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Photo © Hong Kong Hustle
Bart Hess’s website
Guggenheim-Hermitage Museum in Vilnius
Evidently, the era of starchitects is not going to be over anytime soon…
Zaha Hadid’s recent winning design for a museum in Vilnius, Lithuania, which may partly serve as an exhibition space for The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and The State Hermitage Museum looks like the big mother of Chanel Mobile Art.
蔡國強 (Cai Guo-Qiang)
Cai Guo-Qiang has been known as 蔡國強 in Japan, and many (or most?) of us still pronounce his name ‘さい・こっきょう’, which sounds terribly different from the real pronunciation. The way he is called in the US is closer to Chinese, but I suppose the artist wouldn’t mind the way Japanese call his name since he had spent the early part of his career in Japan (before moving to New York) long enough to think he has a Japanese name. What is probably most important about his name is the meaning of it, and as a Japanese, I see the two characters of his given name as awe-inspiring, just like his art. 國強 means “Powerful Nation.”
Cai Guo-Qiang/ I Want to Believe @ Guggenheim Museum
(Link to the visual documents of the incredible installation process at Guggenheim Museum)
Is perfumery art?
I noticed that I haven’t posted about perfume for a while. I spent most of the time thinking about a new project related to perfumers and perfumery this week and felt comfortable posting something related.
Last weekend my two sons had an annual play date with Les Christophs (Christophe Laudamiel and Christoph Hornetz) at home, and I had an opportunity to speak with perfumer Christophe Laudamiel on various subjects including art and design. Laudamiel is one of the few perfumers (if not only) who is trying to think perfumery outside the realm of commercial perfumery or a mere scent making. The most interesting discussion with him was on the possibility for the perfumery to be recognized as art.
Perfumery is not art in today’s context. For example, we cannot speak about perfumery as we speak about contemporary art. Perfumery is still like 18th or 19th century art. As Laudamiel pointed out to me, I too believe that finding the answer to this issue will ultimately take the commercial perfumery to the next level.
I also found an interesting article by chance addressing a similar issue. Here is the link where you can download the article.
Clayton James Cubitt a.k.a. Siege
Two decades ago, when I first saw several images taken by a then unknown artist David LaChapelle (he was more of an artist than a photographer), I felt like being hit on the head with a mallet. I’ve recently felt the same way seeing some images and a video taken by Clayton James Cubitt a.k.a. Siege. And his mallet is maybe even bigger…
Here is the profile of an extremely talented artist in Brooklyn.
Chanel Mobile Art Opens in Hong Kong
Photo © Hong Kong Hustle
The much anticipated exhibition organized by Chanel in an unusual museum designed by Zaha Hadid opens in Hong Kong today. Visit the website, it’s simply awesome.
Related Links: Hong Kong Hustle | Chanel Mobile Art
Auction (Red) at Sotheby’s
On the evening of Valentine’s Day, over $40 million was raised to fight AIDS in Africa at a historic auction in New York — the most significant charity auction of Contemporary Art ever. The winner of the evening was Damien Hirst who donated seven pieces to the auction. Most of his pieces skyrocketed through the evening, including a massive stainless steel cabinet filled with drugs to treat HIV going for an astounding $7,150,000.
We’re in the middle of a full-blown recession, the rich are getting richer with plenty of money to spend, and the rest of us are now all in the poor class. It’s good to see big fat wallets being used in style for tax-deductible purchases.
Related article at NME.COM
A HUNT FOR HIGHTECH
“In a world…
where nature and science have emerged, where technology breathes and where living without it is impossible.This futuristic world is the inspiration for a collection of imitation fur, for the fashion industry. ‘Future fur’ shows that it is more interesting to imitate an imaginary world…”
