May 2011
63 posts
6 tags
Superstudio
Commune Studio
We’ve always been fans of Florentine avant-garde architecture collective Superstudio. Founded in the late 60s by two radical young architects, Superstudio pioneered the idea that architectural practice could be conceptual and theoretical, concerned with cultural criticism rather than the production of actual buildings.
7 tags
New York, NY
Some iPhone snapshots from a recent trip to NYC. The new Sperone Westwater Gallery on Bowery, a crazy car on the street in Soho, the ceiling of the lobby at Rockefeller Center, and an awesome “closed” sign.
8 tags
Liza Lou Show at L&M Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
If you haven’t checked out Liza Lou’s show at L&M Gallery yet, we highly recommend going - it’s one of the best shows we’ve seen this year. The piece pictured directly above titled Gather (one million) is made from nine million beads threaded onto wire to create one million blades of grass. Liza Lou, for the past six years, has maintained...
10 tags
Commune + Decorative Carpets
Los Angeles, CA
We are excited to announce the launch of our new Commune Rug Collection. The subtly patterned rugs feature textural combinations of hand-knotted wool, hemp, and silk in neutral tones that complement both modern and traditional interiors. Sold exclusively through Decorative Carpets, Los Angeles.
To celebrate the launch of our new collection, we held an event at...
8 tags
Wolfgang Tillmans at Regen Projects
Los Angeles, CA
We walked over to our neighbor Regen Projects today to check out the new Wolfgang Tillmans exhibition. The show features a collection of images from the artist’s hometown(s) and recent world travels. Unframed and hung from bull clips, the presentation of these large inkjet prints is equally as awesome as the artwork itself. Aside from their shows, we have always loved...
7 tags
Jens Risom's Prefab Weekend House, 1967
Beautiful “Prefab Weekend House” design by Jens Risom.
Photos by John Zimmerman for Life Magazine, 1967
10 tags
Commune Designs Oliver Peoples Madison Avenue
New York, NY
The third store we’ve done for Oliver Peoples…If you could use a break from the concrete and need pair of sunglasses stop by and check it out.
Photography by Spencer Lowell
5 tags
Fascist Inspired Graphic Design in Mexico, 1940
Awesome Futuro Magazine covers from the 1940s that we found in one of our books here in the studio.
5 tags
Japan's Dekotora Trucks
Japanese Dekotora (or “decoration truck”) artists display amazing ingenuity and creativity to create the flashiest truck possible while keeping it operational and street legal. We find these masterpieces truly inspirational.
To support the Red Cross relief efforts in Japan and receive a great leather bracelet click here.
Photos by Satoshi Minakawa
"Quadtratura" by Pablo Valbuena
We love this installation we came across by Spanish artist Pablo Valbuena. Quadratura was the technique often used in Baroque architecture of painting on walls or ceilings to create a spacial illusion. Valbuena modernizes this technique using video projection and light to transform a room of the Matadero museum in Madrid.
7 tags
Miami Beach, Florida
“Story of Man” by Albert Vrana (sand cast concrete, 1962)
6 tags
Los Angeles, California
Happy Holidays in Lisa Eisner’s dining room.
6 tags
Los Angeles, California
Wharton Esherick’s (1887-1970) home in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
From Leslie Williamson’s book of photographs “Handcrafted Modern” (Rizzoli, 2010)
http://lesliewilliamsonphoto.blogspot.com
6 tags
Malibu Lake, California
A studio visit with Swiss glass artist Beatrice Tesdorpf at her home overlooking Paramount National Park.
8 tags
Los Angeles, California
Yesterday we had a studio retreat and a little contest. Six teams, a pile of recycled office supplies, and one hour to create a representation of an important architectural dwelling picked out of a hat. Here are the results…
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater…
Philip Johnson’s Glass House…
John Lautner’s Chemosphere House…
Adalberto...
7 tags
Los Angeles, California
On November 6th at Heath, Los Angeles, we will be launching a collaborative show between Alma Allen, Adam Silverman, Heath Ceramics and Commune.
An offering of containers, boxes, vessels, bowls and lids in unexpected combinations of wood, ceramic and bronze. For the occassion we will be bringing back our canisters and previewing our new Commune “nude” ware for Heath…
...
6 tags
Vals, Switzerland
On a hillside near Vals, two beautiful new sisters by Peter Zumthor.
Vals, Switzerland
A farm near Vals…
Milan, Italy
Milan, Italy
At the PAC (Museum of Contemporary Art)…
Tel Aviv, Israel
Bauhaus in Tel Aviv…
4 tags
Hollywood, California
The new Free City on Highland’s got inspiration…and crazy bikes…
Orcas Island, Washington
The rustic comforts of Jared Lovejoy’s Doe Bay Farm
Los Angeles, California
John Baldessari - Pure Beauty - at LACMA, June 27 - September 12, 2010
The artist in the late 60’s…
http://www.lacma.org
3 tags
Graceland, Tennessee
8 tags
Marfa, Texas
Los Angeles, California
Malcolm McLaren 1946 - 2010
Los Angeles, California
Le Corbusier’s first articulation of his minimalist living concept was his cabanon, a little cabin built on a bluff in Roquebrune-Cap Martin on the Mediterranean Coas
“Corbusier was able to add a small cabin on to Rebutato’s rustic tavern, Etoile de Mer. Clad on the exterior like a primitive hut with bark slabs, the cabanon was faced on the interior with carefully crafted...
