel talk about their new film Hope Springs at the Soho Apple Store. Sunday 8/5, 4pm. FREE

12. Music – Mad Decent Block Party at Williamsburg Park, with Major Lazer, Erol Alkan, Bonde Do Role and more. Sunday 8/5, 12pm to 10pm. RSVP required. FREE.

Dance – The Wind of Colorful Guizhou, Guizhou, China, Ethnic Song and Dance Troupe at Skirball Center, Saturday 8/4, 7pm. FREE (Tickets distributed first-come-first-served basis – call 973-917-3005 or bethb.sunels@yahoo.com)

Also in Film: If Yes Men Fix the World, screening at the Culture Project, Saturday 8/4, 8pm. Reserve tickets here. FREE

For more ongoing summer weekend suggestions (i.e. Rineke Dijkstra Retrospective at the Guggenheim [see post], PS1’s WarmUp and Street Art Walking Tours in Williamsburg) see our previous Culture on the Cheap posts here, here and here. Also: check back throughout the weekend for possible updates.

August 2, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Jim Lambie: Taped Surfaces

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I love it when random bits of information coincidentally relate to other random bits of information. There’s that ridiculously satisfying “Aha” moment, where you feel like Sherlock Holmes or Columbo, but without having done any real sleuthing. That’s how I feel with respect to my recent revelations about Jim Lambie, a Scottish visual artist. Last fall, I happened upon an exhibit of Lambie’s work at the Anton Kern Gallery in Chelsea. My favorite pieces involved concave, colorful conical forms embedded within large photographs of Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan. Later I spotted another similar piece at the NY Frieze Art Fair. Around the same time I did a post on an interesting townhouse renovation in our neighborhood, and creepily photographed the colorful staircase with its tape design from the window. Fast forward to today, when I came across photos of interesting taped floors created by none other than Jim Lambie. Among these images I found the same Greenwich Village staircase taken from inside and above. So, yes, you’ve probably made the mad leap yourself by now: Jim Lambie, who transforms spaces with his very cool taped geometric mazes of color, was the artist whose exhibit I saw in Chelsea and a few weeks later admired his impressive design work on the local staircase. Case closed.

Photos courtesy Anton Kern Gallery, Thyssen-Bornemisza, floorcrunch and collabcubed.

via balladora

July 31, 2012 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Kunsthof-Passage: Dresden

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Tucked away in a student district of Dresden, Germany, you’ll find Kunsthof-Passage, a series of buildings and courtyards that encompass a farm collective as well as shops and cafés. Walking through these buildings into the courtyards leads to a fun surprise: the Court of Water. Using the gutters, metal pipes and funnels, architect Heike Bottcher designed a Rube Goldberg-type contraption that plays “music” when the rain comes down and through. Though this installation is probably the most fun, there are other artistic façades in Kunsthof-Passage including the Court of Mythical Creatures and the Court of Metamorphosis. The whole thing screams fun artist community and seems to be well worth a visit if you find yourself in town.

Photos: Andreea Gerendy; mi-fo; aerohaveno; fotocommunity; wm_archiv; and Michelle Weingarten

via boredpanda

July 26, 2012 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Shelter ByGG: Gabriela Gomes

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This cloud-shaped, cocoon-like shelter is the design of Portuguese architect Gabriela Gomes. The bright red exterior is made of a unique non-polluting, recycled cork, with a minimalist interior that consists of a double room with bathroom using ecological materials in its construction and solar paneling for energy as well as LED lighting, keeping with its sustainable goal. The mobile habitat—that goes by the name Shelter ByGG—seems to be taking reservations and will be delivered via flatbed truck to a series of locations. You can make your reservations here.