Commune

A follow up to our Gutai post, Mono-ha was the subsequent Japanese movement in the late 1960s that continued, expanded and distilled the ideals of its predecessor.

Their aim was simply to bring ‘things’ together, as far as possible in an unaltered state, allowing the juxtaposed materials to speak for themselves. Hence, the artists no longer ‘created’ but ‘rearranged’ ‘things’ into artworks, drawing attention to the interdependent relationships between these ‘things’ and the space surrounding them. The aim was to challenge pre-existing perceptions of such materials and relate to them on a new level.

During the 1980’s a group of activists began “ACT UP: a diverse and non partisan group united in anger and committed to direct action to end the AIDS crisis”. They essentially took the idea of a corporate Identity and turned it on its head: Using a uniform typeface, a typographic style, set of colors and a way of handing imagery to create a graphic identity for their activist movement. Like their corporate counterparts, every piece of propaganda was unified under a single visual language, giving a relatively small movement unity, impact, and recognition to their cause as well as the tools for their  followers to spread a cohesive message (that was always set in futura).

The Mastaba, a proposed project for Abu Dhabi, was conceived by Christo and Jeanne-Claude in 1977. A mastaba, meaning house for eternity, was a type of ancient Egyptian tomb usually constructed out of mud brick or stone. Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s colossal mastaba will be made from 410,000 multi colored barrels to form a mosaic of bright, sparkling colors, echoing Islamic architecture. The Mastaba will be the largest sculpture in the world and Christo and Jean-Claude’s only permanent large scale work; standing in the desert just south of the city of Abu Dhabi at a towering 492 feet high, 11 feet taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza.

check out more images and projects by Christo and Jeanne-Claude at www.christojeanneclaude.net a great site designed by our friends NoFavorite in New York.

We are going to check out the Calder opening at L&M Arts in Venice this Friday 6 - 8pm..you should too.

Inspired by Blum & Po’s recent show: Requiem for the Sun, we decided to do a little research into modern art movements in Japan.  Somewhere between Kabuki Theatre, Jackson Pollock, and an early Paul Mcarthy performance exists The Gutai (“concrete”) Movement: An 1950’s ab-ex movement focused on the expression of materials.

“Gutai art does not change the material: it brings it to life. Gutai art does not falsify the material. In Gutai art the human spirit and the material reach out their hands to each other, even though they are otherwise opposed to each other. The material is not absorbed by the spirit. The spirit does not force the material into submission. If one leaves the material as it is, presenting it just as material, then it starts to tell us something and speaks with a mighty voice.”

Stage Director, choreographer, performer, painter, sculptor, video artist, sound/lighting designer, and needles to say genuis. 

Cuban artist, Carlos Garaicoa explores the parallel between the architectural/political state of present day Cuba and the imaginary island described in Sir Thomas More’s Utopia.

Samuel Mockbee dedicated his life, as a teacher and architect, to creating structures that elevated the living standards of the rural poor.

“It’s not about your greatness as an architect, but your compassion” -SM

This month Elle Décor did a great story on our very own Steven Johanknecht’s tudor cottage in Sliverlake…

Also on ElleDécor.com is our new chocolate collaboration with Valerie Confections:  Super Choc-O-Food. check it out here.

Congratulations to all the Oscar winners. 

Sincerely,

Busby

What you get when Graphic Designer Otl Aicher is head of your Olympic design committee: A series of promotional posters created for the games with artists ranging from color theorist Josef Albers to African American folk artist Jacob Lawrence and everyone in between.

Pierre Soulages

Piero Dorazio

Eduardo Chillida

Hans Hartung

Serge Poliakoff

Fritz Winter

Victor Vasarely

Horst Antes

Josef Albers

Max Bill

Tom Wesselmann

David Hockney

R.B. Kitaj

Paul Wunderlich

Allen Jones

Jacob Lawrence

Alan Davie

Friedensreich Hundertwasser