Los Angeles, California
Commune believes all Americans should have full and equal rights with no exceptions. It is in that spirit that we joined the team behind ManifestHope on a new project in support of marriage equality.ManifestEquality assembles the work of hundreds of artists who are lending their voices to raise awareness and bring attention to this cause. Commune created the graphic...
Palm Springs, California
On January 17th the second Community Shop opened at the ACE Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs. Commune collaborated with Alma Allen and Nancy Pearce on the store design and merchandise selection and we installed it with the help of our friends at ACE. It maintains the same ethos as the shop in our studio in West Hollywood…everything made by artisans and craftsmen in America. We opened...
Los Angeles, California
Neill Orje (1982 - )
http://www.edwinhimself.com/blog/2010/01/13/an-interview-with-neill-orje/
http://neillorje.blogspot.com/
Los Angeles, California
Larry Sultan (1946 - 2009)
New York, New York
The Holiday Windows at Bergdorf Goodman where inspired by Alice in Wonderland and are beautiful works of design wonder…one might ask: How can this all be possible in a store window?
http://www.bergdorfgoodman.com
New York, New York
Louis Eisner (1988 - )
http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/33195/new-age/
Los Angeles, California
On Saturday, November 21st we opened a new retail experiment in our studio called Community Shop. It features our own product as well as our collaborations with Alma Allen, E.R. Butler & Co., Heath Ceramics and Robert Lewis as well as pottery by April Napier and Atwater Pottery, leather laptop bags by Clare Vivier, stained glass lanterns by Steve Halterman and Navajo Jewelry by Greybull...
Los Angeles, California
Community Shop Cont’d
Los Angeles, California
Holiday Table by Commune at Heath Ceramics, Los Angeles
Dinnerware “Chez Panisse” Collection by Heath - heathceramics.com
Flowers by Lily Lodge, West Hollywood - lilylodge.com
Menu by Joanna Moore for Axe, Venice Beach - axerestaurant.com
Linens and “Totem” Candleholders by Commune
11.15.2009 Los Angeles, California
Herbert Bayer (1900-1985)
Bayer was the last surviving teacher from the Bauhaus School in Dessau, and one of the few 20th Century “total artists”: painting, sculpture, environmental art, exhibition design, lithography, photography, and tapestry.
“Bauhaus 1919-1933: Workshops for Modernity” at MoMA from October 28, 2009 - January 25, 2010
moma.org
Los Angeles, California
Isamu Noguchi 1904-1988Rare and important Akari “Meditation Room,” model no. 820-PC1, ca. 1975. Japanese mulberry bark paper, copper rod, rope. Produced by Ozeki Company, Gifu Japan. One of two examples ever produced. Top of structure stamped with artist’s ideograph.
The artist inside one of his two Akari ‘Meditation Rooms’
Phillips de Pury & Co. - Design...
Los Angeles, California
For the past few months we have been working on a collaboration with sculptor Alma Allen and Heath Ceramics. We wanted to bring together two of our favorite talents on a product incorporating wood and ceramic, that was unique, beautiful and practical - something you would love as you used it…all the time. The result is a series of 75 limited edition kitchen canisters. They are one of a...
Los Angeles, California
American painter Charles Burchfield (1893-1967)
In the 1920’s Burchfield worked as a designer at M.H. Birge & Sons wallpaper factory in Buffalo, NY. Below is one of his paintings installed on top of his Sunflowers wallpaper currently at the Hammer in Los Angeles.
“Heat Waves in a Swamp: The Paintings of Charles Burchfield” at the Hammer Museum from October 4 - January...
Landers, California
In the 1950’s, scientist and test pilot, George Van Tassel was abducted by Venusians while he was meditating inside his cave in the middle of the Mojave Desert. He claimed the Venusians taught him their cell regeneration secrets. He then spent 18 years building the Integratron, a “high electrostatic generator meant to supply a broad range of frequencies to recharge cell...
Los Angeles, California
Charleston was the Bloomsbury home of Vanessa Bell, painter and Virginia Woolf’s older sister; her two sons from her first marriage to Clive Bell; her second husband, painter Duncan Grant and their daughter Virginia. Hand painted wallpapers, frescoes and furniture, their own ceramic light fixtures, paintings paintings and more paintings. Interior design from the soul
Los Angeles, California
Irving Penn (1917-2009)
Los Angeles, California
Gunta Stolzl (1897-1983) was an artist and textile designer who ran the weaving workshop at the Bauhaus in Weimar and Dessau. She was the only woman among the faculty there.
Los Angeles, California
In 1969 Fidel Castro commissioned artist Olivio Martinez to create a series of 10 billboards to commemorate an initiative to raise sugar production to 10,000,000 tons a year. Each month a new billboard would go up. The residents in the area would bring chairs and sit in front of the billboard as they went up. Like most things in Cuba the project never reached it’s completion - they only got...
Joshua Tree, California
Before and after at Alma Allen’s
Venice, California
Los Angeles, California
Expo 67 was nicknamed “Man and his World”, taken from Antoine de Saint Exupéry’s memoir Terre des hommes, (literally “Land of Men”), translated as Wind, Sand and Stars. Housing was one of the main themes of Expo 67. Habitat 67 then became a thematic pavilion visited by thousands of visitors who came from around the world. During Expo 67 it was also the temporary...
Los Angeles, California
Artist Ben Nicholson 1894-1982
