Commune | Daily

For this year’s annual Commune Retreat, we piled into an 18 passenger van, and headed out to Ojai. Miraculously the van survived the drive along the dirt road, and we were greeted with a delicious farm grown meal prepared by Olivia Chase.

After lunch, we put our skills to the test to see who could design a landing vessel that would protect an egg from breaking (using only supplies from the Dollar Store). Some eggs survived, some didn’t…

All egg vessels included a sales pitch.

Form follows function?

We headed down to the Chicken Coop for a chicken wrangling competition. 

Clearly some people don’t know the difference between goats and chickens.

It was a hard days work. Stay tuned for more highlights from our retreat.

The fantastic sketchbooks of the Architect Herman Hertzberger…not you average notepad

“Le Corbusier taught us always to have a notebook handy, and once you get into the habit of it, you cannot do without it. In the end it becomes an extra memory. Each notebook comes to be associated with a particular period and however impersonal they are when you buy them, they demand to be covered and stuck all over with signs and jottings which will always identify them with that period.” - Herman Hertzberger

We recommend carrying one as well…especially if they look like these

Thanks for the tip Tony

Exquisite fabric drawings by French-American artist and sculptor Louise Bourgeois. We especially love her pieces incorporating mattress ticking fabric; they remind us of our new Ticking Table Linens designed to compliment Heath Ceramics’ beautiful glazes.

Ticking Table Linens available for purchase at our online shop.

Hidden in the picturesque hills of northern Vermont, lies the politically radical, pro-Earth, Bread & Puppet Theater. Originally founded in New York City in 1963 by Peter Schumann, the theater gained it’s name from Peter’s habit of serving fresh baked bread to his audiences. Bread and Puppet productions are often remembered as an integral part of the political spectacle during the 1960s; its enormous puppets (sometimes towering up to twenty feet tall) were a staple of many demonstrations. 

A precession of actors and puppets lead us in to one of the theater’s weekly performances. Following the performance (true to tradition) we shared slices of delicious fresh baked bread.

The original 18th Century Dairy Barn that remains on the property, is home to the Bread & Puppet Museum; a reliquary of the theater’s papier-mâché puppets some of which have survived since the 1960s.

Wandering through the property, we came across scattered relics of Bread & Puppet’s rich history; hand made shrines to some of the theaters integral members and beautifully decorated school buses that were once home to the theater’s traveling shows.

 The Bread & Puppet Press, directed by Peter Schumann’s wife Elka, produces posters, cards, and zines on the theater’s themes.

“The Puppet Master” himself; Peter Schumann, founder of Bread & Puppet Theater.

Bread & Puppet’s Website

After seeing the release of Factory Records founder Tony Wilson’s grave, we had a feeling that some of our other favorite designers wouldn’t have missed the opportunity to make their last visual statement…

Tony Wilson; founder of Factory Records. 1950 - 2007. Grave designed by Peter Saville and Ben Kelly.

Bruce Goff; architect. 1904 - 1982

Alvar Aalto; architect & designer. 1898 - 1976

Adolf Loos; architect. 1870 - 1933

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe; architect & furniture designer. 1886 - 1969. 

Paul Rand; graphic designer. 1914 - 1996.

Frank Lloyd Wright; architect. 1867 - 1959

Manon Gropius, daughter of Walter Gropius. 1916 - 1935. Grave designed by Walter Gropius.

Le Corbusier; architect, designer, & painter. 1887 - 1965.

Carlo Scarpa; architect. 1906 - 1978. Scarpa actually designed the entire cemetery he was buried in. Scarpa was commissioned by the Brion family to design an addition to the preexisting cemetery. In classic Scarpa style, he created a monumental tomb with immaculate architectural detail. Scarpa must have loved his end product so much, that he was buried there himself.

Brion Cemetery, designed by Carlo Scarpa. 

Some photos from our recent trip to Mexico City…

The Central Library at the Universidad Autonoma de Mexico designed by the great Mexican architect and muralist, Juan O’Gorman.

The Rectorate building at the Universidad Autonoma de Mexico. Mural by David Alfaro Siqueiros. 

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera’s House/Studio also designed by Juan O’Gorman. Juan O’Gorman’s design was radical at the time, not only for his early use of functionalist architecture, but also because he separated the married couple’s living quarters. Frida’s blue house, and Diego’s red house were connected by a rooftop bridge. 

 ”El Paraguas” at The Museum of Anthropology. The entire concrete umbrella is supported by a single pillar…insane!

A beautiful white washed Tree of Life sculpture at our friend Emanuel’s superb furniture gallery, Chic By Accident. 

Just outside of Mexico City, Mexico

Do we like Jaun O’ Gorman? Yes. Do we like Houses? Yes. Do we like moasics? Depends. Do we like Juan O’Gorman’s house built into part of a cave covered in mosaics and primitive motifs from Aztec mythology? Absolutely. 

“If I want to orient myself in my environment, then I have to turn to pictures for help. They will answer questions that are put properly”

- Erik Bulatov (Russian painter…and Ed Ruscha’s long lost brother)

Minature marble scultpures by Ian Hamilton Finley. Neo-Classical perfection that fits in the palm of your hands. 

Commune Studio

An amazing book from the 1970s on residential architecture in Japan. The book design and architecture are equally out of this world. 

Commune Studio

“This design [of the Plastic Tent House] was based upon two requirements: one, that it be a system, not particularly sophisticated, yet involving permutation; and two, that I could build it pretty much with my own hands, which over a year and a half time, I did.”  - John M. Johansen

Designed and hand-built by Johansen, the Plastic Tent House is a steel frame with sixty-four “attachment points” from which platforms and living spaces are suspended, braced by high-tension steel cables. The entire house is covered by translucent plastic panels, giving the appearance of a plastic tent…amazing! 

Source: NY Times Home and Garden. April 13, 2011.

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. 

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.

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 a studio in South Africa, where she works with Zulu artisans whose families have worked with beads for generations. While Lou does not borrow from the tradition of African bead work, this new body of work reflects her travels, meditating upon process, the impossibility of perfection, and what Lou terms “the culpability of craft.”

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 Decorative Carpets as a part of the Avenues Design Walk, West Hollywood. During the event we spoke along with Gerard O’Brien of Reform Gallery about California artists and artisans and their influence on interior design. If you missed the event be sure to check out our bag that we also designed for The Avenues Design Walk here!

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 the architecture of the space, and their bookstore will never let you down.

The show runs until April 9th, 2011.

Installation photography by Brian Forrest. Courtesy Regen Projects, Los Angeles

Beautiful “Prefab Weekend House” design by Jens Risom.

Photos by John Zimmerman for Life Magazine, 1967

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

Awesome Futuro Magazine covers from the 1940s that we found in one of our books here in the studio.